The story
Founded by James Hamilton in 1730.1
History
18th century
Originally called Hickory Town, Lancaster was renamed after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster. Lancaster was part of the 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn, and was laid out by James Hamilton in 1734. It was incorporated as a borough in 1742 and incorporated as a city in 1818.
In the summer of 1744 the Lancaster courthouse was the venue for an important colonial treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Conrad Weiser served as interpreter, and the text of the treaty was soon after published by Benjamin Franklin.
During the American Revolution, Lancaster served for one day as the temporary capital of the United States, seated at the Court House (built 1739, destroyed by fire in 1784 and rebuilt before relocating to current Lancaster County Courthouse in 1852; original site is now the Soldiers & Sailors Monument at Penn Square c. 1874), on September 27, 1777, after the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. The revolutionary government then moved still farther away to York, Pennsylvania.
A surviving mid-18th-century Torah ark lintel from the Lancaster home of Joseph Simon reflects the use of private homes for traditional Jewish prayer in colonial cities without synagogues. Its carving depicts the Tablets of the Law and bears the Hebrew phrase “Know before Whom you are standing.”
19th century
Lancaster was the capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, with the state capital located at the Court House (built 1784 and demolished 1852 and now site of Soldiers & Sailors Monument at Penn Square). In 1812, the capital was moved to Harrisburg, where it has remained since.
U.S. census reports show that, from 1800 to 1900, Lancaster ranked among the nation's top 100 most populous urban areas.
In 1851, the current Lancaster County Prison, known locally as Lancaster Castle, was built in the city but shares no visual similarities with the Lancaster Castle in England. The prison remains in use, and was used for public hangings until 1912. It replaced a 1737 structure on a different site.
The first long-distance paved road in the United States was the former Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, which connected the cities of Lancaster and Philadelphia. Opened in 1795, the turnpike was paved with stone the whole way, and overlaid with gravel. The sixty-two-mile turnpike cost more than $450,000, a staggering sum for the time. The route followed what is now Pennsylvania Route 340 (also called the "Old Philadelphia Pike") from Lancaster to Thorndale and U.S. Route 30 Business and U.S. Route 30 from Thorndale to Philadelphia.
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The city of Lancaster was home to several important figures in American history. Wheatland, the estate of James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States, is one of Lancaster's most popular attractions. Thaddeus Stevens, considered among the most powerful members of the United States House of Representatives, lived in Lancaster as an attorney. Stevens gained notoriety as a Radical Republican and for his abolitionism. The Fulton Opera House in the city was named for Lancaster native Robert Fulton, a renaissance man who created the first fully functional steamboat. All of these individuals have had local schools named after them.
After the American Revolutionary War, Lancaster became an iron-foundry center. Two of the most common products needed by pioneers to settle the Frontier were manufactured in Lancaster: the Conestoga wagon and the Pennsylvania long rifle. The Conestoga wagon was named after the Conestoga River, which runs through the city. The innovative gunsmith William Henry lived in Lancaster and was a U.S. Congressman and leader during and after the American Revolution.
In 1803, Meriwether Lewis visited Lancaster to be educated in survey methods by the well-known surveyor Andrew Ellicott. During his visit, Lewis learned to plot latitude and longitude as part of his overall training needed to lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
In 1879, Franklin Winfield Woolworth opened his first successful five and dime store in the city of Lancaster, the F. W. Woolworth Company.
20th and 21st centuries
Lancaster was one of the winning communities for the All-America City award in 2000.
In 2009, a community organization installed and began monitoring 164 closed-circuit cameras in Lancaster, which engendered some local opposition.
On October 13, 2011, Lancaster's City Council officially recognized September 27 as Capital Day, a holiday recognizing Lancaster's one day as capital of the United States in 1777.
Lancaster receives 20 times more refugees per capita than the rest of the United States, leading it to be dubbed "America's refugee capital" in 2015. Between 2005 and 2019, nearly 5,000 refugees were resettled in Lancaster. Lancaster announced its designation as a Certified Welcoming City in 2019. Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai visited Lancaster in 2017 to honor its commitment to refugees, an experience she detailed in her book We Are Displaced. Lancaster City Council voted to end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2024.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Lancaster had a population of 58,039. The median age was 32.7 years; 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.3% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.0 males age 18 and over.
Of those residents, 40.3% were Hispanic/Latino, 38.9% were non-Hispanic White, 12.6% were non-Hispanic Black, 3.8% were Asian, and 4.4% identified as mixed or other races.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 22,131 households in Lancaster, of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 30.0% were married-couple households, 23.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 23,769 housing units, of which 6.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.2%.
