Cassius Emlen Urban was born in 1863 in Conestoga Township, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Lancaster Boys High School and then set out for an apprenticeship in Scranton. He stayed in Scranton for several years, then returned to Lancaster to begin his architectural business.

One of Urban's first designs in Lancaster City was the Southern Market. Many more of today's historical sites in Lancaster City were designed by Emlen, such as the Watt & Shand building, the Hager Building, the 1917 remodeling of DeMuth's Tobacco Shop storefront, the Griest Building. Not only did he design commercial buildings in the city, he also designed industrial buildings, civic buildings, residences, churches and schools. Several buildings on the F&M College campus were designs of Urban.

You can also find Urban's work in the design of Millersville University's Tanger House, the B.F. Hiestand House in Marietta and the A.S. Kreider Shoe Company in Elizabethtown.

Outside of Lancaster County, Urban connected with Milton Hershey and worked with him in designing his "High Point" mansion in Hershey, as well as developing the town of Hershey.

Urban's career spanned fifty years. He died on May 19, 1939 in Lancaster, where his legacy remains.

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