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Lancaster History Museums.
The tapestry of our heritage.
The first recorded inhabitants in Lancaster history were the Susquehannock Indians. They arrived here around 1100 A.D., and at their height in the 16th and early 17th centuries perhaps 6,000 people were spread from Maryland to lower New York. Their name meant “people of the muddy river”; those in the Lancaster area were also known as the Conestoga, from their principal village Kanestoge near the town of Columbia on the Susquehanna River. By 1763 they no longer existed, having been killed by inter-tribal warfare, epidemics, and settlers.
In 1681 King Charles II of England gave William Penn a charter for 45,000 square miles of land in America, comprised of what is now Pennsylvania and Delaware. Penn loosely divided it into three counties – Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester. In 1729 Chester was re-defined and Lancaster County was formed, but it wasn’t until 1785 that the county’s current boundaries were established.
1709 was the first involvement of Europeans in Lancaster history. The Herr, Meylin, and Kendig families – Mennnonite immigrants fleeing religious persecution in Switzerland and Germany – bought 10,000 acres of land in the county. Led by Hans Herr they built the first community here in 1710, a few miles south of present Lancaster city. The first Pennsylvania (or Kentucky) rifles were developed here soon after.
Those first settlers were followed by more Swiss, English, Scots, French, and German settlers, and in 1734 the town of Lancaster was laid out; it was incorporated as a borough in 1742. Originally called Hickory Town, it was renamed by John Wright, a prominent citizen and native of the English city of Lancaster. The town’s symbol is the red rose from England’s House of Lancaster. During the American Revolution, it was the capital of the colonies for one day, September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. The following day Congress moved even farther, to York, Pennsylvania. Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, after which the capital was moved to Harrisburg.
Lancaster history and English history were joined again in 1737. The Lancaster County Prison was built and styled after Lancaster Castle in England. It was used for public hangings until 1912; since then it has been expanded and upgraded numerous times and is still in use.
By the mid-1700's Lancaster was known for its agricultural and manufactured products: iron, guns, textiles, furniture, and flax. To handle shipping to Philadelphia and elsewhere the Conestoga wagon was developed here about 1750. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the town had about 4,000 residents and was the country’s largest inland city. Commerce was so important that the first paved road in the United States, the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, was opened in 1795. Designed by Scottish engineer John MacAdam it is now part of present day U.S. Route 30. Even today many people use the term ‘macadam’ in lieu of asphalt.
Several prominent people are connected to the county in Lancaster history. Benjamin Franklin bought horses from here for one of his endeavors. George Washington visited General Edward Hand at his home (Rock Ford Plantation) during the Revolutionary War. In 1803 Meriwether Lewis spent time here while the well-known surveyor Andrew Ellicott taught him how to plot latitude and longitude, a skill later used on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. James Buchanan, fifteenth President of the United States lived here; his home, Wheatland, is a popular tourist attraction. Thaddeus Stevens, one of the most powerful members of the U. S. House of Representatives during the Civil War period, lived in Lancaster. The Fulton Opera House was named after native Robert Fulton, inventor of the Clermont, the first commercially successful steamboat. Numerous U.S. Presidents have visited here over the years.
Being immediately north of the Mason-Dixon line, Lancaster County was an important stop on the Underground Railway. At least seventeen stations have been located, including ones with trap doors, hidden vaults, an underground cave, and brick tunnels.
Religion has played an important part in the county’s history. In addition to its place as a center for Amish and Mennonite settlement, there are other notable points of interest. The town of Lititz is a planned community built by the Moravian Church beginning in the 1740s. Its Linden Hall School is one of the earliest educational institutions in the U.S. for girls. Another point of interest is the Ephrata Cloister, founded in 1732 by German settlers seeking spiritual goals rather than earthly rewards. Indeed, Lancaster history is rich in many respects.
At various times the city and its environs have been home to: the world’s largest umbrella manufacturer (Follmer-Clogg), the second largest silk mill in the world (Stehli Mill), a major manufacturer of watches and clocks (Hamilton), and a large building products company (Armstrong). In addition, Hershey chocolate was first made here, the first F. W. Woolworth 5 & 10 (now Foot Locker) was here, the town was a center for cigar manufacturering (‘stogies’ were the cigars favored by Conestoga wagon drivers) and more than 100 tobacco warehouses. Beer, cork, stoves, and farm tools were other important local products.
More recently, Lancaster history was enriched in 2000 by the city being named one of the winning communities for the All-America City award.
Of the many sites and museums related to Lancaster history, we’ve selected fourteen that you might want to visit. If you’re a real history buff you may want to see them all. But, if not, it may be easier to concentrate in one part of the county. To that end I’ve listed them in four geographic areas. In Lancaster city: Wheatland (President James Buchanan’s home), Lancaster County Historical Society, the North Museum, and The Heritage Center Museum. North of the city: Landis Valley Museum, Ephrata Cloister, Cornwall Iron Furnace, and National Civil War Museum. East of the city: Rock Ford Plantation, Mascot Roller Mills, Mennonite Information Center, and Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. South of the city: Hans Herr House and Conestoga Area Historical Society.
To get more information about each area, or an attraction within it, click on the area below:
In Lancaster city
North of the city
East of the city
South of the city
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