Reviews of The Haines Shoe House (Tourist Attraction)

Isaiah Carter

Mike did an excellent job as docent. Haines lived a fascinating life and was ahead of his time in branding. The home is remarkably restored and decorated with combination of original and time replicas. Would love to learn name and story of African-American maid that occupied the back room.

Amy DeLeon

Interesting history of the Shoe House. New owners are super friendly! Can't beat ice cream!!!

Rebecca Armbruster

This was a very unique stop! The history was interesting and the people were super nice!

Nelson Myers

Interesting piece of history

Laura-Ann Jackson

The staff/owners are so awesome and inviting that your visit actually feels like you're going to hang out with your friends who just happen to own a house shaped like a shoe. Phenomenal experience.

Rox S.

Fun family outing.

nathan miller

Tour guide shares history of "Haines the Shoe Wizard". Nice tour for small groups,but not enough room for more than eight to ten people at a time. Tour lasts thirty to fourty minutes per group.

Stephanie Oelrich

Such a neat spot to stop! The ice cream is local from Beck's and delicious. There were plenty of tables inside and some picnic tables outside. Definitely worth getting off 30 and grabbing a cone at this unique, little building.

Azella

The owner / staff were super friendly and passionate. The tour was very informational and detailed. The ice cream and brownies were great! My kids really enjoyed themselves.

Linda DeMarchi

a historic landmark visable from Route 30 in York.

Brett Axelberg

So happy this family has taken on the preservation of this special building and the wonderful stories it holds.

Tavis Scott

It was very educational and good ice cream

Rod Hobbs

Great tour of a fantastic roadside Landmark about a generous businessman.

Jacqueline Hernandez

Delicious

eric giannone

very cool "new" place!!!!!! 3/20/2015 under new ownership. any review prior to 3/20/2015 is not valid. really enjoyed the visit. i am going back again soon!!!

Kimberley Maher

Great place in York,PA amazing ice cream and history. Can't wait to go again!

Michael Mills

The shoe shape of the building is a very nice touch!

Barbara Ault

Very nice tour! Guide was very knowledgeable about the shoe house history and the man who started it all. Will definitely go back

Andrea Monck

Very cute place with delicious treats and very nice owner and staff. Would definitely go back

Orit Golos

It was a big disapoontment, it took us a while to get there but it was closed.

Joy

Absolutely, a MUST see! We needed a quick stop to stretch our legs and this was a perfect. Knowledgeable tour guide, fun for the kids and myself. The icecream was fantastic and owner was the cherry on top, very sweet and kind!

Christina Miteff

I was very excited to visit the Shoe House on a recent trip to PA. However, I was disappointed when we arrived and was greeted by an overwhelming number of "No" signs. There were more signs telling you what you couldn't do than what you could and when you entered the shoe you were greeted by a curmudgeonly couple and more "No" signs. The Shoe House is a great example of adverting and a piece WWII history, but not worth the trip.

Terry Shirey

Friendly courteous staff. Great story line. Well preserved building. This is a true landmark!

Thomas Erwin

EXCELLANT!

Ellen Bittner

Awesome bit of history. Well worth the tour!

Joanna Reinoehl

This was a nice place to visit on our travels. Kids loved the ice cream and they loved the tour! Were back in florida now and the 9 and 17 year old have both been overheard telling freinds and family all about Mr. Haines. I think they both memorized everything our wounderful tour guide told them about his life and the house. If your ever in the area this is a quick (under and hr and half) neat and fun thing to go see with family or freinds. My opinion is well worth stopping in.

Jessica Mcguire

Good ice cream . We didn't tour the shoehouse but will soon

Rick Covert

It was very interesting to learn of the history of the shoe house. I was born when he started his shoe store and the delivery by truck of his shoes also.

Sine Nomine

Stopped in for ice cream today, having lived in York most my life and never visiting before. Sure, it's an oddity from times past, but it's fun. Next time we'll take a tour. Ice cream is good and the owner is very friendly.

Jeanne Grove

Enjoyed the History with my grandson

Eric Kennedy

Neat little place to visit. Friendly staff. Good ice cream. They give an informative tour explaining the history of the shoe.

Travis Sellers

My gal and I stopped in during a rainy day just curious from passing by all the time, got ice cream and a great fact filled tour. The owners were very friendly and we had a great time, stop by it's not just a giant shoe !!

Maya Paz

Lovely roadside attraction with welcoming guide tour and warm hospitality. Don't miss the indoor tour - it's a true wonder how they placed 5 rooms in a shoehouse. There are also original historic items and lovely stories. We came with 2 kids who loved it, as us!

Pam Levi

Heard about this road side attraction on my drive through Lancaster area. It was closed, but a fun/unique spot to look at from the road!

Daryl Landis

Cute little ice cream shop. Great little tourist attraction.

Jessica Burns

I love roadside kitsch and the shoe house did not disappoint! So unique in so many ways. Unfortunately I didn't get to tour the house but I stopped in the shop and bought the most amazing peanut butter fudge. The owner, Mel, was such a wonderful hostess and made me and my family feel welcome. Definitely worth a stop!!

Kathleen Scrimger

It was very interesting. It has an unusual history and the interior was charming.

Brian Reinoehl

This shoe has been there for a long time and it is amazing its still there ! The people who have brought this back to life are great people also ! Had the chance to stop and will stop again . You can tour the shoe and its history then have ice cream and a snack . There are games for the kiddos too!

Alberta Lalavska

I'm so glad I visited this place! The tour guide was so nice and knowledgeable! You pay 5$! Just go and find out how great this place is yourself!

ShadoCadInk

The owner is around frequently and is a very wonderful person to meet, it has been redone the past 2 years to be more like a museum and closer to the original state, there is a small ice cream ad baked good shop inside with a few nice souvenirs to pick from as well. Everything is baked in house and the angel food cake is GREAT, comes out fresh on Fridays last I checked and can be ordered along with cutely decorated cake pops. On a side note the owner is an old car enthusiast as well. The current running schedule First Day of Spring - Memorial Day Fri, Sat & Sun 11-5 Memorial Day - Labor Day Wed - Sat 11-7 Sun 11 - 5 Labor Day - Halloween Fri, Sat & Sun 11 - 5

MISSILYNN BOTKIN

GREAT PLACE TO VISIT FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN

CANDY Nickol

Great place,very nice people!! Ive vream is Yummy

April Bortner

Pleasent service.

Christy Girard

So cute! Such a fun roadside attraction. It is a must see in York. Support local history and have fun. Take the tour!

Pamela McHugh

Wonderful place to visit .

Shayla Jackson

Very cool and historical place! The owners are passionate about keeping the building in good operational standards to continue sharing the legacy of Mr.Haines. The ice cream is yummy and prices are very affordable.

Susan Tarapchak

Great attraction! Very knowledgeable tour guide. Lots of cool memorabilia. Its a giant shoe!

Angie Brennen

Loved the tour. Will be sure to tell anybody that is in the area or not to go there.

Kaire Labow

Unique place to see, tour and great ice cream!

Cheryl Fitz

Very nice tour.

Dale Watters

Wonderful if your in the area worth the stop

Charles Bevard

Unique building ....limited hours..seasonal schedule.

Lauren Rupert

First time visitor and absolutely loved this place. Next time I'm gonna opt for the guided tour!

Joyce Morgan

Very interested, took 10 year old great granddaughter and she like it also.

Wanderlust

What a quirky little roadside attraction! It is such a neat place to visit and you have to stay for the ice cream, it's delicious! The employees are so sweet and friendly, everything about this place is wonderful.

C. Kampf

It was a great pleasure to visit this place! Competent guided tour through the very special house and it's history. And a very nice, small café with real flowers on the tables and a wonderful young owner who runs this business with head and heart! If I would live in the area, I would go there very often! Definitely one of the 1000 Cafés in the world you must see in your life!

