CLOSED ON JULY 4th | All operations of LancasterHistory, including President James Buchanan’s Wheatland, will be closed on Friday, July 4 for Independence Day. We will reopen for normal business hours on Saturday, July 5. Thank you!
Open Mon – Sat, 9:30am – 5pm | Wheatland Tours 10am – 3pm
The grand inaugural parade on March 4, 1857 included marching bands, floats, and many elaborate horse-drawn carriages. One particular carriage – in line just behind the one that conveyed President Pierce and President-Elect Buchanan – carried a man few knew even existed: Dr. Jonathan Foltz. Dr. Foltz was there to perform an important duty – […]
Read MoreIt’s a lovely spring day in 1877 and you’re looking for a lovely spot to enjoy nature and maybe read that book you’ve been toting around for the last few weeks. Why not visit your local cemetery? It’s outdoors. It’s quiet. You might even find a nice bit of relaxing shade. Since public parks weren’t […]
Read MorePast visitors to Wheatland may remember the remarkable portrait of President Buchanan that has hung above the mantle in our west parlor since 1945. This portrait was painted by the artist William E. McMaster, who spent three weeks in residence at Wheatland in the summer of 1856 creating the painting from life. McMaster made this […]
Read MoreUlysses S. Grant has the distinction of being our first American president to write an autobiography. Grant’s two-volume autobiography, The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, was published by Grant’s close friend Mark Twain shortly after General Grant’s death in 1884. Many have speculated that Twain served as a “ghostwriter” for Grant; it is almost […]
Read MoreSince it’s Women’s History Month, I thought it only appropriate to highlight some lovely stained glass dedicated to the women of the world. These particular panes are found in the Women’s Memorial Room at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lancaster. Located at the corner of Pine and West Chestnut Streets in Lancaster, the church is […]
Read MoreFraternal organizations have formed for various reasons over the years – from doing charity work to sports and recreation to military service to just getting together with your friends and neighbors for a cold beverage and a good time. In some cases, all of the above. The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the […]
Read MoreIn June of 1800 an enslaved man from North Carolina walked into the courthouse in Lancaster and demanded his freedom. And he got it. The man was Peter Oliver, a literate, bilingual brickmaker and potter from the Moravian community in what is now Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He knew that the law in Pennsylvania prohibited anyone […]
Read MoreReaders of the popular new novel Lincoln in the Bardo might recall the tale recounted by author George Saunders about an “immense Japanese punch bowl” used by President Lincoln in the White House to hold “ten gallons of champagne punch.” Although much of Saunders’ book is historical fiction, that part is distinctly factual. But what […]
Read MoreOn a warm June Saturday in 1902, Frank Reid Diffenderfer, his family and his neighbors from North Duke Street in Lancaster – the Slaymakers and the Fondersmiths – set out by train to see Miss Blanche Nevin at her home near Churchtown in Caernarvon Township. Miss Nevin had recently taken up residence at […]
Read MoreHappy New Year 1918! Considering that LancasterHistory.org (LHO) has a large collection of old newspapers available to our patrons, I thought that I would take a peak back 100 years to see what news stories were being read by Lancastrians on the eve of New Years in 1918. It will not surprise you that I […]
Read MoreCocalico Township took its name from a Native American term meaning “den of serpents.”