LANCASTER

city, seat (1800) of Fairfield county, south-central Ohio, U.S., on the Hocking River, 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Columbus. It was founded (1800) by Ebenezer Zane on land granted to him in payment for blazing Zane's Trace, a 266-mile (428-kilometre) wilderness road from Wheeling, W.Va. (then a part of Virginia) to Limestone (now Maysville), Ky. The first settlers came over this road in 1798; many of them were from Lancaster, Pa., for which the new town was named. Completion (1808) of the Lancaster Lateral Canal, connecting with the Ohio and Erie Canal, and the arrival (1851) of the Muskingum Valley Railroad spurred economic progress, which was further enhanced by the discovery (1887) of natural gas in the vicinity. Lancaster's economy is well diversified; it is a trading centre for a region chiefly supporting dairying, beef cattle, and pigs, while varied manufactures include glassware, batteries, auto switches, boiler equipment, and cathode-ray tubes. A campus (1956) of Ohio University is in the city. The birthplace on East Main Street of the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman and his brother John Sherman, sponsor of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, is preserved as a state memorial. Mount Pleasant, a 250-foot (75-metre) rock overlooking the city, was a favourite Indian lookout, while the nearby Tariton Cross Mound State Memorial is the only known Indian earthwork shaped in the form of a cross. Several covered bridges are in the vicinity. Inc. 1831. Pop. (1990) 34,507; (1994 est.) 35,808. city, seat of Lancaster county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S., and the centre of a metropolitan area comprising a number of small towns and boroughs, 71 miles (114 km) west of Philadelphia. The original site on Conestoga Creek, known as Gibson's Pasture, or Hickory Town, was made the county seat in 1729, the year after Lancaster county (named for the English city and shire) was created. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress, fleeing from Philadelphia, held a one-day session there (September 27, 1777), and the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania took refuge in the city for nine months in 177778. Lancaster was considered for the new national capital in 1790. From 1799 to 1812 it was the capital of Pennsylvania. The stone-surfaced turnpike from Lancaster to Philadelphia was completed in 1794. President James Buchanan lived in Lancaster, and his home, Wheatland (1828), has been restored; he is buried in Woodward Hill Cemetery. Thaddeus Stevens, Abolitionist congressman, also lived in the city; he is buried in a small cemetery amid the graves of blacks. The 18th-century Conestoga wagon (symbol of the pioneers' trek westward) and the Pennsylvania (Kentucky) rifle were produced in Lancaster, which after the Revolution became an iron-founding centre. It was in Lancaster that F.W. Woolworth opened (187980) his first successful 5-and-10 cent store. The city's modern diversified economy is balanced between agriculture (cattle, dairy products, grain, and tobacco), services (including tourism), and industry. Manufactures include linoleum, electrical products, and farm machinery; printing is also important. In the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch (from German Deutsch, or Deitsch, German) country, Lancaster's residents include members of the Amish, Mennonite, and Dunkard churches; the Amish, in particular, are distinguished by their black, buttonless attire and avoidance of modern devices. The restored Hans Herr House (1719) is an early example of medieval Germanic architecture; it was used as a Mennonite meetinghouse. The state's agricultural history is depicted at the nearby Amish Farm and House and the Landis Valley Museum, the latter a re-creation of a 19th century Pennsylvania German village. Franklin and Marshall College was founded in 1787, and Lancaster Bible College was founded in 1933. Also nearby is the Ephrata Cloister, site of a German monastic community that flourished in the mid-18th century. Inc. borough, 1742; city, 1818. Pop. (1990) 55,551; Lancaster MSA, 422,822; (1998 est.) city, 52,951; (1996 est.) Lancaster MSA, 450,834. city, seat of Lancaster county, northern South Carolina, U.S., near the Catawba River. It was founded in the 1750s by settlers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The architect Robert Mills designed the jail (1823) and the courthouse (1828). In the early 19th century the community was identified with the Waxhaw Revival, part of the Great Revival (a nationwide movement of religious vagaries), and witchcraft was once legally recognized. A textile-based economy prevails, supplemented by light industries. A campus of the University of South Carolina was opened in Lancaster in 1959. A state park 8 miles (13 km) north marks the site of President Andrew Jackson's birthplace. Inc. village, 1802; town, 1830; city, 1898. Pop. (1990) 8,914; (1998 est.) 8,676. urban area and city (district), administrative and historic county of Lancashire, England, at the head of the estuary of the River Lune, 7 miles (11 km) from the Irish Sea. Lancaster grew on the site of a Roman station, and traces of the Roman fortification walls remain. In the 11th century a feudal landowner, Roger of Poitou, founded or enlarged a castle on an eminence there and also founded the Priory of St. Mary as a cell of his Benedictine priory. The town grew around these institutions