Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster | ||
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Nickname : The Red Rose City | ||
Downtown Lancaster |
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Location in Pennsylvania | ||
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Basic data | ||
Foundation : | 1730 | |
State : | United States | |
State : | Pennsylvania | |
County : | Lancaster County | |
Coordinates : | 40 ° 2 ′ N , 76 ° 18 ′ W | |
Time zone : | Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 ) | |
Inhabitants : - Metropolitan Area : |
59,218 (as of 2016) 538,500 (as of 2016) |
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Population density : | 3,116.7 inhabitants per km 2 | |
Area : | 19.0 km 2 (approx. 7 mi 2 ) of which 19.0 km 2 (approx. 7 mi 2 ) are land |
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Height : | 110 m | |
Area code : | +1 717 | |
FIPS : | 42-41216 | |
GNIS ID : | 1178842 | |
Website : | www.cityoflancasterpa.com | |
Mayor : | J. Richard Gray |
Lancaster (called the Red Rose City ) is a city with 59,322 inhabitants ( 2010 census ) in the southern US state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lancaster County . It is between 55 and 140 kilometers away from the major cities of Philadelphia , Baltimore , Harrisburg and Washington DC .
history
The first settlers settled in the area in 1709. In 1749 James Hamilton bought the land and began building the city, which he had planned as early as 1730. Lancaster got its name from the English immigrant John Wright after his hometown in Great Britain.
After the Continental Congress had to flee Philadelphia in 1777, it met on September 27 in Lancaster, which was formally the capital of the 13 American colonies . The next day, Congress moved on to York. From 1799 to 1812 Lancaster was the capital of Pennsylvania, but it was not combined in its current form until 1818.
The 1852 Fulton Opera House is reputedly the oldest continuously operating theater in the United States. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Penn Square in the center commemorates the soldiers of the US armed forces who died in wars , the historic Central Market and the WW Griest Building are immediately northwest of it. A total of 57 locations in Lancaster are registered in the National Register of Historic Places (as of March 9, 2020), with the Fulton Opera House having the status of a National Historic Landmark .
population
In 2000 there were 56,348 inhabitants, in 2005 only 54,757. However, at the 2010 census it was 59,322 residents. However, the United States Census Bureau estimates the population as of July 1, 2014 at 59,302, a minimal decrease. Still, it remains the eighth largest city in Pennsylvania. In the period between 2009 and 2013 the average household income was 33,483 US dollars, which is very much below the average in Pennsylvania which at that time was 52,548 US dollars. The city can therefore be considered very poor.
24.34% of the population are of Puerto Rican descent, the highest in Pennsylvania. The second largest group, typical for the area, are descendants of German immigrants with 20.9%.
economy
Compared to the surrounding area, the unemployment rate in Lancaster is relatively high at 7.8%, and in 1999 in the south-eastern parts of the city it was even over 10%. At the same time, only 4.9% were unemployed in the county. Around 34,900 new jobs were created between 1999 and 2002, but many people, especially in the southeast, live on the subsistence level.
education
Lancaster is home to Franklin & Marshall College , a college named after Benjamin Franklin and John Marshall . Those who want to study for the teaching profession in Lancaster County will mostly attend the neighboring Millersville University of Pennsylvania (also in Lancaster County).
sons and daughters of the town
- William Henry (1729–1786), politician, armorer, arms dealer and inventor
- John Gibson (≈1740–1822), two-time Territorial Governor of Indiana
- Robert Smith (1757–1842), politician, 2nd Secretary of the Navy and 6th Secretary of State
- Simon Snyder (1759–1819), third governor of Pennsylvania
- Benjamin Smith Barton (1766-1815), botanist
- Jenkin Whiteside (1772–1822), US Senator for Tennessee
- Alexander McNair (1775–1826), governor of Missouri
- John Rhea Barton (1794–1871), surgeon, namesake of the Barton fracture and pioneer of arthroplasty
- John Wise (1808–1879), balloonist
- John Fulton Reynolds (1820–1863), Major General in the US Army, killed in the Battle of Gettysburg
- Charles Demuth (1883–1935), painter
- Leo Houck (1888–1950), boxer
- Richard Winters (1918–2011), Major in the US Army
- Peck Morrison (1919–1988), jazz musician
- John D. Anderson, Jr. (born 1937), engineer
- Carl H. Ernst (1938–2018), herpetologist
- Bob Lutz (* 1947), tennis player
- Colin McLarty (* 1951), mathematical logician, philosopher and mathematical historian
- Paul Imm (* 1956), jazz musician
- Andrew Jay Feustel (born 1965), astronaut
- Jennifer Gareis (born 1970), actress
- Rya Kihlstedt (* 1970), actress
- Carla Kihlstedt (* 1971), musician
- Taylor Kinney (born 1981), actor
- Beth Behrs (born 1985), actress
- Jonathan Groff (born 1985), actor
- Adam Cole (born 1989), wrestler
- Derrick Morgan (born 1989), American football player
- Abigail Lynn Dahlkemper (* 1993), soccer player
- Russell Canouse (born 1995), football player
literature
- Mark Häberlein, The Practice of Pluralism: Congregational Life and Religious Diversity in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1730-1820. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park 2009, ISBN 978-0-271-07483-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
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↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed March 9, 2020.
Weekly List on the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed March 9, 2020.
List of NHLs by State: Pennsylvania. National Park Service , accessed March 9, 2020. - ↑ Quick facts: Lancaster (English) ( Memento of the original from December 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.