Gordonville, Pennsylvania
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Gordonville is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in Leacock Township, 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. The population was 508 as of the 2010 census. Though the village is little known outside its immediate area, the surrounding countryside has been portrayed in many books and magazine articles. The
Old Order Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins. As they maintain a degree of separation from surrounding populations, and ho ...
constitute a significant cultural presence in the area of the village. Wendell Berry mentioned the town in one of his collections of essays.


Geography

The village is in eastern Lancaster County in the southwestern corner of Leacock Township, approximately east of the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of Lancaster, southwest of the village of Intercourse, less than one mile (1.1 km) north of
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
, and about southeast of Bird-in-Hand. Gordonville is bordered to the southwest and south by Soudersburg. 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 Gordonville CDP has an area of , all land. The community drains south to
Pequea Creek Pequea Creek ( ; ) is a tributary of the Susquehanna River that runs for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 from the eastern border of Lancaster County and ...
, a southwestward-flowing tributary of the
Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...
. There are 153 farms in Leacock Township; all but seven are owned by
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 ...
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 Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
to the west and
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
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 scooters commuting to local jobs.


Demographics


History

Gordonville is located on part of a grant of of land to the Mary Feree family by the sons of
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...
. 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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and Columbia, a growing city along the
Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...
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 Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
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 The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...
, was produced in 1832. On 17 April 1834 the first long distance steam train ran through Gordonville along the new Columbia Railroad; the 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 The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
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 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
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 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
and
SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...
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 March 13, 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 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 auction 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 on January 8, 1996, a two-foot snowfall led to all roadways in 47
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 ...
counties being closed by the governor's order.


References

{{authority control Populated places in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania