The County That Almost Replaced Lancaster

Unusual Tale of Lancaster County’s Past

Did you know Lancaster County almost had an entirely different name and might have been much smaller if a 17th-century land scheme had succeeded?

An old document discovered years ago in New York reveals that in 1696, William Penn and several associates planned to create a brand-new county on the very land that is now Lancaster County. One of Penn’s partners was Edward Shippen, grandfather of Lancaster’s Revolutionary-era patriot of the same name. Shippen later served as prothonotary, registrar, recorder, a member of the Committee on Correspondence, and eventually chief burgess of Lancaster.

Their plan was ambitious. They hoped to build towns, lay out roads and bridges, establish public buildings, and secure a charter granting representation in the General Assembly. But the venture collapsed before it even began.

The reason? The territory they envisioned was simply too large. No individual or organization was willing or able to finance a county built on such an expansive and unconventional plan.

Even so, the mere attempt shows that people of the colonial era clearly recognized the region’s value. They knew the Garden Spot was “good country.” And more than 300 years later…it still is.

This unusual tale from Lancaster County’s past comes from the April 1951 issue of Lancaster magazine and Brett Snyder‘s archives at PastPaper.com.

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Resources

• Lancaster Magazine – April 1951

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