Take a walk through Mount Joy, and you can travel through history. Many of the buildings in town played important roles in the past, and the Mount Joy Area Historical Society wants to highlight them.

The society updated its Self-Guided Walking Tour, building on an idea that began years ago.

"The first published self-guided tour of Mount Joy was called 'An Architectural History Tour of Mount Joy & the Village of Florin,'" said Linda Eberly, vice president of the historical society. "It was compiled by Lancaster County Heritage and the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County for the Sesquicentennial of Mount Joy in May of 2001. It featured 15 stops around town, with only three of those stops on Main Street."

In 2004, the historical society collaborated with Main Street Mount Joy to create a 17-stop self-guided walking tour along Main Street.

"The late Vera Albert, who was our president at the time and a retired teacher in the Donegal School District, was the driving force behind this," Eberly shared. "Many of her students recall taking a walking tour of Mount Joy as part of the curriculum she taught in their fourth-grade class at Grandview Elementary School. ... She had done the research and used the information she had from her class tour for the brochure. So really, Vera had done a Mount Joy walking tour way before there was any brochure."

While the historical society has used the same brochure and information for the tour since 2004, the design was recently updated and a numbered map and information on the history of the town were added to the publication.

"In 2024, Tristan Bair, a junior member of the historical society, created markers for eight of the stops on the tour as part of his Eagle Scout project," Eberly said. "He chose to do the signage project to expand the historical society's connection to the town and its history, taking visitors beyond the walls of the society building. Each of the plaques has a QR code that takes you to the historical society website, where you can see more pictures and read an expanded history of the stop."

Stops on the tour include the Gerberich-Payne Shoe Company at 240 W. Main St., which was built in 1919 and was the official manufacturer of Boy Scout shoes from 1938 to 1951, resuming again in 1971 until the factory closed in 1974. It now houses a senior living facility.

Washington House, located at 78 W. Main St., was believed to have been built in 1832 and served as a hotel and restaurant until the mid-20th century. The former George Brown Cotton and Woolen Mills, located on the 300 block of East Main Street, is now home to Sassafras Terrace Apartments. Other stops on the tour include the ship statue at 93 E. Main St., the former Mount Joy Hall at 6-8 W. Main St. and the former home of Clarence H. Schock, a coal and lumber dealer who established the Schock Independent Oil Company (SICO). Located at 37 E. Main St., the building now houses St. Mark's Ministry Center.

Brochures for the self-guided tour are available at the Mount Joy Area Historical Society, 120 Fairview St., and at the Mount Joy Chamber of Commerce, 62 E. Main St., Suite 1.

"We are currently working with the Mount Joy Chamber of Commerce to offer guided tours based on the brochure. Of added interest will be a few more details about some places not included in the brochure," Eberly said, noting that details are still being finalized and that updates will be posted on the Chamber and historical society's social media pages and websites soon. "We are hoping to begin offering these reservation-required tours beginning in September."

In the meantime, she hopes people will pick up a brochure and take themselves on a trip through time.

"I think this tour is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about Mount Joy's historic places and explore our town," she added.

For more information, visit http://www.mountjoyhistory.com.