VISITLancaster

• Lancaster is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States of America. It is 71 miles west of Philadelphia and is snuggled along the north and west by the mighty Susquehanna River.

• From 1799 to 1812, Lancaster was the capital of Pennsylvania. Lancaster was also the capital of the United States for one day.

• German immigrants, known as Pennsylvania Dutch (from “Deutsch” meaning German), were the first to settle in the area in 1709. At that time it was known as “Hickory Town”.

• John Wright, a prominent citizen, gave it the name “Lancaster” after Lancaster, England where he formerly lived. The city is known as the “Red Rose City” due to its link to Lancaster, England.

• The Famous Woolworth’s 5 & 10 Cent Store was first founded by Frank Woolworth in Lancaster in 1879, after a previous unsuccessful attempt in Utica, NY. His original Lancaster store was located at North Queen and Chestnut Streets.

• Robert Fulton, born in Lancaster County in 1765, was the first to make navigation practical with a ship powered by steam. Fulton did not invent the steam engine, but he made history with his steam powered voyage on the Hudson River in 1807. A township in southern Lancaster County is named after him.

• Milton S. Hershey, whose name has become synonymous with the chocolate bar, actually started his first milk chocolate factory in Lititz, Lancaster County. Milton Hershey had big plans of building a bigger factory with a town around it and founded the famous factory and town that was named after him in nearby Dauphin County.

• The Follmer-Clogg Umbrella Corporation, located at West King and Mulberry Streets in Lancaster, was once the largest umbrella factory in the world. It has now been converted to residences known as The Umbrella Works.

• James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States, moved to Lancaster after college and died there. He is buried in Woodward Hill Cemetery.

• Lancaster County has 29 covered bridges, also known as kissing bridges.

• American pioneers who traveled west relied heavily on the sturdy, broad-wheeled Conestoga wagons, which originated from Conestoga, Pennsylvania.

• Lancaster County Conservancy’s Boyer Nature Preserve was once home to one of the largest Native American settlements east of the Mississippi.