Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, known as the Garden Spot of America since the, is located in the southeastern part of the of , in the. With an estimated 2005 population of 490,562 Lancastrians, Lancaster County forms the Lancaster, the 99th largest of 361 in the U.S. The city of  is the.

Lancaster County is a popular tourist destination, due mostly to the many residents, known as the  or. The misnomer 'Pennsylvania Dutch' comes from the misunderstanding of the word 'Deutsch', pronounced 'DOY-ch', which is how the word 'German' is pronounced in the German language. They are the descendants of s who in the 18th and 19th centuries  for the  offered by, and were attracted by the rich soil and mild climate of the area.

Lancastrians can easily spot a visitor to the area by how they pronounce the word Lancaster. Locals and people from nearby counties in, , and pronounce Lancaster as LANK-ister. This is unusual as most Lancasters in the are pronounced as LAN-cast-er, though  also uses the LANK-ister pronounciation.

Natives
The first recorded inhabitants of the  were the  speaking s, whose name meant "people of the muddy river" in. They were also known as the, from their principal , Kanestoge, known to the English as. They were viewed by European settlers as a friendly tribe, converted to, who made brooms and baskets for sale, and named children after their favorite neighbors.

However, the outbreak of in the summer of 1763, coupled with the conciliatory but militarily ineffective policies of the provincial government, aroused widespread suspicion and hatred against all  in the frontier counties of the state. Rumors spread that the were harboring strange and hostile  in their village. On, the , led by Matthew Smith and Capt. , descended upon the village, slaughtered the six Indians present at the time, and burned their houses. The fourteen survivors of the tribe were placed in protective custody in the county workhouse, but the Paxton Boys returned on, broke into the workhouse, and butchered the remaining Susquehannocks. The widespread sympathy in the frontier counties for the perpetrators of these acts made their discovery and arrest futile.

Other tribes in the area included the, Gawanese, (or Delaware), and s.

Boundaries
The area that became Lancaster County was part of 's charter, and John Kennerly received  the first recorded deed from Penn in. Although Matthias Kreider was said to have been in the area as early as 1691, there is no evidence that anyone actually settled in Lancaster County before.

Lancaster County was part of until   when it became the fourth county in the state. Lancaster County was named after the city of in the county of  in England, the native home of John Wright, one of the early s. Six other counties were subsequently formed from territory directly taken, in all or in part, from Lancaster County:  (1752),  (1750),  (1785),  (1813),  (1772), and  (1749). Many other counties were in turn formed from these six.

The southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and thus of Lancaster County, was in dispute for years. believed that his grant to Maryland extended to the 40th parallel — about halfway between Lancaster and. Starting in 1730, Thomas Cresap started by confiscating farms near  and, establishing ferries there. He started vandalizing farms, killing livestock and driving away settlers in southern York and Lancaster counties, giving those lands to his followers. When a follower was arrested, the Marylanders broke him out of the Lancaster lockup. Lord Baltimore negotiated a compromise in 1733, but Cresap ignored it, and continued his raids. When an attempt was made to arrest him in 1734, he killed a deputy at his door. The Pennsylvania governor demanded Maryland arrest Cresap for murder; the Maryland governor named him a captain in their militia instead. In 1736, he was finally arrested, and jailed until 1737 when the King intervened. In 1750, a court decided that Lord Baltimore had forfeited his rights to a twenty-mile swath of land. The new Pennsylvania-Maryland border was properly established by the in 1767.

The names of the original Lancaster County townships reflect the diverse array of settlers in the new county: two had Welsh names ( and ), three had Native American names (, and Peshtank or Paxton), six were English (,, , ,  and ); four were Irish (, , , and ),  was German,  came from the Bible, and  the anglicization of the German surname of Graf or Groff.



19th century statesmen
Lancaster County's native son, a , was elected as the 15th in 1856, the only Pennsylvanian to hold the presidency. His home,, is now a museum in Lancaster. , the noted, served Lancaster County in the from 1848 until his death in 1868. Stevens left a $50,000 bequest to start an orphanage that eventually became the state-owned. Both men are buried in Lancaster.

