Market Square

Harrisburg's Market Square is located in Downtown Harrisburg at the intersection of 2nd and Market Streets. The square was created in 1785. Since then, it has traditionally been the heart of the city, and since the 1980s has undergone a revival with several new commercial, residential and retail spaces either planned or built. It is one block from Riverfront Park and the Market Street Bridge, which crosses over the Susquehanna River.

John Harris, Jr. the founder of Harrisburg had his son-in-law, William Maclay, draw up a plan for the town in 1785. It allowed for 207 quarter-acre building lots aligned along streets set to a standard width of fifty-two feet six inches . Market Street, envisioned as the grand avenue of the new town, was planned at eighty feet wide. Where it intersected with Second Street, Maclay planned in ample setbacks to allow for a “Market Square,” which has remained a prominent feature of Harrisburg to this present day.

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