Elizabethtown began first as a settlement of the Algonian-speaking Conoy, also referred to as the Piscataway Indians, in the early 1700s, after a 1701 treaty with William Penn brought the Conoy to Pennsylvania under the protection of Iroquois nation. The Conoy built their village near the creek, which is now known as the Conoy Creek. The Conoy Creek stills run through modern day Elizabethtown.

The Conoy were a peaceful people who made pottery and baskets and grew crops of corn, tobaccco and pumpkins. English traders soon followed the Conoy tribe to trade their blankets, hardware, pots and knives for animal skins and crops. As a result, the village became a major trading center located conveniently between Lancaster and Harrisburg. In 1732, John Harris bought a large parcel of land and established a trading post on Conoy Creek in 1732. As trade increased he built the stone building, which currently houses the Farmer's Mutual Insurance Company in 1745.

Scots-Irish were the first immigrants to settle in the village.

In the early 1750s, Barnabas Hughes acquired the trading post built by John Harris and expanded it into the largest trading post between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In 1753 he laid out the town, which he named in honor of his wife Elizabeth.

The Black Horse Innn was established soon after and later became the Washington House - a main tavern catering to stagecoach travelers.

Elizabethtown's progress was impeded by the French and Indian War from 1754-1763. Due to the war, European settlement was restricted west of the nearby Piedmont area. Elizabethtown was on the edge of this frontier. The free flow of trade and goods was also hampered during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Despite the ravages of war, Elizabethtown managed to establish a post office in 1781. In 1827 the town was officially incorporated and recognized by teh Pennsylvania State Legislature as a borough.

The railroad came to Elizabethtown in 1832, improving access to transportation routes. The Amtrak Harrisburg- Philadelphia Keystone line still serves Elizabethtown today.

In 1869, Elizabethtown's first weekly newspaper the Elizabethtown Chronicle was born.

Elizabethtown College was established in 1899 with just 6 students and 3 faculty members. In the early 20th century, tuition was just $1 per week and room and board a modest $2.50. Today Elizabethtown College is a comprehensive liberal arts college that consistently ranks among the top liberal arts colleges in the North. Located on 192 acres, it serves over 1700 students and 110 faculty members offering 41 major programs and more than 50 minors.

In the early 20th century, Fred and William Klein founded Klein Chocolate at Brown and Bainbridge Streets. Local farmers provided fresh milk, while cocoa beans arrived by train on the nearby railroad which also shipped the finished product. M&M Mars bought the 250,000 square foot plant in the 1970s and uses the facility to manufacture 3 Musketeers and Dove Chocolate bars.

Other industries that developed in Elizabethtown included shoes, cigars and clothing.

Modern Day Elizabethtown

Many of Elizabethtown's former factories have been converted into apartment buildings that maintain the town's early architecture. Many 19th and early 20th century buildings still stand at the core of downtown Elizabethtown including the Thomas Harris Bear Tavern, today an office building, revered as the oldest building in Elizabethtown.

Modern Elizabethtown is a bustling commercial center supported by Elizabethtown College, the Masonic Homes - a large continuing care retirement community and children's home, and a slew of modern businesses including a number of small shops, intimate restaurants and unique boutiques. Elizabethtown is one of only 2 Lancaster County towns with an officially designated Main Street District - designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservations's program that promotes economic development within historic towns.

Elizabethtown's wide downtown sidewalks encourage visitors to stroll and shop or take in the hand-painted beauty of Wayne Fettro's colorful murals that appear on numerous buildings around town and tell the history of Elizabethtown with brilliant pictures.

Since its begininngs as a Native American village more than 300 years ago, Elizabethtown has continued to flourish as a commercial mecca of Lancaster County. It is a tribute to another time in American history when small towns thrived. Steady growth has helped Elizabethtown maintain its status as a center for business, farming and education in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.