Lancaster County Pennsylvania was the fourth county established in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth. It was bridged from the upper part of Chester in 1729. The earliest known settlers derived from Swiss,Welsh,English,Scott,Irish and French colonies in 1709. German farmers from the rhine lowlands then later migrated in 1717 to 1723 to create the nucleus of what today is known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch".
Lancaster was named for Lancashire, England and has for the longest time predominently been the Number One non-irrigated agricultural county of the entire country in terms of farm products sold or used. Known as the "Garden Spot of Pennsylvania", lancaster County has plenty of green rolling hills and farmlands.
Lancaster County PA is home for the Hamilton Watch company and many other leading industries. The county and it's industries therefore are widely known for its textile, lumber, metal, leather and food processing industries and for it's fine watches, linoleum cork products, metal products, to name a few. Early Industrial pioneered products of Lancaster County Pennsylvania include the Kentucky Rifle, The Conestoga Wagon, and The forerunner of the prairie schooner. The inventor of the Steamboat, Robert Fulton was also native to this great county.
Lancaster County has some of the most fertile soil in the entire United States. With over 5,000 farms and 320,000 acres there's no shortage in food and tobacco fields. Lancaster Tobacco accounts for almost 90% of the nation's Cigar filler.
Also known as "Cattle county", livestock-tending accounts for more than 700 million dollars in food,feed and fiber profits. This makes up about one fifth of the entire state's output. With 276,000 effective agricultural zoning areas, and rougly 3000-5000 cattle(1), Agriculture and livestock raising will continue to be an integral part of the county's generated income.
Lancaster PA has about 5300 farms(463,000 acres),99% being family owned, and the income derived from it accounts for about 915 million dollars. One in Five jobs in the County is generated by Agriculture with 1 acre equating $2,000 in sales revenue. With every dollar that leaves Lancaster Agriculture boosting our local economy by 4 billion. Therefore the farmland and culture is a very big reason and indicator of prosperity for our area and makes it easy to see why it ranked 10th on forbes list. Seven million tourists flock to Lancaster Pennsylvania each year spending on average 1.6 billion dollars. The attractions off Route 30 and the job opportunities within lancaster County help stimulate our economy. Lancaster Pennsylvania is said to have the most productive non-irrigigated farmland in the United States causing others to nickname our town; "The Garden Spot". Did you know Lancaster County is nicely located within a day's drive of 1/2 of the entire population of this country? This breadth in distribution helps bring our dairy products, poultry, plants, vegetables and fruits to other markets that are in demand for our products.
A big reason for Lancaster County's success with Agriculture is due to the Stable Infrastructure surrounding it's policies and the general backbone of the market. Some of these contributors include Feed suppliers such as: Pennfield Cororation, Weenger's Feed MIll; equipment manufacturers like: CNH America LLC, EMM SAles and Service, Inc. and Hershey Equipment Company; Food producers like: Kunzler Inc and RW Souder INc; Greenhouses like Yoder Brothers & Ken's Gardens and finally Insurance and Loan agencies like: Midatlantic Farm Credit and Westfiled Insurance.
The Agriculture is a small part of Lancaster's Robust economy, but it is Vital to keeping us afloat during these tough times. With the help of the Lancaster County Conservatin District, technologies that result in the positive preservation of vital soils is kept up to ensure that the families running all those farms can hand down a lucrative farm to the next generaiton. Lancaster County actually ranks 2nd in the nation with 70,000 acres of preserved farmland. Turkey Hill has also given proceeds of their sales to this cause.
Lancaster County Farming Facts
Agriculture employs 255,400 Total workforce. (1 in 5 jobs)
7 Million tourists visit Lancaster PA due to it's Agriculture.
From 1994-2001, For every 1 acre of farmland lost, 2 acres were preserved
About 5300 Farms makeup Lancaster County
Every 1$ in farm products boosts economy by $5.88 equalling 4 billion a year.
Ranked Second in the Country with 58,000 acres preserved (18% of Ag-Zoned land)
Average 85 acre farm (w/60 cows) collects 34 million gallons of ground water from rain (7 million for housing)
Farms collect nearly 33 million gallons of ground water (after deducting use from cows/humans)
Farms only use .07c of water for every One dollar of Local taxes paid. (compare to $1.30 for housing)
Come visit Lancaster County Pennsylvania and Let Castellum Realty llc find you the Castle of your Dreams.