Slavery and the Christiana incident
Pennsylvania slavery in 1780, although in a slow manner. The existing 6000 slaves in Pennsylvania remained slaves, and the registered children of those slaves were slaves until their 28th birthday. The last slave child registered in Pennsylvania was Haley, born in 1811, and a freedman no later than 1839. Thus Pennsylvania was legally a free state when the was passed as part of the.

Being immediately north of the Mason-Dixon line, Lancaster County was an important stop on the. Charles Spotts found 17 stations; including ones with trap doors, hidden vaults, an underground cave and one with a brick tunnel leading to Octorara Creek.

As go, 51-year-old Edward Gorsuch was probably one of the best. He did not beat his slaves, and as a rich Maryland farmer, he could afford to  slaves in their 20s. He allowed his slaves to work for cash elsewhere during the slow season. There was wheat missing, though, sold to a local farmer by his slaves, and he thought a former slave was responsible for this dishonesty. As he had a bad temper, slaves Noah Buley, Nelson Ford, George Ford, and Joshua Hammond became afraid, and fled to the farm of William Parker, a mulatto who lived in. Parker, 29, was a member of the Lancaster Black Self-Protection Society, and known to use violence.

Honor was at stake. Having slaves run away made him look disreputable, so Gorsuch obtained four warrants, and organized four parties which set out separately to recover his property. He died in the attempt, though, and others were wounded. Although Gorsuch was legally entitled to recover his slaves, it isn't clear who precipitated the violence. The incident — variously called the "Christiana Riot", the "Christiana Outrage", and the "Christiana Tragedy", depending on one's political and religious leanings — became a national controversy. In September, 1851, the returned a  against 38 individuals who were then held in Moyamensing Prison in Philadelphia to await trial. The only one who was ever tried was Castner Hanway.

It's not clear that Castner Hanway was responsible in any way for what happened. He was a white man, one of the first on the scene. On the other hand, Hanway and his horse provided cover for Joshua Gorsuch and Dr. Pearce, who were wounded. Hanway was tried in federal court in Philadelphia on  for liberating slaves taken into custody by US Marshal Kline, for resisting arrest, for conspiracy, and for treason. The jury returned a Not Guilty verdict in only 15 minutes. Among the five defense lawyers was congressman.

(For further reading, see Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, 1851, by, T.Y. Crowell, New York, 1974.) also 'Treason at Christiana: September 11, 1851' by L.D. "Bud" Rettew, 2006

Religious history
Not only did religious differences spur early growth of Pennsylvania and Lancaster County, but Lancaster County gave birth to many religious bodies as well. The oldest surviving dwelling for European immigrants in the county is that of Bishop, a. In 1989, counted 37 distinct religious bodies/organizations, with 289 congregations and 41,600 baptized members, among the  who are descendents of the  Mennonite immigrants to Lancaster County. The Mennonite Central Committee in is often among the first to arrive at a disaster scene, quietly providing manpower and materiel to local organizations that better understand where relief should be directed.

In addition to the, the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) trace their beginnings to a 1767 meeting at the Isaac Long barn, near the hamlet of Oregon, in. The EUB, a German methodist church, merged with the traditionally-english Methodist church to become the in 1968,

Innovations
Lancaster County's innovators have given the world:
 * , the artistic and elaborate 18th century and 19th century hand-illuminated folk art inspired by German blackface type, originated at 's of German 7th-day Baptists in.
 * The first battery-powered watch, the Hamilton Electric 500, was released in 1957 by the Hamilton Watch Company.
 * The, sometimes mistakenly called the Kentucky Long Rifle.
 * The, which started the practice of driving right-of-center.
 * The cigar The word Stogie is a shortened form of Conestoga.
 * The Amish, a highly utilitarian art form, dates to 1849 in Lancaster County.

Government
Lancaster County is represented nationally by s (R) and  (D), and by   (R) of.

s Gibson E. Armstrong 13th District, Michael W. Brubaker 36th District, and Mike Folmer 48th District are all Republican. With the exception of P. Michael Sturla 96th District, a Democrat, all local state are Republican: Thomas C. Creighton 37th District, Katie True 41st District, Scott W. Boyd 43rd District, John C. Bear 97th District, David S. Hickernell 98th District, Gordon Denlinger 99th District and Bryan Cutler 100th District.

With the exception of County Commissioner and Jury Commissioner Judith A. Saylor, who are both ,all county officials are members of the. The other county officials are County Commissioners Dick Shellenberger and Sharron Nelson, named to fill the unexpired term of Howard "Pete" Shaub, who resigned from office, Donald R. Totaro,  Gary Kirchner, MD,  Terry A. Bergman, , Recorder of Wills Donna Reinaker, Clerk of Common Pleas Court Dale Denlinger, Craig Ebersole,  Randall O. Wenger,  Dennis Stuckey, and Jury Commissioner Linda Schwanger.

Geography
Lancaster County has a total area of 2,548 (984 ). 2,458 km² (949 sq mi) of which is land and 90 km² (35 sq mi) of it (3.53%) is water.

Watersheds
Almost all of Lancaster County is in the, via the  watershed (the exception is a small unnamed tributary of the West Branch of  that rises in far eastern Salisbury Township and is part of the  watershed). The major s in the county (with percent area drained) are: and  (31.42%);  (15.02%);  (or Chickies Creek, 12.07%);  (11.25%);  (10.74%); and  (3.73%).

Protected areas
Lancaster County is home to, located on 224 acres (0.906 km²) overlooking the in. One of the three tracts comprising, the 10 acre (0.04 km²) Cornwall site, is located in northern  near the Lebanon County border. The site, with its 1923 fire tower, was acquired by the state in January, 1935.

There are also six for, , and  located in Lancaster County. They are numbers (with location and area): 46 (near, 5035 acres or 20.38 sqkm), 52 (near Morgantown, 1447 acres or 5.86 sqkm), 136 (near Kirkwood, 91 acres or 0.37 sqkm), 156 (near Poplar Grove, 4537 acres or 18.36 sqkm), 220 (near Reinholds, 96 acres or 0.39 sqkm), and 288 (near Martic Forge, 89 acres or 0.36 sqkm).

Adjoining counties
Lancaster County is bounded to the north by, to the northeast by , and to the east by (the southeastern boundary with Chester County is formed by ). To the south are and,  (across the ). To the west is (the boundary is the western shore of the ). To the northwest is (the boundary is formed by ).



Transportation
Main article: 

Lying on the natural route from Philadelphia to the western part of Pennsylvania, many improvements in transportation have been pioneered in Lancaster County, among them the, later part of the , in 1794 , a canal in 1820 and the in 1834.

Highways

Lancaster County's highways include the (or ),  (or the ),, and. Pennsylvania State Routes in the county include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and.

Current railroads

, passenger service in Lancaster County is provided by, whose  passes through the county, with stops at , and. A station is planned at to provide connecting service with the, which runs passenger excursions from nearby  to.

The principal freight operator in the county is (NS). The NS main line follows the Susquehanna River (with for  (CPR)), and leaves the county by crossing the river on  near. NS also has trackage rights over the Keystone Corridor, to which it is connected by the Royalton Branch, which runs north along the river from the main line at Marietta, and the Columbia Branch, which runs from the Corridor at to the main line at. Two other NS branches originate on the Corridor: the Lititz Secondary, which runs from Dillerville to and ends at, and the New Holland Industrial, which leaves the Corridor around the east end of Lancaster to run east to  and ends at.

Several shortlines also operate in the county. With the exception of the Strasburg Railroad, all are freight railroads. Penn Eastern Rail Lines (PRL) operates on a spur off the NS branch to Manheim, and on a longer line in the northeast corner of Lancaster County into Berks County. Landisville Terminal and Transfer Company (LNTV) operates on a spur off the Amtrak line at Landisville. The Tyburn Railroad operates some trackage around Dillerville. Frank Sahd Salvage, Inc., of Columbia, has received state funds to repair 2.5 miles of track there for operation, probably by the Penn Eastern, but this has not yet been returned to service.

The Lancaster Airport is at 40N07.30' Latitude, 76W17.77' Longitude, and 403 feet above sea level.

Population
The is 495 persons per square mile (versus 79.6 for the U.S. as a whole). In 2000, the average commute for adults was 21.7 minutes, compared to a national average of 25.5 minutes.

About half the population of Lancaster County lives within the city limits of Lancaster. Historian Douglas Harper says that they started arriving around when chicken processing plants in  recruited  as laborers, and told them to rent housing in Lancaster to avoid upsetting the locals. There was at least one other reason to recommend Lancaster to low-income workers, however: affordability. As of the 2000 census, the average rent in Lancaster was only $418 versus $572 for the county as a whole (including the city of Lancaster).

According to Harper, when the county got a good reputation as a safe place with good schools and jobs in cities like Philadelphia and, many more Hispanics came. As of 2000, Lancaster city is more Hispanic (30.8% Hispanic) than (8.5%) or New York City (27.0%). Lancaster has not yet fully adapted, although the has created its first Hispanic parish in the city,  Iglesia Catolica Hispana. The School District of Lancaster, with 52.3% Hispanic students, is struggling.

As of 2005, there were 490,562 residents in Lancaster County, representing 4.2% growth since 2000 and 11.3% growth since 1990. The population is all-American: 25.3% under 18 (compared to 25.0% nationally), 14.2% over 65 (12.4% nationally), and 51% female (50.8% nationally).

According to the, 5.58% of the population report speaking , , or at home, while a further 4.97% speak. 39.8% were of, 11.8% or American, 7.2%  and 5.7%  ancestry according to the.

Economy
In 2004, the county had a per capita personal income (PCPI) of $30,790, only 93% of the national average. This reflects a growth of 4.5% from the prior year, versus a 5.0% growth for the nation as a whole. Despite the lower income, the county poverty rate in 2003 was just 8.3% compared to a national rate of 12.5%. In 2004, federal spending in Lancaster County was $4,199 per resident, versus a national average of $7,232.

In 2005, Lancaster County was 10th of all counties in Pennsylvania with 17.7% of its workforce employed in manufacturing; the state averages 13.7%, and the leader,, has only 25.1%.

Lancaster County lags in information workers, despite being the corporate headquarters of. It ranks 31st in the state with only 1.3% of the workforce; the state as a whole employs 2.1% in information technology.

The county ranks 11th in the state in managerial and financial workers, despite having only 12.5% of the workforce in those occupations (versus the state average of 12.8%). The state leaders are with 20.5% and  with 18.5%.

With only 17.3% working in the professions, Lancaster County is 31st in Pennsylvania, compared to a state average of 21.5%. leads with 31.8%, undoubtedly due to 's giant footprint in an otherwise rural county, but the upscale Philadelphia suburbs of give them 27.2%.

Lancaster County ranks even lower, 34th, in service workers, with 13.3% of the workforce, compared to a state average of 15.8%. , the cheesesteak capital of the world, leads with 20.5%.

There are 11,000 companies in Lancaster County. The county's largest manufacturing and distributing employers at the end of 2003 were, Alumax Mill Products, Anvil International, , , , , , High Industries, , , , , , , , and.

,, , , , and are Lancaster County-based organizations with an economic footprint of regional or national significance.

is the third local defense contractor to face federal fraud charges in 20 years.



Agriculture
With some of the most fertile soil in the U.S., Lancaster County has a strong farming industry. Lancaster County's 5293 farms, generating $800 million in food, feed and fiber, are responsible for nearly a fifth of the state's agricultural output. Chester County, with their high-value mushroom farms, is second, with $375 million.

