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A pickup truck damaged more than simply a building when it ran into a Manchester chiropractor's office Wednesday morning -- it damaged a chunk of York County history.
The office of Dr. Stephen S. Grim, at 2 S. Main St. in the borough, previously housed an ice-cream parlor called the "Store on the Square." Before that, it was the mansion of William Reeser, founder of Manchester, according to previously published reports.
In January 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette visited the building, which at the time housed a tavern.
During the Revolutionary War, Lafayette -- a French aristocrat -- served as a major-general under George Washington. One of his victories was in blocking British troops from advancing at Yorktown.
Lafayette was escorted through the area by Dr. Adam King, who at the time was a U.S. congressman, descendent Kenneth King told The York Dispatch in 1986.
General refreshment: They stopped at the tavern for "liquid refreshments," then traveled on to Harrisburg, according to Kenneth King.
It was in 1814 that Reeser began building the mansion, where he and wife Elizabeth Shelly lived in for 55 years.
Reeser ran the tavern when it was visited by Gen. Lafayette.
After Reeser died, the mansion was turned into a hotel, then became a store in the early 1900s, according to reports.
In 1986, Henry J. Mohr and his family bought the building and opened it as the "Store on the Square" ice-cream parlor, according to a York Dispatch article.
"The building has significant historic value to the area," said Joe Stevens, longtime chief of Manchester's Union Fire Engine Co.
"When I was a little kid it was a grocery store," he said. "I remember going in there with my mom ... getting penny candy."
The crash: Caleb Groff, 18, of Bremer Road in Dover Township, was on Maple Street, about 5 a.m., heading for the borough square, Northeastern Regional Police Chief Bryan Rizzo said.
"He attempted to make a left-hand turn, but he did not negotiate the turn and went straight into the building," Rizzo said, extensively damaging it. Groff's 1983 Ford pickup truck was totaled, the chief said.
Groff was not driving under the influence, and he apparently didn't fall asleep at the wheel, according to the chief. Police also don't believe he was texting or using his cell phone.
He was treated and released from York Hospital, and faces several summary traffic citations, Rizzo said.
Grim, the chiropractor, lives in an apartment above his practice and was home at the time; he escaped injury, the chief said.
Salvageable? As of Thursday morning, Rizzo said he was still waiting to hear whether the building is salvageable.
The crash left a front corner of the building unstable, at least temporarily, Stevens said. The crash also exposed -- and bent -- a steel I-beam.
"I'm not sure at what point that beam was added, but I'm sure it wasn't part of the original construction," Stevens said. Rizzo said he suspects the I-beam saved the building.
Traffic detoured: Main Street was shut down for about three hours to clear the scene, the police chief said, and traffic was detoured around the area.
"Thankfully, it was before school, so there were only a couple of (school) bus delays," Rizzo said.
The investigation into the crash continues, he said.
Stevens said it was a lucky thing the crash didn't rupture a gas line attached to the building, "because we could be having an entirely different conversation now."
-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com, 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime.