and was granted its first charter in 1193. Although twice destroyed by the Scots (in 1322 and 1389), Lancaster became a market centre, and in 1688 six trade companies were incorporated. It flourished briefly as a port in the late 18th century, but silting of the estuary caused its decline. In the English Civil Wars of the mid-17th century the castle, held by the Parliamentarians, was three times besieged by Royalist forces. The city has a range of industries, including furniture and linoleum manufacture. Because of its distance from the great urban centres of Manchester and Liverpool, attempts to found a cotton textile industry proved abortive, but synthetic fibres have become established, and the city is the headquarters of Reebok. The town remains a major market centre, having one of the largest livestock markets in northwestern England. A high proportion of professional, distributive, and retail employment reflects its traditional status as a regional centre for northern Lancashire. Lancaster lies on the railway line between southern Lancashire and the city of Carlisle and on the major British motorway between the city of Birmingham and Scotland. Lancaster's buildings include a castle on the site of the Roman castrum, St. Mary's Church (mainly 15th-century), and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Peter (built in 1859). The University of Lancaster (founded in 1964) is located in the city. The Storey Institute has technical and art schools, an art gallery, and a museum. Market Square contains a civic and regimental museum. In addition to the town of Lancaster, the city (district) includes a substantial rural and agricultural area and the seaside resort of Morecambe. Area 223 square miles (577 square km). Pop. (1991) urban area, 44,497; (1998 est.) city, 136,700. city, Los Angeles county, southwestern California, U.S., in the Antelope Valley at the western edge of the Mojave Desert. It began as a Scottish settlement organized by M.L. Wicks (1882), who perhaps named it for his hometown in Pennsylvania. The valley largely supported cattle ranching until the early 1900s, when water, pumped by gasoline engines, transformed it into an agricultural area. Lancaster shares with Palmdale (south) development of aircraft, aerospace, and electronics industries. Edwards Air Force Base is immediately northeast. Borax, mined locally, is economically significant. Antelope Valley (junior) College (1929) is in Lancaster. Pop. (1990) 97,291. county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S., consisting of a hilly piedmont region bounded by the Susquehanna River to the west, Conewago Creek to the northwest, and Octoraro Creek to the southeast. Impoundments of the Susquehanna River form Lakes Clarke and Aldred and Conowingo Reservoir. Susquehannock State Park is located near Muddy Run Reservoir. Other waterways include the Conestoga River and Octoraro Lake, as well as Chickies, Little Conestoga, Pequea, and Conowingo creeks. The region was settled by the German immigrants known as Pennsylvania Dutchincluding Mennonites, Amish, Dunkers, and Moravianswho established such religious societies as the Ephrata Community (17321814). The county was created in 1728 and named for Lancaster, Eng. The city of Lancaster, the county seat, was briefly the national capital (Sept. 27, 1777) during the American Revolution and the second state capital (17991812). The city contains Franklin and Marshall College (founded 1787). The Fulton Opera House (built 1852), which was named for steamboat designer and county resident Robert Fulton, was built on the site of the Lancaster jail, where the Paxton Boys from Dauphin county slaughtered the last of the Susquehanna Indians during the Indian uprising known as Pontiac's War (December 1763). The county was home to James Buchanan, 15th U.S. president, and Abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, and it was known for the manufacture of Conestoga wagons and Kentucky rifles. Residents of Lancaster county, one of the leading agricultural counties in Pennsylvania, raise corn (maize), hay, tobacco, wheat, barley, and livestock (cattle, hogs, and poultry). Other major components of the economy include tourism and manufacturing, especially commercial printing, metal products, and food. Area 949 square miles (2,458 square km). Pop. (1990) 422,822; (1996 est.) 450,834. county, northern South Carolina, U.S. It is bounded by the Catawba River and its Wateree Lake extension to the west, the Lynches River to the east, and North Carolina to the north. The county lies in hilly piedmont terrain, much of which is covered in hardwood and pine forests. Andrew Jackson State Park is in the narrow northern section, near North Carolina. In the 17th century the area was Catawba Indian territory, but European settlements dominated the region by the mid-18th century. The county was organized in 1785 and named for Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from whence the area's early settlers had come. Since 1828 gold has been mined sporadically near the town of Kershaw. Cotton was long a major crop in Lancaster county before boll weevil infestations, erosion, and changing economics resulted in its decline in the early 20th century. Agriculture (livestock) and manufacturing (clothing and other textile products and electronic equipment) are important elements in the economy. The town of Lancaster is the county seat. Area 549 square miles (1,422 square km). Pop. (1990) 54,516; (1998 est.) 58,887.