County seat, Lancaster, 418 feet above sea, population 53,150; laid out by Governor Gordon in 1730; near by is the Conestoga River, named by Conestoga Indians, a tribe of the Delawares; the Dutch who lived here invented the wagon, with big covered tops, drawn by six horses, and named it for the river. It is said that here was first given to Washington the title “Des Landes Vater.” This is a square city, lines run north and south, east and west, with outlying districts; one, Rossmere, was named in honor of George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The Continental Congress arrived here from Philadelphia the very day Sir William Howe entered that city; the next day they moved to York. This was the Capital of the State from 1799-1812, and birthplace of Simon Snyder, Governor of Pennsylvania 1808-1817. In center of Penn Square is a monument to soldiers and sailors of the Civil War. One block away is the court house, on East King Street, built about 1850; architect, Samuel Sloan; Corinthian; contains portraits of Hon. Isaac E. Hiester by Isaac Williams, and Hon. W. U. Hensel by Lazare Raditz, Philadelphia. Jail, East King Street, Norman castellated, red sandstone, built, 1850, architect, John Haviland. Fountain, East King Street, on reservoir grounds, made, 1905, memorial to John Williamson Nevin; bronze lion, sculptor, Blanche Nevin.
Michael Schlatter and Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, leaders of the Reformed and Lutheran Germans, were in favor of higher education, and established Franklin College in 1787, forming the beginning of Franklin and Marshall College; built on an eminence west of city; main building Elizabethan, brick, built, 1854-55, with beautiful entrance door, contains portraits. In the Watts de Peyster Library are bronze busts of the father and mother of General de Peyster. St. Stephen’s Chapel has memorial window to Rev. John W. Nevin, D.D., LL.D., made by Armstrong, New York. On the campus is bronze heroic statue of Abraham de Peyster, made in New York, 1895, replica of one facing New York Custom House. The
MAIN BUILDING FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE, LANCASTER
scientific building contains oil paintings, among them one by J. D. Wiltkamp, “The Three Women of Grève-Coeur.” Buchanan Park, opened, 1905, joins the college campus and grounds of the Reformed Theological Seminary. “Wheatland,” residence of President James Buchanan, is near, on Marietta Pike, colonial, brick, built prior to 1812. St. Joseph’s Hospital and Roman Catholic Church are near college; hospital contains portrait of Henry E. Muhlenberg, M.D., by Caroline Peart Brinton; the church windows are from Munich and Innspruck.
Among Lancaster’s numerous churches are, the Moravian, West Orange Street, rear part stone, built, 1750, oldest in the city, brick front added, 1820. First Reformed, East Orange Street, brick; Romanesque; built, 1852-54; two steeples, contains lectern and other pieces of woodcarving by A. Lang of Oberammergau, nephew of Anton Lang, made, 1905; decorations by J. F. Lamb, New York; windows from Tiffany and D’Ascenzo studios; bronze memorial tablet by Martha Hovenden. St. James Protestant Episcopal, corner of East Orange and North Duke Streets, Norman, brick; main walls built, 1820, added to 1870 and 1910; chancel windows from England, others by Lamb and the Tiffany Studios, New York; oil painting, “The Crucifixion,” artist, Jacob Eicholtz; pictorial tile base at altar, by Dr. Henry Mercer; in parish house is fifteenth century oil painting, Urbanean School. St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic, East Orange Street, bronze altar and statues from Oux et Cie, Paris; frescoes by Ludwig Reingruber are adaptations of old masters. Trinity Lutheran, South Duke Street, brick; fine old Georgian style, compares with Christ Church, Philadelphia; built, 1761; tower and spire added, 1794; wood sculpture, four evangelists, at base of tower; original pipe organ built, 1771, was utilized in new organ; memorial windows by the Tiffany Company, and by Joseph Lauber, New York City.
Fulton Opera House, Prince Street between Orange and West King Streets, on site of massacre of Conestoga Indians by Paxtang boys in 1763, over entrance, life-size statue, carved wood, of Robert Fulton, made, 1852, sculptor, Hugh Cannon: the Lancaster County Historical Society placed a tablet on the wall of Robert Fulton’s birthplace, built, 1765; southern part of Lancaster County, Fulton Township, A. Herr Smith, Memorial Free Library, North Duke Street; Italian villa style; contains portraits of notable men identified with Lancaster County. Post Office and Revenue Building, North Duke Street, Italian Renaissance; Indiana limestone; built by United States Government. Guaranty Trust Company, North Duke Street, Ionic, marble, built, 1912. The Henry G. Long Asylum, corner of Marietta and West End Avenues, contains two portraits by Jacob Eicholtz. The Iris Club, founded by Miss Alice Nevin, has annual exhibition of paintings.
In Woodward Hill Cemetery, southern part of city, on the Conestoga, is tomb of President James Buchanan. Greenwood Cemetery, end of South Queen Street, has stone entrance, made, 1895, by Rothenberger. Tomb of Thaddeus Stevens, white and black marble and granite, is in Shreiner burial ground. West Chestnut Street, corner of Shippen and Ross Streets, is inclosure and small brick monument topped by stone sphere, site of George Ross’s mansion. Bountiful markets held on the curbs, as well as in the market houses, are a distinctive and picturesque feature of the town; the presence of the Mennonite, Amish, and other sects lends a peculiar aspect to the scene.