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, the city was 55.2% White, 16.3% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.0% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian, and 5.8% were two or more races. 39.3% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 56,348 people, 20,933 households, and 12,162 families residing in the city. The population density was 7,616.5 people per square mile (2,940.7 people/km2). There were 23,024 housing units at an average density of 3,112.1 per square mile (1,201.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 61.55% White, 14.09% African American, 0.44% Native American, 2.46% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 17.44% from other races, and 3.94% from two or more races. 30.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino people of any race.
There were 20,933 households, out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.4% were married couples living together, 19.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.9% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,770, and the median income for a family was $34,623. Males had a median income of $27,833 versus $21,862 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,955. 21.2% of the population and 17.9% of families were below the poverty line. 29.2% of those under the age of 18 and 12.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Poverty in Lancaster is twice the state's average, and public school records list more than 900 children as homeless.
Although there are many Amish people from this area, not everyone from Lancaster is Amish, contrary to popular belief.
Historical landmarks
Many of Lancaster's landmarks are significant in local, state, and national history.
Central Market – built in 1889, it is the oldest continuously run farmers' market in the United States.
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church – built in 1879, the church's congregation aided freedmen migrating to the North for opportunities after the American Civil War. Their congregation had earlier aided fugitive slaves fleeing the South before the war, using their former church as a station on the Underground Railroad.
Cork Factory Hotel – built in 1865 as Conestoga Cork Works. Later the buildings making up what is known today as Urban Place were home to Armstrong Cork Factory and Kerr Glass Company. Rezoned in 2005, Urban Place has been adapted as 49 loft-style apartments, 115,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, the Cork Factory Hotel, and Cap & Cork Restaurant.
Fulton Opera House – the oldest continually running theater in the United States, it is one of three theaters designated as National Historic Landmarks (the others are the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and the Goldenrod Showboat in St. Louis, Missouri).
Hamilton Watch Complex – former factory and headquarters of the Hamilton Watch Company, which in 1957 sold the world's first battery-powered watch, the Hamilton Electric 500.
Historic Rock Ford – built in 1794, this was the home of General Edward Hand, adjutant general to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Since 2021, the John J. Snyder, Jr. Gallery, located on the second floor of Historic Rock Ford's red barn, showcases Lancaster decorative arts from the 18th and early 19th centuries.
J. P. McCaskey High School – built in 1938 during the Great Depression, it is designed in the Art Deco architectural style.
Historic St. Mary's Church – built in 1854, this church has served the German-speaking Catholics of Lancaster since 1741.
Lancaster Arts Hotel – Built in 1881, this building was the Falk and Rosenbaum Tobacco Warehouse. In October 2006, the warehouse reopened after adaptation, as Lancaster's first boutique hotel for the arts. It has 63 guest rooms (including 12 suites); an organic restaurant, John J Jeffries; and an on-site art gallery. It is registered with the Historic Hotels of America.
Lancaster County Prison – built in 1849, it was styled after the Lancaster Castle in England.
Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania - built in 1908–1909 in what is now the Historic District of Lancaster, it is unique among the buildings by C. Emlen Urban and contains stained glass by Franz Xaver Zettler (designed by Swiss-American architect Woldemar H. Ritter) and by Charles Connick.
W. W. Griest Building – listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since June 25, 1999. It was built in 1925 in the Beaux-Arts style using granite, limestone, terra cotta, synthetics, and asphalt. The building is named after William Walton Griest, a former Pennsylvania representative. It is the second-tallest building in the city.
Wheatland – the historic estate of James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States.
Historical Lancaster teams
The Lancaster Red Roses of the Eastern Professional Baseball League are the most well-known of Lancaster's defunct teams. They played from 1906 to 1909, and from 1940 to their last season in 1961. The Red Roses were called the "Lancaster Maroons" from 1896 to 1899 and the "Lancaster Red Sox" in 1932.
The "Lancaster Red Roses" was also the name of a basketball franchise in the Continental Basketball Association (at that time, the Eastern Professional Basketball League) from 1946 to 1949, and from 1953 to 1955. The CBA later hosted another Lancaster team called the Lightning from 1981 to 1985. The Lightning later moved to Rockford, Illinois, where they played until the 2007 season. The Storm of the Eastern Basketball Alliance played from 1997 to 2000, winning the league championship in 1999. The last professional basketball team to call Lancaster home was the Liberty, who played as a member of the now-defunct Global Professional Basketball League in 2009.
From Wikipedia’s article on Lancaster, Pennsylvania, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5