Gordonville, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Gordonville, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated place or village in Leacock Township
in eastern Lancaster County
, Pennsylvania
, USA
. The village is located about nine miles (14 km) east of the county seat of Lancaster
, two miles (3 km) southwest of the village of Intercourse
, one mile (1.6 km) north of Paradise
, and about three miles (5 km) southeast of Bird-in-Hand
. Though the village is little known outside of its immediate area, the surrounding countryside has been portrayed in many books and magazine articles. The Old Order Amish constitute a significant cultural presence in the area of the village. Wendell Berry
mentioned the town in one of his collections of essays. The population of Gordonville was about 460 in 1995; its Zip Code
postal address of 17529 includes about 4,100 individuals.
; all but seven are owned by Amish
families. These small scale farms (many with small shops) dot the gently rolling and open landscape around the village. Though rural in character, Gordonville is at the edge of the metropolis: Amtrak Keystone Service
trains pass daily through the village on runs to Lancaster
and Harrisburg
to the west and Philadelphia
and New York City
to the east. Though there was once a train station in the center of the village, no train has officially stopped there since the 1950s. On back roads horse-drawn buggies
and automobiles occasionally compete for space with rollerblading Amish youth and Amish men on scooter
s commuting to local jobs.
. The town resulted from the railroad that planned to pass through the area. Around 1829 land was surveyed for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, chartered in 1823 and again in 1826, to run between Philadelphia
and Columbia
, a growing city along the Susquehanna River
south of Harrisburg. Land on the south and west side of the railway route belonged to the Christian Hershey family, which was associated with the land from as early as 1709. Daniel Gordon erected the first dwelling on land now associated with the village in 1832 (some say 1834), a -story, five-bay brick farmhouse with central doorway, largely intact gallery under gable roof, with first floor windows on facade to floor. The house was inhabited by Henry Eckert in the 1880s, and is still occupied today, though divided into several apartments.
Early trains on the railroad were merely wagons, fitted to run on tracks and pulled by horses along the single track. The first U.S.-made locomotive, built at Philadelphia's Baldwin Locomotive Works
, was produced in 1832. On 17 April 1834 the first long distance steam train ran though Gordonville along the new Columbia Railroad; the 60 miles (96.6 km) journey from Lancaster to Philadelphia took about eight and one half hours. Only one track was in use until October of that year; turnouts every one and a half miles allowed for passing. By 1836 Daniel Gordon had a house, a warehouse, and a storehouse on the south and west side of the railway, and the town was starting to grow. In 1857 the Pennsylvania Railroad
purchased Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works
, which by then included the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad and an ambitious cross-Appalachian canal project. The nickname "Main Line" was affixed to the railroad route. Abraham Lincoln spoke from his train at nearby Leaman Place
-Strasburg
railroad junction on 22 February 1861, only one mile east of Gordonville; over 5,000 people were present. (In 1968 Hubert H. Humphrey, candidate for president, stopped and spoke at the same place.) In 1870 two barns in Gordonville were destroyed by fire caused by locomotive sparks. The 1895 U.S. Atlas described the village of Gordonville as having a population of 413, a railroad station, post office, and express office. By 1898 the railway was widened to four tracks, and by the early twentieth century 200 trains per day passed through the town. The building of the famous (and now abandoned) low grade railway in the southern end of the Lancaster County in 1906 drastically reduced train traffic. The railway line was electrified
in 1938. Later in the early twentieth century only six passenger trains and two freight trains actually made scheduled stops at Gordonville station each day. One of the freights was the morning milk train. Today the village has a population of about 460 people. Amtrak
trains still travel through the town along the railway that brought about the town's birth. There is talk of a new station to be erected at Leaman Place, a mile east of Gordonville at the Strasburg RR junction, which would serve Amtrak
and SEPTA trains.
On 13 March 1993 the fire company auction was abruptly closed at 10:00 AM by state police, who announced that an unseasonable snowfall would eventually block the roads, stranding people in town. Most people were gone by 11:00 AM. At noon the last people to attempt to leave, a family which actively volunteered with the fire company, ambulance, and the spring sale, discovered that the roads were actually impassable. The family was compelled to spend the night with friends in town. In the next 24 hours only 24 inches (609.6 mm) of snow fell, but 50 to 60 mile per hour winds limited visibility and caused drifting snow to block the roads. During the blizzard the fire company's ambulance crew handled several emergencies, taking people by snowmobile to Bird-in-Hand
where, due to nearly continuous plowing, it was still possible to travel to Lancaster city by highway. Sunday morning discovered very little activity. Roads were blocked by frozen four and five feet high snow drifts until the early afternoon. The aution field contained farm machinery and over a hundred carriages buried under snow. It was at least a week before things were normal. Some called it the snowfall of the century, but just three years later on 8 January 1996 a two foot snowfall led to all roadways in 47 Pennsylvania
counties being closed by the governor's order. Perhaps the fact that the 1993 snowstorm occurred in March made it seem worse than it actually was.
Leacock Township, Pennsylvania
Leacock Township is a township in east central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,878 at the 2000 census. The township has a large Amish and Mennonite population.-Geography:...
in eastern Lancaster County
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The village is located about nine miles (14 km) east of the county seat of Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, two miles (3 km) southwest of the village of Intercourse
Intercourse, Pennsylvania
Intercourse, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated village in Leacock Township, Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, ten miles east of Lancaster on PA 340. As with the nearby towns of Bird-in-Hand, Blue Ball, and Paradise, Intercourse is a popular site for tourists because of its...
, one mile (1.6 km) north of Paradise
Paradise, Pennsylvania
Paradise is a census-designated place in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States with a zip code of 17562. The population was 1,028 at the 2000 census....
, and about three miles (5 km) southeast of Bird-in-Hand
Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania
Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community with parts lying in East Lampeter Township, and Upper Leacock Township, Lancaster County in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community has a large Amish and Mennonite population...
. Though the village is little known outside of its immediate area, the surrounding countryside has been portrayed in many books and magazine articles. The Old Order Amish constitute a significant cultural presence in the area of the village. Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry is an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, short stories, poems, and essays...
mentioned the town in one of his collections of essays. The population of Gordonville was about 460 in 1995; its Zip Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
postal address of 17529 includes about 4,100 individuals.
Geography
There are 153 farms in Leacock TownshipLeacock Township, Pennsylvania
Leacock Township is a township in east central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,878 at the 2000 census. The township has a large Amish and Mennonite population.-Geography:...
; all but seven are owned by Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
families. These small scale farms (many with small shops) dot the gently rolling and open landscape around the village. Though rural in character, Gordonville is at the edge of the metropolis: Amtrak Keystone Service
Keystone Corridor
The Keystone Corridor is a Federal Railroad Administration "designated high speed corridor" with a 349-mile railroad line between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a top speed of...
trains pass daily through the village on runs to Lancaster
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
and Harrisburg
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
to the west and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to the east. Though there was once a train station in the center of the village, no train has officially stopped there since the 1950s. On back roads horse-drawn buggies
Horse and buggy
A horse and buggy or horse and carriage refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses...
and automobiles occasionally compete for space with rollerblading Amish youth and Amish men on scooter
Kick scooter
A kick scooter or push scooter, originally scooter, is a human-powered vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. The most common scooters today have two hard small wheels, are made primarily of aluminium and fold for convenience...
s commuting to local jobs.
History
Gordonville is located on part of a grant of 2300 acres (9.3 km²) of land to the Mary Feree family by the sons of William PennWilliam Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
. The town resulted from the railroad that planned to pass through the area. Around 1829 land was surveyed for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, chartered in 1823 and again in 1826, to run between Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and Columbia
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Columbia, once colonial Wright's Ferry, is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 28 miles southeast of Harrisburg on the left bank Susquehanna River across from Wrightsville and York County. Originally, the area may have been called Conejohela Flats, for the many islands and islets in the...
, a growing city along the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
south of Harrisburg. Land on the south and west side of the railway route belonged to the Christian Hershey family, which was associated with the land from as early as 1709. Daniel Gordon erected the first dwelling on land now associated with the village in 1832 (some say 1834), a -story, five-bay brick farmhouse with central doorway, largely intact gallery under gable roof, with first floor windows on facade to floor. The house was inhabited by Henry Eckert in the 1880s, and is still occupied today, though divided into several apartments.
Early trains on the railroad were merely wagons, fitted to run on tracks and pulled by horses along the single track. The first U.S.-made locomotive, built at Philadelphia's Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
, was produced in 1832. On 17 April 1834 the first long distance steam train ran though Gordonville along the new Columbia Railroad; the 60 miles (96.6 km) journey from Lancaster to Philadelphia took about eight and one half hours. Only one track was in use until October of that year; turnouts every one and a half miles allowed for passing. By 1836 Daniel Gordon had a house, a warehouse, and a storehouse on the south and west side of the railway, and the town was starting to grow. In 1857 the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
purchased Pennsylvania's Main Line of Public Works
Main Line of Public Works
The Main Line of Public Works was a railroad and canal system built by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 19th century. It ran from Philadelphia west through Harrisburg and across the state to Pittsburgh and connected with other divisions of the Pennsylvania Canal...
, which by then included the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad and an ambitious cross-Appalachian canal project. The nickname "Main Line" was affixed to the railroad route. Abraham Lincoln spoke from his train at nearby Leaman Place
Leaman Place, Pennsylvania
Leaman Place is a named place in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. Leaman Place is known mostly as a whistle-stop. President Abraham Lincoln spoke at this station on February 22, 1861 to a crowd of 5,000. In 1968, Democrat Hubert H...
-Strasburg
Strasburg, Pennsylvania
Strasburg is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It developed as a linear village along the Great Conestoga Road, stretching about two miles along path later known as the Strasburg Road...
railroad junction on 22 February 1861, only one mile east of Gordonville; over 5,000 people were present. (In 1968 Hubert H. Humphrey, candidate for president, stopped and spoke at the same place.) In 1870 two barns in Gordonville were destroyed by fire caused by locomotive sparks. The 1895 U.S. Atlas described the village of Gordonville as having a population of 413, a railroad station, post office, and express office. By 1898 the railway was widened to four tracks, and by the early twentieth century 200 trains per day passed through the town. The building of the famous (and now abandoned) low grade railway in the southern end of the Lancaster County in 1906 drastically reduced train traffic. The railway line was electrified
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
in 1938. Later in the early twentieth century only six passenger trains and two freight trains actually made scheduled stops at Gordonville station each day. One of the freights was the morning milk train. Today the village has a population of about 460 people. Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
trains still travel through the town along the railway that brought about the town's birth. There is talk of a new station to be erected at Leaman Place, a mile east of Gordonville at the Strasburg RR junction, which would serve Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and SEPTA trains.
Spring sale and auction
The Annual Spring Sale and Auction of the Gordonville Fire Company and Ambulance Association, held the second Saturday of March, is the largest event of its kind on the East Coast. A tradition since 1969, it draws about 12,000 people (about 4,500 registered bidders) to bid on farm machinery, horses, quilts, carriages, old stuff, and antiques. When not actively buying, people socialize, tourists observe, and some Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite youth play cornerball, a traditional and "acrobatic" game played with a small hard ball on a field of manure, mud, and straw. Though similar mud sale auctions abound in Lancaster County in the spring, none has as many people attending. Proceeds of the sale assist the upkeep of fire equipment.On 13 March 1993 the fire company auction was abruptly closed at 10:00 AM by state police, who announced that an unseasonable snowfall would eventually block the roads, stranding people in town. Most people were gone by 11:00 AM. At noon the last people to attempt to leave, a family which actively volunteered with the fire company, ambulance, and the spring sale, discovered that the roads were actually impassable. The family was compelled to spend the night with friends in town. In the next 24 hours only 24 inches (609.6 mm) of snow fell, but 50 to 60 mile per hour winds limited visibility and caused drifting snow to block the roads. During the blizzard the fire company's ambulance crew handled several emergencies, taking people by snowmobile to Bird-in-Hand
Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania
Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community with parts lying in East Lampeter Township, and Upper Leacock Township, Lancaster County in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community has a large Amish and Mennonite population...
where, due to nearly continuous plowing, it was still possible to travel to Lancaster city by highway. Sunday morning discovered very little activity. Roads were blocked by frozen four and five feet high snow drifts until the early afternoon. The aution field contained farm machinery and over a hundred carriages buried under snow. It was at least a week before things were normal. Some called it the snowfall of the century, but just three years later on 8 January 1996 a two foot snowfall led to all roadways in 47 Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
counties being closed by the governor's order. Perhaps the fact that the 1993 snowstorm occurred in March made it seem worse than it actually was.