For over 250 years, visitors coming into Lancaster County from the east have
traveled through a small town known as Paradise, just one of the many intriguing
town names in the area. Officially, Paradise became the name of the town with
the establishment of its "post office" in 1804.
Different sources credit different people with naming the area. Some say that
the name Paradise was given by Joshua Scott, who later become known for his map
of Lancaster County. Standing in the middle of a road admiring his surroundings
one day, he remarked that the town should be called Paradise, because its beauty
made it "seem like a paradise."
The story of Paradise and its first settlers goes all the way back to Europe,
to the area of the Palatinate in Germany. Here many Protestants had settled
following the declaration of King Louis XIV that all Protestants in France would
be persecuted. With fears of invasion by the army of France looming, many of
these people decided to accept the invitation to settle in William Penn’s
colony of Penn’s Woods in the New World. In 1708, Daniel Fierre (Ferree),
along with his family and mother Mary, went to England to obtain citizenship
papers before proceeding to New York.
By 1712, these French Huguenot settlers had secured land in Pennsylvania, in
Lancaster’s Pequea Valley. They were the first white people in the area and
lived peaceably with chief Tanawa and the local Indians. Mary Fierre died four
years later at the age of 63. Hers became the first grave in the family’s
cemetery. If you ride the Strasburg Rail Road, the "Road to Paradise,"
you will pass her gravesite at Carpenter’s Cemetery, one of Lancaster’s
oldest. (Not surprisingly, some people also credit Mary Ferree with naming
Paradise.)
Later on, Joel Ferree, who was involved in the development of the
Pennsylvania Rifle, gained some fame for his gun shop during the Revolutionary
War. Responding to a letter from a committee that included Benjamin Franklin, he
decided to enlarge his shop "to promote my Business and to serve my Country
in the Common Cause," hoping to double his weekly production of 15 to 20
gun barrels.
Other important family names in Paradise history include Carpenter, Eshelman,
Groff, Keneagy, Slaymaker, Lichty, Hershey, Frew, Denlinger, and Witmer. It
should be noted that David Witmer, Sr. "is credited with the naming of the
town of Paradise... Members of his own family criticized him for selecting the
name ‘Paradise’ when he could have used ‘Pequea’ or ‘Tanawa,’ in
honor of the Indian chief." David was apparently a friend of George
Washington, and also a supervisor of a section of the Lancaster-Philadelphia
Turnpike.
It was this road that was so important to the development of the village
itself. The origins of Route 30, also known as the "Lincoln Highway,"
go back to Lancaster’s colonial days when this frontier county needed a
communication route between it and the provincial capital of Philadelphia. At
that time, the first "planned" road between Philadelphia and Lancaster
was what is now Route 340. It was called the "King’s Highway," and
today we still call it the "Old Philadelphia Pike."
Construction of the King’s Highway began in 1733 and followed, in part, the
old Allegheny Indian path. By modern standards, the name "highway" is
really a misnomer because the road was only dirt, which became virtually
impassable during rain and snow. As time went on, it became evident that the
road could not accommodate the increasing traffic between Lancaster and
Philadelphia.
A committee was created in 1786 to investigate the possibility of improving
inland transportation within the state of Pennsylvania. The conclusion of the
committee’s work appeared on September 30, 1790, and resulted in the
appointment of a commission to survey a route between Lancaster and
Philadelphia.
Since the cost of such a road was too much for the state to undertake, the
company charged with building it was given the power to demand
"reasonable" tolls from users. Investors received dividends earned
from the tolls collected along the nine gates of the turnpike. (As the toll was
paid, the gate or "pike" was turned, hence the term
"turnpike.") To prevent travelers from evading tolls, the number of
gates was later increased to thirteen.
The 1792 Act went on to describe the construction of the highway, which was
to be a bed of small crushed stones on top with larger stones underneath, rather
than dirt, so as to prevent carriage wheels from cutting into the soil. Such a
revolutionary system of road construction combined the ideas recently developed
by a Frenchman and two Englishmen, one of whom was named John McAdam. We now
take the term for paved roads or "macadam" from his last name. The
turnpike officially opened in 1795 and was the first long-distance,
hard-surfaced road in the country.
Originating in the Conestoga Valley of Lancaster County, the Conestoga wagon
made an important contribution to the commerce and progress of our young nation.
With patriotic red running gear, white canopy, and blue body, the wagon traveled
the turnpike and rural roads from the late 1700’s to the mid-1800’s. Pulled
by horses specially bred by Lancaster farmers to combine speed with strength,
the Conestoga wagons were used to carry produce from Lancaster to the
Philadelphia markets.
The Conestoga wagon drivers often smoked thin, long cigars made from
Lancaster County tobacco. These cigars were nicknamed "stogies," a
shortened version of Conestoga. Another bit of lore associated with the wagons
is why Americans drive their cars on the right side of the road. The lead horse
was kept to the left of the Conestoga wagon, and the teamsters walked or rode on
the left side. Therefore, the drivers always passed other wagons headed the same
direction on the left side.
Of course, taverns and stagecoach stops grew up along the turnpike for the
weary travelers (and horses) making the trip, and several of these original
buildings, dating from the 1790’s, remain in the town to this day. The Revere
Tavern, originally called the "Sign of the Spread Eagle," was one of
the better inns along the 65 miles of turnpike. It catered to the more
prosperous class of travelers, providing fine liquors and fine foods in generous
portions to satisfy the hearty appetites generated by a long day riding a
rocking, jolting stagecoach.
Almost a century later, in 1841, the tavern would become the residence of
Reverend Edward V. Buchanan and his wife Eliza Foster Buchanan, while the
Reverend established and served as the pastor of All Saints Episcopal Church in
Paradise.
Eliza, his wife, was the sister of Stephen Foster, whose immortal songs will
always be a part of America. According to tavern legend, Foster sent many of his
manuscripts to his sister, a talented musician in her own right, for her
approval. There, on the banks of the Pequea Creek, she probably played many of
the 200 songs written by Stephen, including "My Olde Kentucky Home,"
Way Down Upon the Swanee River" and "Oh, Susanna."
In 1854, shortly before Edward and Eliza moved to a new pastorate, the
building was purchased by Edward’s brother, James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States.
Nowadays, the Historic Revere Tavern remains an excellent place to dine, and
continues to offer lodging accommodations, just as it did hundreds of years ago.
And the backroads around Paradise remain beautiful to this day, as the lush
greens of the summer give way to the fall colors of the harvest season. So,
during your visit to Lancaster, be sure to spend a little time in Paradise.
(We wish to acknowledge the following sources for excerpts used in this
article: the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau for the
turnpike history, the Historic Revere Tavern, and especially the book "250
Years in Paradise" prepared by the 1962 Anniversary Celebration Committee.
A special thanks to Robert Denlinger of Paradise.)