Lowry/Cook House     35     110 E. Liberty St.

A pivotal house.  This house was built in 1843 by Dr. J. M. Lowry.  The stately old home is one of the few in the Up-Country in the Tuscan villa style.  Situated in the heart of York's Historic District on nearly one acre, the 6,000 square foot Italianate house has a colorful past.  In 1908, the home was purchased by a young widow, who operated a boarding house in order to support her large family of children and stepchildren.  It also once housed the “York Tea Room”, where the town's business people came each day for meals served family-style at a huge dining room table.  The original lot consisted of an entire block, with East Liberty Street on the north, College Street on the east, Trinity Street on the west, and Jefferson Street on the south.  Several original outbuildings remain in the rear; these include a carriage house and servants' quarters.  Once known as “The Show Place of York” in its days of glory, where many grand times were had as people danced in the “T Hall” to the music of a piano, the old mansion has also known its share of sorrow.  Many stories have been shared with Ms. Cook by descendants of each of the previous eight owners who have visited over the years.  The Lowry-Cook House is owned by Alice and Ivan Cook, who purchased the property in 1984.

A pivotal building.  It was not until the middle of the 19th century that there were sufficient Angelicans in Yorkville to establish an Episcopal Church.  Rev. John D. McCullough was sent as a missionary from Charleston to the Up-Country, and he established churches in Spartanburg, Glen Springs, Union and Yorkville.  Beginning in 1849, services were held irregularly in the Courthouse, Methodist Church, and Presbyterian Church.  Good Shepherd Church was officially established in 1852, and the sanctuary, of plain Gothic style, was built in 1855, at a cost of about $5,000.  Dr. J. M. Lowry (#35) gave a corner of his lot,and Mr. William Latta (#43) donated five hundred Mexican Silver Dollars to be cast into the bell, which is still used.  He also donated a melodeon, making Good Shepherd the first church in York to have a musical instrument.

Traditional Episcopal services of this church were a comfort to many Low-country families which refuged in Yorkville during the War Between the States.  Elements of the low-country influence are seen in the pew gates, the chancel, and the gallery.  Of particular note is the marble altar in memory of Rev. James Stoney [1861-65].  The altar window is said to have been made by Tiffany.  Attention is called to the very fine stained glass windows of this building.  Immediately to the west of the church is the W. Bedford Moore/Parish House, built in 1857.  Legend has it that Benjamin Franklin Withers was working as a carpenter on the house when he was killed in a fall.  His fiancée is supposed to have used her diamond ring to cut the date of his death in one of the windows.  Apparently it has been broken and replaced in the interim.

On your right is Trinity Methodist Church, a pivotal building.  It was organized in Yorkville in 1824 by Reverend William Gassaway.  It was the first denominational organization to occupy the field and the first organized Methodist Church in York County.  The first house of worship for Trinity was built in 1826.  The plain wooden building, with an outside entry to the gallery where the slaves entered for worship, was located on Jefferson Street where College Street now intersects.  The church grew and, in 1829, established one of the first three Sunday Schools in the state.  The War Between the States caused a scattering of members and a decline in membership.

By 1882 the church had recovered and outgrown its building.  The congregation purchased a building formerly occupied as the Independent Presbyterian Church, located in front of Rose Hill Cemetery (8).  This building had a seating capacity of three hundred.

Construction of the present church was begun in 1890 and the building was first occupied in 1891.

From the winter of 1929-30 until the winter of 1944-45, a traveling circus, Barnett Brothers Circus, later known as Wallace Brothers Circus, made its winter quarters here in York.  This winter quarters site was in the country at the time.  According to The Billboard, the first quarters consisted of a large and fairly new stone building across Jefferson Street [destroyed by fire in 1987 and restored by Republic Textiles].  In 1937, the metal-clad building with the circus lettering on the side of it on the corner of Trinity and East Jefferson streets, along with several other buildings, was built.  The “bull building,” where the elephants were kept, stood directly behind the Methodist Church and the “bull line,” where the elephants were tethered during the day, was in the northwest corner of the lot almost opposite the bull building.  The circus lettering still appears on the side of the metal-clad building.  Altogether, the winter quarters occupied almost the entire city block.  The trumpeting of elephants and the roar of lions could be heard throughout the town on quiet days.  When Christmas parades were held during the years the circus wintered here, Santa Claus came to York riding on an elephant.  A number of the circus performers, upon retirement, made their homes here in York.  One, a star of the Wild West Show, made a substantial contribution in establishing the local cattle-raising industry.

Return to Trinity Church where the tour turns west on East Liberty Street & goes up two blocks.