B.P. F.

cute attractions ice creams quite good to

Tony Venne

This is one of the best roadside attractions in America! An architectural wonder and worth the low cost price to tour. They also have an ice cream parlor which serves a local ice cream. Staff and tour guides are super friendly and willing to entertain any questions our group had.

Katie Lakomyj

Cute little stop.

Steve Flickinger

Nice piece of Roadside American history.

Tania Nova

We love this place, we went there from our vacations and we enjoyed it. The tour and the explanation was great. The ice cream was the best. When we go back to Pennsylvania we'll definitely go back there we had so much fun.

Martin Ian Goldberg

The Shoe House is an interesting, educational, and inexpensive stop right off US Highway 30. Pure Americana - Enjoy it while you can, as so many original highway treasures have been demolished. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the origin and history of the Shoe House and its owners. We were surprised that so many rooms and levels are in that small house that served multiple purposes over the years. This stop is a must for all ages.

Shirley Laughman

The tour was great very interesting.

Thomas Brinker

Very unusual place a must see for a quick stop on Pennsylvania history.

Erika Butler

This was a really neat place. We were unable to do the tour because of a time crunch but the owner said they usually last 20-25 minutes. I would have loved to check out the upstairs, maybe next time.

Stacey Weaver

So awesome. The owner and her sister are amazing people. Its so cool.

Teresa Hogan

I personally havent been here HOWEVER my two oldest were both here over the last weeks. My mom wanted to take them somewhere "cool" and this place did the ticket. They came home saying how much fun they had at the shoe house. Its a cute little place. They have yard games out back which is good for all kids to enjoy, and some adults too. I would spend my money here because it seems very family oriented.

Gwen Johnson

Something to learn for the kids,plus Icecream.

Dan Young

This place (and the person who built it) is really interesting and has great ice-cream.

Sue Holtzinger

Cute and quaint and friendly people!

Mary Rivarde

Love this place! As a child I've always seen it but never went through it. So glad we took the tour. Great people also!!

Dale Colyer

Interesting story about the shoe's original owner. Enjoyed the ice cream shop in the shoe's arch

John Grim

The history of the shoe house is very interesting. I would spend the $5.00 for the tour. The tour guide did an excellent job. Ice cream shop is nice addition to your trip.

William Sherwood

This is a great historic place. Fun place for kids they have an ice cream store homemade baked goods. Fun place to go little bit of History. Kind of a bucket list place

Shawn Green

A great piece of history a must see if you are in the area.

Conrad Bianco

A great place to learn some American history.

Teresa Shubilla

Great place to visit and the Ice Cream is delicious!

Nancy Shrader

Very interesting, but not handicap accessible.

Jeffrey Potter

We have finally made it to see this place of interest after living about 15-20 minutes away for close to a decade. Lots of snippets of history of the guy that created this place to promote his business. Did the tour. Had some ice cream afterward. Fun little spot! I did not ask if I could take pictures of the tour... (Forgot) but they do have places to eat your treats inside and outside. In the sun and shade. They have a porta potty bathroom for the guests. (For those that need to know) You'll have to take the tour for more info.

Travis Girl

Great place to visit. Tour price is reasonable. Liked it better than Lucy the Elephant in Margate, NJ.

Michael Scheindlinger

What a charming little house. Nice tour for $5.00 and the ice cream was very good. A great outing for the kids.

P Vogt

Awesome place for a guided tour and awesome Beck's ice cream!

Amanda Little

So neat. Do the tour!

Pat West

Unique and off the beaten path.

Stacey Phillips

This was so awesome. The kids and I had a lot of fun here...

WhatsATown WithoutNoDucks

Fantastic place, wonderful tour, and amazing ice cream.

Brad Kline

I lived in York County for 67 years and I'm embarrassed to say this is the first time I finally got inside the Shoehouse. This is a York County gem that has to be seen and experienced. There were two older ladies there also seeing it for the first time but their excuse was they live in England.

