East Lampeter Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in central Lancaster County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 17,834. East Lampeter Township is one of the six

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s that border the city of Lancaster, all sharing the same ZIP code with Lancaster. Though the township is predominantly rural and agricultural, the busy highway U.S. 30, also known as the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

, crosses the township from the northwest to the southeast, traveling about eight and one-half miles. The two and one-half mile stretch bordering the city of Lancaster is very congested and serves many businesses including East Town Mall, the Lancaster Mennonite School, Dutch Wonderland amusement park, Tanger Outlets, The Shops at Rockvale, and several hotels and fast food businesses.

History

The Herr's Mill Covered Bridge, Michael Dohner Farmhouse, Bird-in-Hand Hotel, Christian Stauffer House, and Witmer's Tavern are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The Dutch Wonderland amusement park opened in the township in 1963. The former Wax Museum of Lancaster County History was also located in the township, directly adjacent to Dutch Wonderland, from 1969 until 2006.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.30%) is water. Unincorporated communities and neighborhoods in the township include Zooks Corner, Hornig, Holland Heights, Witmer, Bridgeport, Eastland Hills, Smoketown, Bird-in-Hand,

Fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...

, Greenland, Ronks, and Soudersburg.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 13,556 people, 5,342 households, and 3,739 families residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 5,611 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 92.13%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.11%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.07% Native American, 2.72% Asian, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.85% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 3.87% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. The township has a large

Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...

and

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

population. There were 5,342 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.05. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $46,179, and the median income for a family was $54,494. Males had a median income of $36,718 versus $25,578 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $22,744. About 4.9% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

In 2017 the public school system is the Conestoga Valley School District. There is also a campus of the Lancaster Mennonite School in the township, as well as other private schools. The Lancaster campus of Harrisburg Area Community College is located in East Lampeter Township. File:Farm near East Lampeter Township Community Park.jpeg, Farmland in East Lampeter Township File:Strasburg Baptist Church East Lampeter TWP LanCo.jpg, Strasburg Baptist Church File:6 horse team East Lampeter TWP LanCo PA 1.jpg, Six horse team mowing hay

References

External links

* {{Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1723 Townships in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania 1723 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies