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Cities Near Lancaster, PA
1205 Union St
Lancaster, PA (in city)
3 Bed, 2 Bath
Townhome
1482 sq.ft.
9 Photos
9 Kimberly Ct
Lancaster, PA (in city)
4 Bed, 2+ Bath
Home
2110 sq.ft.
10 Dante Blvd
Lancaster, PA (in city)
5 Bed, 3+ Bath
Home
2166 sq.ft.
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Local city information for Lancaster, PA
Lancaster is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351, it is the eighth largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Bethlehem, and Scranton. The metropolitan area population stands at 494,486 making it the 101st largest metropolitan area in the US.
Locally, Lancaster is pronounced as , rather than the more common American pronunciation (
cf. the British pronounciation).
Originally called Hickory Town, the city 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. During the American Revolution, it was briefly the capital of the colonies on September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. After meeting one day, they moved still farther away, to York, Pennsylvania. Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, after which the capital was moved to Harrisburg.
In 1737, the Lancaster County Prison was built in the city, and is a near-replication of the Lancaster Castle in England. The prison remains in use as of 2008, and was used for public hangings until 1912.
The first paved road in the United States was the former Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, which makes up part of the present-day U.S. Route 30. Opened in 1795, the Turnpike connected the cities of Lancaster and Philadelphia, and was designed by a Scottish engineer named John Loudon MacAdam. Lancaster residents are known to use the word,
"macadam", in lieu of pavement or asphalt. This name is a reference to the paving process named by MacAdam.
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.
After the American Revolution, the city of 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.
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 is succeeded by Foot Locker.
Lancaster was one of the winning communities for the All-America City award in 2000.
List your home on the MLS in Lancaster, Pennsylvania