Outdoor Advertising Billboards for Rent in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, known as the Garden Spot of America, is located in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. With an estimated 2005 population of 490,562 Lancastrians, Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the 99th largest of 361 MSAs in the U.S. The city of Lancaster is the county seat. On December 27th 2008, shortly after midnight, Lancaster County had a 3.3 magnitude earthquake.

Lancaster County is a popular tourist destination, due mostly to the many plain sect residents, known as the Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch. The term 'Pennsylvania Dutch' comes from the earlier use of "Dutch" to apply to all immigrants from middle Europe. They are the descendants of Germans who immigrated in the 18th and 19th centuries for the freedom of religion offered by William Penn, and were attracted by the rich soil and mild climate of the area.

Lancastrians can easily spot a visitor to the area by how they pronounce the word Lancaster. Locals and people from nearby counties in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware pronounce Lancaster as LANK-ister. This is unusual as most Lancasters in the United States are pronounced as LAN-cast-er, though Lancashire, England, and Lancasters in Texas, Ohio, and South Carolina also use the LANK-ister pronunciation.

Transportation

Lying on the natural route from Philadelphia to the western part of Pennsylvania, Lancaster County has given rise to many improvements in transportation, among them the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, later part of the Lincoln Highway, in 1794, a canal in 1820 and the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1834.

Highways
Lancaster County's highways include the Pennsylvania Turnpike (or Interstate 76), U.S. Route 30 (or the Lincoln Highway), U.S. Route 222, and U.S. Route 322. Pennsylvania State Routes in the county include: 10, 23, 41, 72, 230, 241, 272, 283, 324, 340, 372, 441, 462, 472, 501, 625, 741, 743, 772, 896, 897, and 999.

Current railroads
As of 2006, passenger service in Lancaster County is provided by Amtrak, whose Keystone Corridor passes through the county, with stops at Lancaster, Mount Joy and Elizabethtown. A station is planned at Paradise to provide connecting service with the Strasburg Railroad, which runs passenger excursions from nearby Leaman Place to Strasburg.

The principal freight operator in the county is Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). The NS main line follows the Susquehanna River (with trackage rights for Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)), and leaves the county by crossing the river on Shocks Mills Bridge near Marietta. NS also has trackage rights over the Keystone Corridor, to which it is connected by the Royalton Branch, which runs north along the river from the main line at Marietta, and the Columbia Branch, which runs from the Corridor at Dillerville to the main line at Columbia. Two other NS branches originate on the Corridor: the Lititz Secondary, which runs from Dillerville to Manheim and ends at Lititz, and the New Holland Industrial, which leaves the Corridor around the east end of Lancaster to run east to New Holland and ends at East Earl.

Several shortlines also operate in the county. With the exception of the Strasburg Railroad, all are freight railroads. Penn Eastern Rail Lines (PRL) operates on a spur off the NS branch to Manheim, and on a longer line in the northeast corner of Lancaster County into Berks County. Landisville Terminal and Transfer Company (LNTV) operates on a spur off the Amtrak line at Landisville. The Tyburn Railroad operates some trackage around Dillerville. Frank Sahd Salvage, Inc., of Columbia, has received state funds to repair 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of track there for operation, probably by the Penn Eastern, but this has not yet been returned to service.

Population & Growth Population Growth Rate Decade County U.S. County U.S. 1790 36,081 3,929,214 1800 43,403 5,308,483 20.29% 35.10% 1810 53,927 7,239,881 24.25% 36.38% 1820 68,336 9,638,453 26.72% 33.13% 1830 76,631 12,866,020 12.14% 33.49% 1840 84,203 17,069,453 9.88% 32.67% 1850 98,944 23,191,876 17.51% 35.87% 1860 116,314 31,443,321 17.56% 35.58% 1870 121,340 38,558,371 4.32% 22.63% 1880 139,447 50,189,209 14.92% 30.16% 1890 149,095 62,979,766 6.92% 25.48% 1900 159,241 76,212,168 6.81% 21.01% 1910 167,029 92,228,496 4.89% 21.02% 1920 173,797 106,021,537 4.05% 14.96% 1930 196,882 123,202,624 13.28% 16.21% 1940 212,504 132,164,569 7.93% 7.27% 1950 234,717 151,325,798 10.45% 14.50% 1960 278,359 179,323,175 18.59% 18.50% 1970 319,693 203,302,031 14.85% 13.37% 1980 362,346 226,542,199 13.34% 11.43% 1990 422,822 248,709,873 16.69% 9.79% 2000 470,658 281,421,906 11.31% 13.15%

Growth rate of Lancaster County population (dark blue) lagged the growth rate of the U.S. population (magenta) until the second half of the 20th century. Chart shows population growth as a percentage of the previous decennial census.

Lancaster County Demographics 2004 County State U.S. White 93.6% 86.2% 80.4% African American 3.4% 10.5% 12.8% Native American 0.2% 0.2% 1.0% Asian 1.6% 2.2% 4.2% Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.0% 0.2% Two or more races 1.1% 0.9% 1.5% Hispanic/Latino of any race 6.5% 3.8% 14.1%

Lancaster Airport is the only airport in the county with scheduled service, though Smoketown Airport also serves general aviation.

Population

The population density is 495 persons per square mile (versus 79.6 for the U.S. as a whole). In 2000, the average commute for adults was 21.7 minutes, compared to a national average of 25.5 minutes.

As of 2005, there were 490,562 residents in Lancaster County, representing 4.2% growth since 2000 and 11.3% growth since 1990. The population is all-American: 25.3% under 18 (compared to 25.0% nationally), 14.2% over 65 (12.4% nationally), and 51% female (50.8% nationally).

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 5.58% of the population report speaking Pennsylvania German, German, or Dutch at home, while a further 4.97% speak Spanish. 39.8% were of German, 11.8% United States or American, 7.2% Irish and 5.7% English ancestry according to the United States Census, 2000.