DELAYED OPENING ON MAY 13 | All operations of LancasterHistory will have a delayed opening on Monday, May 13. The organization will be closed to the public from 9am – 1pm. We will reopen to the public at 1pm. There will be a 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm tour of Wheatland. Thank you!
Open Mon-Sat, 9:30am-5pm | Wheatland Tours Mon-Sat, 10am-3pm
Have you inherited a box of family photographs? Have you cleaned out a closet or your attic and found a few photo albums? Are you the family archivist? If so, September is the month you’ve been waiting for. It’s Save Your Photos Month, a whole month dedicated to the care and preservation of your family […]
Read MoreLancasterHistory is thrilled to welcome this year’s Class of 2021 LancasterHistory NEH Summer Interns. Since starting on June 8, this class of intrepid interns have been working on individual projects as well as travelling to other museums and historic sites in our area to learn more about the fields of museum studies and public history. […]
Read MoreAnthony Iske came to Lancaster, Pennsylvania by accident. A cabinet maker in the German area of France, he was hired to build a church altar in Lancaster, New York. At the train station in New York City, the twenty-two-year-old immigrant was sold a ticket to the wrong town, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. However, Iske found a new […]
Read MoreWhen gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill just west of Sacramento in 1848, thousands of people flocked to California to get in on the action. The following is a selection of brave, adventurous (and maybe a bit foolhardy) men from Lancaster County who ventured west in search of gold, silver and whatever riches they could […]
Read MoreOn May 4, 1852, the Lancaster Intelligencer announced… “Messrs. Hager and Eberman, the purchasers of the Old Prison Property, at the corner of West King and Prince Streets, it is said, intend to erect a large and commodious hall on that site during the present building season, a portion of which is to be used […]
Read MoreLong before the Birdman of Alcatraz there was the Buzzard Gang. Notorious in the Welsh Mountains and throughout Lancaster County for their extensive crime sprees, the gang – comprised of the six Buzzard brothers – spent an inordinate amount of time in jail. On October 10, 1883, three of the brothers – Abe, Ike, and […]
Read MoreWritten by Martha Abel You will have noticed, if you look at old deeds, that many property sales took place on April 1. No fooling. It was also the day that all rental housing leases expired, and so many people took the opportunity to move (or flit) to a new place. From the colonial days […]
Read MoreBorn near Voganville in 1862, Salome Buck was one of five daughters born to George and Mary Hess Buck. She married Abraham Whitman in New Holland on August 2, 1883. In August of 1884, she became the first woman in Pennsylvania to be jailed for stealing horses. According to local newspapers, Salome was […]
Read MoreFeeling a bit sluggish or stiff? Need to get your circulation going? If it’s the 1870s, take a stroll on over to Dr. Frank F. Frantz’s office at 226 West King Street in Lancaster and try out The Equalizer. You’ll be feeling better in no time! Beginning in January 1873, Dr. Frantz purchased the exclusive license […]
Read More“This won’t hurt a bit.” I’m sure those words of comfort were spoken as Nurse Landis, overseen by Dr. Stephen Lockey Jr., administered a polio vaccine shot to this youngster sometime around 1955. Dr. Lockey was a pioneer in the field of allergy and immunology who began his 51 year medical career as an intern […]
Read MoreLancaster City’s first female police officer, Agnes Ferriter, served on the force from 1923 to 1946.