| Known over the years as the White Hall
Hotel, National Hotel, and Jack’s, the National House is one
of York’s most striking examples of Victorian Period
architecture. It was built originally in 1828 as the White Hall
Hotel. Sometime before the Civil War it was renamed the National
Hotel. In 1863, the rooftop observatory was added. The stacked
verandas are reminiscent of antebellum southern
architecture. While a hotel, this building played host to many
celebrated Americans, including President Van Buren (1839) and
Charles Dickens (1842). In 1921 the building became Jack’s—a
women’s department store still sorely missed by many longtime
Yorkers. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the lower level was
part of Christmas Tree Hill.
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© 2002 by Scott D. Butcher
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