Barb Clouser

Great historical place to visit. $5 donation for the tour inside a shoe house.

Ann Brennan

Wonderful tour.

Brent Potter

Great ice cream. Owner was very welcoming. I highly recommend.

Craig Newton

Quaint roadside attraction with a neat history and great ice cream!

M CA

Unique architecture! Ice cream is delicious!!

Frankie Millberg

Absolutely wonderful, a great place to visit and the people there are nice. Has an on-site ice cream shop with the best Ice Cream I've had.

Benton Jackson

Great little museum. Wonderful people that stay open late. Wish there was a little more information and details on the tour about such an important figure in York history

Karen Helsel

So much fun, and the owner has a true passion to preserve this bit of Americana

Jolene Yaksich

Cute house with some fun history that goes with it.

Taulanna Spicer

Neat place to go. The tour guide and owner are very sweet. Would recommend

Wax Brackett

Good off the beaten track, classic building, friendly staff and good ice cream

independent mama

Great tours and great ice cream.

C D

Fun place to see and tour. My grandaughters and I enjoyed learning about the house and the Haines family. On the lower level, they sell food and other items. Outside, they have outdoor games which we enjoyed playing, and picnic tables to sit at...the owner is lovely.

connie kirkendall

Love the ice cream and stamp of shoe house on hand. And the tour

Adele Allison

Where can you possibly go to see a real shoehouse, and eat ice cream!

Cathy Rollinitis

really nice slice of Americana!

Bob Hoagland

Fun to eat ice cream here and take the tour to hear about the great shoe salesman. This place is bigger than it looks from the outside. Can't believe three bedrooms and two bathrooms, kitchen and living room all packed in there.

Andy Berman

Very interesting house with a brief tour for five dollars. The tour guide was very informative and the house was filled with artifacts from the past. There’s a fair amount of parking and an ice cream and candy/gift shop in the bottom.

Patrick McCormick

Iconic roadside attraction. Good ice cream. Worth seeing;

Perhapsapanda

It's one of a kind. An interesting place with some interesting history. The people that work there are so nice. And they have an ice cream parlor! A great place to check out.

Family Adventures

Really neat place to visit

Jerry Anderson

America used to be full of this kind of strange but fun roadside attractions. A little hard to get to from the main road but worth it for good ice cream and a fun tour. The whole family will enjoy a visit to the 1940s artifact of an entrepreneur's mind.

Rose Lynch

Cool place just wish it was open when we stopped by

Jenn Jacoby

If you want a quirky road stop that is super friendly and has good icecream with an interesting history-this is the place for you

Madison M. Herrera

The Shoe House brings back wonderful memories for me. My grandmother and I would go every year for a tour and I remember that everyone was knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. I cannot wait to go back soon to relive some wonderful childhood memories.

K Kars

Very cute place to stop for ice cream. For $5 you can take a tour and find out the history of the house.

Michael Reigart Jr.

Great roadside attaction full of lots of interesting facts about the interesting man who built this interesting house.

Lauree Baldwin

Cute place with an unique history. I believe it was the owner's mother who took us on our first tour and it was so interesting. We went back with family later and a man led the tour. He was a nice man but it was not nearly as interesting that time.

Alan Murdoch

Very interesting place to visit, with a short tour that tells the life story of a very interesting man. One of many under seen Roadside Attractions across the region!

Mike Autry

Cute place to stop and visit. Classic road side stuff. They have good ice cream and they do a tour of the museum for $5. Children 5 and under do the tour free.

Nicole Eplee

Sweet little stop. The tour was great. My girls enjoyed it. There's a little ice cream shop where the former car port was. Tour is $5/person, kids 5 and under are free.

Brenda Covert

It has a history...the kind that makes America great. You'll need to go there and get the whole story to appreciate it. I don't want to ruin it for You!

Michael Palan

defines the term ‘Roadside Attraction’. you will get a kick out of it. Take the $5 tour!

