Witmer's Tavern
East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
One of the best surviving structures of its type. Original east end built about 1725 by Benjamin Witmer, agent for the London Land Company. Passed on to his son, tavern-keeper John Witmer. Enlarged by Henry Witmer, 1773. Family was prominent in many early enterprises, including the Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike (1792), bridge over the Conestoga (1800), and first Columbia-Wrightsville bridge (1812).
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
One of the finest surviving buildings of its kind, this Lancaster County tavern grew room by room across the eighteenth century. Benjamin Witmer, agent for the London Land Company, raised its east end around 1725; his son John kept it as a tavern, and Henry Witmer enlarged it in 1773. The family stayed at the center of the region's growth, with a hand in the pioneering Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike and the early bridges over the Conestoga and Susquehanna.
Why it matters
A crossroads tavern like Witmer's shows how inns anchored travel and commerce in early Pennsylvania, and the Witmers' turnpike and bridge ventures helped build the young nation's transportation network.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Witmer
- · John Witmer
- · Henry Witmer
Related events
- · Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Conestoga Navigation Company
Lancaster Township, PA · est. 2001
In the canal-building fever of the 1820s, the Conestoga Navigation Company set out to tame Lancaster County's Conestoga Creek with a slackwater system of locks and dams, connecting the rich farm country around Lancaster to the great port markets of Philadelphia and Baltimore. Chartered in 1825, its eighteen-mile course climbed through nine sets of locks, with Lock No. 1 standing here at the head of the line. Like many early canals it struggled financially against the coming railroads, collecting its last lock tolls in 1872. In a fitting second life, several of its abandoned dams were later harnessed to generate electricity from 1913 into the 1940s.
Strasburg Rail Road
Strasburg Township, PA · est. 2011
Chartered in 1832 after the state's main line bypassed the town, the Strasburg Rail Road refused to fade away — it is the oldest American railroad still running under its original charter. Rescued from abandonment by local enthusiasts in 1958, it was reborn as one of the country's most beloved tourist lines. Its fleet of working steam locomotives and vintage cars, among the largest anywhere, keeps Pennsylvania's rail heritage alive and in motion.
Great Minquas Path
Salisbury Township, PA · est. 1951
An ancient Indian path once ran through the Gap just south of here, later becoming the original Conestoga Road. In the 17th century the Minquas—the Conestoga—used it to carry great quantities of beaver skins from the Susquehanna Valley to the trading posts near Philadelphia. What began as a Native trail hardened over time into one of the region's foundational overland routes.
Great Minqua Path
Manor Township, PA · est. 1951
This was the great artery of the mid-17th-century fur trade, the chief trail by which the Minqua—also known as the Susquehannock—carried beaver pelts eastward to the European settlements along the Delaware. The trade was so lucrative that the Swedes, Dutch, and English fought one another to control it. The path traced a route of immense commercial and political importance in the early contest for the region.