Dutchland Quilt Patch
Miller’s Smorgasbord
RONKS RD.
Welcome to Our Paradise PARADISE Dutch Haven & Jakey’s Amish Barbeque LINCOLN HWY. EAST
Jake’s Country Trading Post
V
isitors to Lancaster from the east on RT 30 travel through Paradise, just one of our many intriguing town names. The town’s story traces back to Europe over 300 years ago, to the area of the Palatinate in Germany where Protestants had settled following the declaration of King Louis XIV that all Protestants in France would be persecuted. Fearing a French invasion, many accepted the invitation to settle in the New World in William Penn’s colony of Penn’s Woods. By 1712, they had secured land in Lancaster’s Pequea Valley as the area’s first white people, living peaceably with local Indians. The origins of RT 30, also known as “Lincoln Highway,” date back to Lancaster’s Colonial days when the frontier county needed a highway to connect it with the provincial capital of Philadelphia. The road that was constructed is now Route 340, still referred to as the “Old Philadelphia Pike.” Soon, it was apparent that the Pike was insufficient to handle the increasing traffic, and in 1790, a commission to survey a new route was created. Since the cost 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 tolls collected along the gates of the turnpike. (As the toll was paid, the gate or “pike” was turned, hence the term “turnpike”).
741
30
Killer Hats
Strasburg Rd.
S. Vintage Rd.
30
Historic Revere Tavern
To Wolf Rock Furniture To National Christmas Center
The Act described the construction of the highway, which was to be a bed of small crushed stones on top with, rather than dirt, larger stones underneath to prevent carriage wheels from cutting into the soil. This revolutionary system of road construction is credited to a John McAdam, whose name became the term for paved or “macadam” roads. The turnpike opened in 1795 as the first long-distance, hard surfaced road in the country. Taverns and stagecoach stops grew up along the turnpike for weary travelers. Of these, the Revere Tavern, dating back to 1740 and originally called the “Sign of the Spread Eagle”, still proudly stands today. In 1841, the tavern became the residence of Reverend Edward V. Buchanan and his wife Eliza Foster Buchanan. Eliza was the sister of Stephen Foster, whose immortal songs will always be a part of Americana. Foster not only penned music at the tavern, but sent many of his manuscripts to Eliza, also a talented musician, for her approval. On the banks of the Pequea Creek, Eliza and Stephen played many of Stephen’s 200 songs, including “Way Down Upon the Swanee River” and “Oh, Susanna.” Wherever you happen to call “paradise,” we hope you can see that a little bit of our own Paradise won’t do you any harm!
20 • Amish Country News • July 2012 • AmishNews.com