Kenneth Gorman

Fun little place but it not an all day place. Spent about an hour there

Krista Autry

Loved visiting this place. It is a museum and small kids will need to be kept close as most of the displays are in eyeline of the kids. The staff are friendly and the guided tour super informational regarding the house itself but most importantly the man behind the creation of it. I enjoyed learning about Mahlom Haines and the history of his family. I feel that the $5/person tour was well worth the money.

Melissa MacDonald

Very friendly! Neatest place I've been too! Definitely historic and love their ice cream!! I wish I had an ice cream place like that near us

mike fissel

Interesting place great ice cream

Thomas Weierick

Interesting roadside attraction, worth a stop. Tour is well worth the time, very interesting builder.

Stephanie Horton

Such a fun family visit. The Turkey Hill ice cream is awesome. Check the clipper magazine for bogo coupons.

Connor Scheidel

Take the tour!

Aaron Gingrich

The owner was working and was unbelievably nice and fun. The inside and outside have been recently redone and are very nice, and everything is very clean. Great ice cream and all of the baked goods are home made. Definitely will be coming back.

Sherri Krob

Very interesting. Would recommend for anyone looking to do something different. The owners were really nice and gave lots of information about the house.

gregg clark

Loved it

Luis Alejandro

One of those interesting almost road side attraction we didnt actually do the tour it cost $5.

Charles Pritchard

Very nice little tour, takes you back to an earlier day. Go and see it, we enjoyed it very much.

JON Armor

This little piece of Pennsylvania history is just a treasure we went here just to do a little sightseeing one warm afternoon the shoe is exceptionally cool the owner of the shoe was there and was very nice to us she runs a small ice cream shop downstairs which I highly recommend after your tour this is a very family-friendly place however it is a great place just to take a date and wander around if you haven't seen this little piece of Pennsylvania history be sure to get there right away

Pamela Bruns

Such a cute place and wonderful knowledgeable tour guide and owner. Not too pricey and a fun little bit of local history. Ice cream was good too. You could tell they really love what they do there.

Frederik Ijff

Always a pleasure to see this place.

Brian Shirk

Cool...Enjoyed the tour . Finally saw it in person after seeing it from the highway for many years.

m meyerovich

Well kept and run, short and sweet tour for a piece of history

Anne Marie McKillip

This place is truly one of a kind but it is also quite small and there are antiques throughout so it may not be the best idea for small children or those who have trouble getting around. There is a cute little ice cream shop on the bottom floor and several picnic tables outside.

Leah Edmiston

Fun experience with the kiddos! They loved that they were in a shoe house and got to enjoy some ice-cream. Fun place to stop and explore for a cheap outing.

Bradley Bull

As another person mentioned, no review prior to 3/20/2015 is valid. The Shoe House is a piece of highway history. I'm very glad that it is in the great hands of a couple that want future generations to enjoy the quirky house and the story of its builder. Stop in starting the first day of Spring!

James Whiteside

Nice little stop, that is fairly close to the highway. Not much to do, but they do offer a $5 tour and have a ice cream shop downstairs. EXCELLENT PHOTO OPPORTUNITY!!!

Lauren Miller

The new owners are fabulous! They are doing such a great job of bringing this iconic and historic site back into the public eye and its former glory. Really nice people. And the tours are so informative and enjoyable! Also the ice cream is delicious! Definitely stop by if you're in the area!

Ray Shaver

Very interesting.

Dale Loffredo

Very interesting

Mike Woodring

Great place to visit

Lorraine

A really interesting tour.

kellywith

I have driven past this attraction weekly for 20 years and finally decided to take my grandson. It is a great piece of Americana. Gorilla marketing at its best many decades ago. The tour guide was very informative and had a great was of the the story of the Haines Shoe house. Don't miss the kitchen. I felt it was very reasonably priced $5 per person. On the ground level is a little ice cream shop that was an additional treat for my grandson

Bonnie Johnson

Great place