Lancaster City is the only municipality in Lancaster County that is considered a city. Lancaster City is the county seat of Lancaster County.

Victorian architecture dominates the character of the city, which is comprised of hundreds of small businesses and thousands of residential homes. Lancaster is home to the largest National Register Historic District in the county. Lancaster's federal historic district is also the largest in the country.

The heart of Downtown Lancaster is Penn Square, the intersection of Queen and King Streets. Government offices, financial institutions three newspapers and scores of small shops and businesses line the busy downtown streets.

Lancaster has been an industrial based city since the 1840s, and over the years has produced a dizzying array of products including cork, flooring products, textiles, aluminum products, watches, umbrellas and clocks.

Many of Lancaster's former industrial buildings have been converted into modern day apartment buildings, condominiums or schools.

Interesting Facts about Lancaster City

-F.W. Woolworth established his first successful five and dime store on N. Queen St. in 1879

-Milton Hershey, famous for his chocolate empire in Hershey, Pa, started his career with the Lancaster Caramel Company on West King St.

-Lancaster City served as the nation's capital for one day in September of 1777 when the Continental Congress fled from a British army advancing on Philadelphia during the American Revolution.

-Lancaster served as the capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812.

Lancaster's History

Lancaster City began as a trading post at a small crossroads in the wilderness in the early 1700s. The trading post was named Hickorytown and was little more than a small roadhouse, tended by George Gibson.

The Lancaster City gets its name from John Wright, founder of Wright's Ferry, modern day Columbia, who named the growing city after Lancashire England as a tribute to his hometown. As Lancaster City grew from its roots as a trading post, it became known as a frontier checkpoint for pioneers. Early pioneers stopped at the checkpoint seeking farm supplies and household goods. Many others needed to have their horses shod as well.

The Steinman Hardware store was founded in 1744 to provide supplies to westward settlers as well as various products to the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The Steinman Hardware store was the oldest operating hardware store in America when it closed in 1965. The brick Victorian building, which housed the store, was built in 1866 and has now been converted into the Pressroom Restaurant. The building is owned by a branch of the Steinman family that founded the hardware store more than 200 years ago. This family also operates the Lancaster Newspapers, founded in 1866.

Lancaster's convenient location along the east-west corridor greatly contributed to its development as a commercial hub and industrial center. The Industrial Revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought people from farms to many cities in record numbers, including Lancaster City. Country folks visited Lancaster City to buy goods at stores and food at local farmers' markets. Central Market, or "market" as local residents refer to it, is the oldest publicly owned, continuously operated farmer's market in the country! It also enjoys a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Each Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, farmers still sell their produce and merchants offer regional food and hospitality.

Southern Market, a former farmer's market of Lancaster, was built in 1888 and stands as one of the largest Queen Anne style structures in Central Pa. Today this building is home to the Lancaster Visitor's Center, the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and the Lancaster Historic Walking Tours.

In the 1800s, Lancaster served as an industrial powerhouse that boasted silk mills, iron foundries, machine shops and furniture plants, brought by the easy access of the railroad. In addition, the late 1800s established Lancaster City as the 2nd largest tobacco market, 2nd only to New York City. Lancaster County's fertile land provided an abundance of tobacco from hard working farmers. This tobacco was stored in warehouses after harvesting. By 1883 there were over 100 county firms specializing in the buying and selling of tobacco in warehouses. 75 of these warehouses were located in Lancaster City. Many of these brick warehouses survive today and can be seen in Lancaster's Tobacco Warehouse District, recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. Many of these warehouses have been converted into modern apartment buildings. A small cluster still fulfill their original purpose and are still being used today by the tobacco industry.

In the 1900s, industrial companies such as Hamilton Watch, RCA and Armstrong Cork Co. grew and prospered. These companies and many like them provided employment to the influx of European immigrants that would arrive in Lancaster City during this time. In fact many historic neighborhoods that still exist today in Lancaster City trace their roots back to the ethnic diversity of immigrants that settled there.

Lancaster City continued to evolve and grow through the mid 20th century. However in the latter half of the 20th century its industries began to slow and downtown business was weakened by the emergence of suburban strip malls in the 1960s and 1970s. Like many towns across the country, Lancaster began to move away from its blue collar roots and evolve into the service oriented city it is today. Still, much of Lancaster City's rich culture and history remains and revitalization in many areas is bringing new businesses to Lancaster City every year. Major financial institutions have taken up residence in Lancaster's downtown core. The Lancaster County Courthouse still operates from the heart of downtown Lancaster in a Roman Revival style building, built between 1852 and 1855. Watt & Shand, a former department store building on Penn Square is scheduled for adaptation and re-use as a hotel and convention center complex. Small shops, off-beat boutiques and a variety of restaurants continue to prosper in Lancaster City's bustling downtown center.