Lancaster County Pennsylvania also known as "Dutch Country" was for the longest time predominately habitated by "Amish" and Mennonnite farmers who were mostly descendants of the early German and Swiss settlers. This has greatly changed in the last several decades as Lancaster is quickly becoming a major eastern city. Industry, Commerce and especially Residential Real Estate are booming. The Amish still hold influence over the area and have made their own mark with local favorites such as Love-Lace Manor Bed&Breakfast,Hershey Farm Restaurant, Miller's Smorgasbord Buffet. To learn more about the Amish, visit Theamishcountry.com.
There is always something happening in Lancaster City and it's surrounding neighbor cities. Some of these things are even Free! For information about these daily local special events go to cityoflancasterpa.com. For an even larger list that includes all of Lancaster County, go to PADutch's website.
Spring time is the best time to visit Lancaster PA.
Lancaster Pennsylvania is beautiful in all seasons but this is especially true in the wintermonths as otherwise desolate farmlands are turned into serene winter-wonder-landscapes. The climate in January is generally the coldest of the year at an average of 20.7 degrees fahrenheit compared to an average temperature of 84.6 degrees fahrenheit in the summer months.
Farm animals can still be found outside sparingly on some farms
Lancaster PA generally does not have very harsh winters as rainfall is moderate and fairly evenly distributed throughout the year with September being the heaviest at 4.43 inches.
Early season Severe snowstorms tend to show up every 40 years with the last major snow storm occuring in 2007 with 10 inches. Normally Snow in December is relatively nonexistent with the largest snowfall occuring in 1969 capturing 24 inches. January normally sees about 10 inches of snow.
Farms still operate albeit in hibernation
Land irrigation systems sit idly by waiting for spring.
The greatest snowfall season came in 1995/1996 when 72 inches dropped in a 6 month period from November to April with more than 30 inches dropping on January 7th alone. We'll share some photos of that incredible 2 days that lancaster pa was virtually closed to all business. That marked the most snow that ever fell in one day in Lancaster PA history since records were kept in 1926. A similar event took place only 6 years ago in 2003 when 24 inches fell on February 17th, 2003. That major snowstorm brought 63.2 inches to Lancaster PA. Source x
Not all Ducks and Geese migrate south
The log cabin bridges are usually closed during bad weather as seen below.
The typical red amish barns stick out in beautiful contrast to the snow.
Beautiful views can be seen from Eagle's Ridge by lancaster Airport.
Normally, winters in Lancaster PA are very mild and no more than 20 inches of precipitation will drop on average over a 6 month period of time. So if you like mild winters with a touch of white, Lancaster PA is perfect for you. If you like the white stuff, we recommend coming in February as it's generally the whitest of the season. View Part 2 for more pictures of Laancaster County's Winterwonderland.
February is usually Lancaster's whitest month and this year(so far) is no exception. What made this particular day, one week ago, so special was that the 4-5 inches of powdered snow stayed in virtually the same position relative to where it landed on structures, trees and the general landscapes around the area due to non-existent wind that day. This was a prime opportunity for photographers all over to shoot lancaster in a rare moment of glory. I hope you enjoy these shots as much as i do.
Farmland is transcended into a series of dunehills
The driving that day was horrendous to say the least, but it was all worth it when looking back. With temperatures in the 50's over the past couple days, these landscapes have since been transformed back to the lush green scenery that lancaster is known for, even if there are still patches of white here and there. Lancaster Pennsylvania winters are fairly mild so anytime powdered snow reaches your backyard, take the kids out and have a snowfight with them as it only happens a few times in the season.
Ornamental trees are now layered in a white lacquor
You didn't need a snowblower on this day as the snow was easily pushed aside with conventional methods. It was an incredibly wonderful sight to see all aspects of the environemnt covered with snow. Even small branches on trees had huge globs of snow on them. As you can see from the above picture, some trees enjoyed a white frosty coating on them. All in all, the lucky few who got out early enough to take pictures were well rewarded.
Once again, the Red barns stand out
The sun shines through a large canopy tree nearby a farm
The Snow-Filled-trees show up in beautiful contrast to the Blue Sky
