What’s now known as the Haldeman Haly House at 27 North Front Street was originally built around 1812 by architect Stephen Hills on land purchased from an heir of John Harris. Hills completed his training in England in 1792 and married Margaret Ashby in the spring of 1794 and settled in Boston. From there they moved to Philadelphia, Lancaster, and finally to Harrisburg where Hills was commissioned to design and build the original Capitol Building. In 1811 Hills bought Front Street property between Walnut and Strawberry Alley and constructed a row of homes, including his own at 27 North Front. His house differed from the others with embellishments like the fan-lighted doorway, the arched windows on the first floor, and recessed windows inside blind archways, a device he would later use in State offices on Capitol Hill.

The house was later sold by Hills to Jacob Miller Haldeman, a local ironmaster who laid out New Cumberland in 1814. Haldeman’s wife developed a garden on the lot adjoining the house at the corner of Front and Walnut. Her daughter, Sara Haldeman Haly maintained the house and garden until her death in 1894. Per instructions in her will, the garden was donated to the Harrisburg Library Association in 1912 along with funds to build a library and buy books. Just over a century later, the Dauphin County Library was able to buy the Haldeman Haly House and join it to the existing library to serve as offices for the library’s staff.

The Hills house served as the residence of John Andrew Schulze during his tenure as Pennsylvania’s Governor from 1823 to 1829. In February, 1825, Schulze entertained an aging Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American revolution, who was then touring the United States (there were 24 states then) to commemorate the passing of 50 years since he gave up a life of ease as a French aristocrat to help the rebels win the revolution against Britain.

His tour took him to all the states, from Maine to New Orleans, where in every locale he was honored by the Revolutionary War veterans who fought beside him, as well as a thankful populace, grateful for the freedom they now enjoyed.  Parades, receptions, banquets, concerts, and church services were held in his honor. The tour, on which he was accompanied by his son, George Washington Lafayette, travelled more than 5000 miles by carriage, steam boat, barge, and ships to every corner of the country.

According to an article documenting the Lafayette visit in the January 2025 issue of The Burg, the Executive Director of the Dauphin County Library System, Ryan McCrory, said the 2022 restoration which connected the library to the Haldeman Haly home, retained many of the original architectural features including the marble fireplace, built-in book shelves, and other original woodwork that might have caught LaFayette’s gaze during his 1825 visit.