Livestock-raising is responsible for $710 million of that $800 million, with accounting for $266 million,  and s accounting for $258 million. and each account for about $90 million.

Agriculture is likely to remain an important part of Lancaster County: almost exactly half of Lancaster County's land - 320,000 acres - is zoned for agriculture, and 276,000 of those acres are "effective agricultural zoning", requiring at least 20 acres per residence.

Tourism
Tourism is a significant industry in Lancaster County, employing 47,000. In the 1860's, articles in the  and Lippincott’s Magazine started tourism in Lancaster County right after the, but it didn't really take off until the 1920's, when the was built. A travel article in 1952 brought 25,000 visitors, and the 1955   brought even more, but tourism tapered off, after the  and the  incident led to five years of stagnation.

Local tourism officials viewed it as when  stepped in to rescue their industry. , in the popular 1985 movie, played John Book, a Philadelphia detective who in turn played "Plain" in order to protect Samuel Lapp, an Old Order Amish boy who has witnessed a murder. Predictably, John Book falls in love with Rachel Lapp, the boy's widowed mother; the movie is less a thriller than a romance about the difficulties faced by an English man in love with a Plain widow. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, and won two. However, the real winner was Lancaster County tourism, as movie-goers found themselves intrigued by the Plain.

Once again, especially after the, tourism in Lancaster County has shifted. Instead of families arriving for a 3-4 day stay for a general visit, now tourists arrive for a specific event, whether it be the rhubarb festival, the "maize maze", to see, for 's annual "World's Largest Chicken Barbecue" or for the latest show at. The tourism industry is discouraged by this change, but not despondent: "In four years of working here on the Strasburg Rail Road, I’ve only had one complaint, she said that the ride is too short. People love Lancaster County. They’ll keep coming back." -- Betty McCormack

The county also promotes tourist visits to the county's numerous historic and picturesque s by publishing driving tours of the bridges. At over 200 bridges still in existence, Pennsylvania has more covered bridges than anywhere else in the world, and at, Lancaster County has the largest share.

The Lancaster County Convention Center Authority is building a controversial $170 million convention center in downtown Lancaster on the site of the former Watt & Shand building. The project's supporters believe it would promote the revitalization of the city's center. Its opponents, however, feel it poses an unacceptable risk to taxpayers.

Other tourist attractions include the American Music Theatre,, , , , , , , , , , and.

Municipalities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:, , townships, and, in at most two cases,. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Lancaster County:

Cities
is the only incorporated city in Lancaster County.

Boroughs
There are 18 boroughs in Lancaster County:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and.

Townships
There are 41 townships in Lancaster County:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and.

Unincorporated communities and census-designated places
s are geographical areas designated by the for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

,, , , , , , , , , , , , Lampeter, , , , , , , , , , Reinholds, , , , , , Silver Springs, , Talmage, and.

Education
The colleges of Lancaster County are, , , , , , Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and

There are 18 public school districts in the county:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and. There is also one charter school, the La Academia Charter School.

Sports
Before the Barnstormers, Lancaster was the home of the, which played from 1906 to about 1930, and from 1932 to 1961. Since 2005, Lancaster County's only professional sports team is the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Barnstormers are named after the "barnstorming" players who played exhibition games in the county. Their official colors are navy blue, red, and khaki, the same as those of the Red Roses. This franchise won their first league championship in 2006, only their second season. They plan to revive the old baseball rivalry between Lancaster and nearby, when the starts their inaugural season in 2007.

There was also a professional basketball team known as the (as well as the Lancaster Rockets and the Lancaster Lightning) which played in Lancaster between 1946 and 1980.

Since 2004, the amateur  team of the  has played at  football stadium in Kinzers. Beginning in 2006, the Lightning will also play at least one game per season at the Barnstormers' Clipper Magazine Stadium in downtown Lancaster.