Visiting Lancaster
A decade and a half ago I made a half day visit to Lancaster Pennsylvania, and sadly I have yet to return! I say that because it wasn’t until I arrived that I realized this place definitely requires much time. For such a small city, there’s quite a bit of history and culture to be seen in Lancaster. For starters, during the revolutionary war Lancaster had the honor of being the capital of the country for a whole 24 hours! Lancaster is also known for its Amish population; a traditional group of Americans who largely shun modern technology and live similar lives of those in the 18th century. I hadn’t visited much of the historic places or properly explored Amish country here, but I will be sure to on my return. For now I can just share some of my experiences in downtown Lancaster and some of the countryside. Above is a photograph of Penn Square in the center of the city.
Lancaster only felt small to me because I usually compare it to other big cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. While it doesn’t have skyscrapers, it can boast being one of country’s oldest inland cities. Founded in 1729, Lancaster was on the map before America was a country. Today it has has roughly 50,000 people. The surrounding photos show the downtown area which is lined with shops and classy restaurants.
My trip to Lancaster was more of a stop over with a few hours exploring the city on foot. During my stroll around the city I went inside St. Anthony’s church. Built in the 1870’s, it’s one of the older churches in the city but modern compared to 1,000 year old churches around the world. Something more boastful for the city is the Lancaster Central Market; the oldest continuously operating farmers market in the United States which dates back to 1731.
The only place that I actually sought out here was this ‘castle’. In the United States you won’t see much architecture like this unless you’re in an amusement park. This place is actually the opposite, and has been an active prison for over 150 years. Modeled after castles in Lancashire, England, the prison was built in 1851. Until 1912 it was the site of public hangings and can hold close to 1,000 inmates. Of course since it’s a prison it can’t be visited unless you commit a crime, so the outside is as much as I’ll ever see of the place. The prison is located in a neighborhood, and while I walked around I took a photo of this family below enjoying the last days of summer outside.
A small treat I had in Lancaster was when we heard some live music by a high school. I walked up and had asked someone at a both what the event was, and it was a local competition. The lady was nice enough to give us free tickets, so we got to enjoy a free show.
As Lancaster is also known as the Amish capital, it’s one of the best places in the country to learn about their culture. The Amish are a group of people who number about 200,000 and to this day refuse to use any modern technology. They survive by using horses and carriages for transportation, farming for food, and building their own homes and equipment with tools used centuries ago. Unfortunately I missed photos of actual Amish, which can be a difficult task since they do not pose for pictures. This is another experience in Lancaster that I’ll be sure to correct when I revisit. All I have for the moment is a photo of a carriage above, and some tobacco drying in a barn below.
The great thing about living in Amish country is you’ll have plenty of fresh produce from the local farms. You can be sure none of it is treated with chemicals or genetically modified. These pictures were taken in late September when squash and pumpkins were in the middle of their season.
At the time the country side around Lancaster was my only outdoor experience in Pennsylvania. About 10 years later I returned and went camping up north in Allegheny National Forest. There’s plenty more to see in the state and even around Lancaster, but while strolling around the farms I took these two pictures of a blooming flower and chipmunk.
