Gordonville

Gordonville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 508 as of the 2010 census. The Old Order Amish constitute a significant cultural presence in the area of the village. Though rural in character, Gordonville is at the edge of the metropolis. Amtrak Keystone Service trains pass through the village on runs to Lancaster and Harrisburg to the west and Philadelphia and New York City to the east. The village is located on part of a grant of 2,300 acres (9.3 km²) of land to the Mary Feree family by the sons of William Penn. The first U.S.-made locomotive, built at Philadelphia's Baldwin Locomotive Works, was produced in 1832. On 17 April 1834 the first long distance steam train ran through Gordonville along the new Columbia Railroad. Abraham Lincoln spoke from his train at nearby Leaman Place-Strasburg railroad junction on 22 February 1861. In 1968 Hubert Humphrey, candidate for president, stopped and spoke at the same place. The nickname "Main Line" was affixed to the railroad route. The community drains south to Pequea Creek, a southwest-flowing tributary of the Susquehanna River. There are 153 farms in LeAcock Township; all but seven are owned by Amish families. The town resulted from the railroad that planned to pass through.

Geography

The village of Gordonville is in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, about 10 miles east of the city of Lancaster. The village is bordered to the southwest and south by Soudersburg, which is about 3 miles away. The town has a population of about 1,000. The community is mostly made up of Amish families, who live in small, modest homes. It has a small number of businesses, many of which are run by Amish people. It also has a number of public parks, which are open to the public, including a small park with a playground. The area is about 0.97 square miles (2.5 km²), all of it covered by open land. The nearest town, Lancaster, is about 2 miles (3 km) to the west, and the nearest city, Harrisburg, is 1.5 miles (4 km) away. There is no train station in the village, but there has been a train station there since the 1950s, when it was used to transport people to and from the city to the airport. The population of the village is around 1,200. It was once the site of the largest Amish community in the United States, but it has since been reduced to about 100 people. There are no Amish homes in the town, but many of the homes are owned by other families. The majority of the town's residents are Amish, and most of them live in the small, rural areas.

Demographics

The U.S. population is growing at a rapid rate, according to a new study. It's the fastest-growing demographic group in the world. The population is expected to grow at a rate of 3.7% over the next decade. The U.N. estimates that the U.K. population will grow by 3.8% by 2050. The rate of growth will be the highest in the United States since the 1970s, the study says. The country's population is projected to grow by 4.5% by 2030. The growth rate is the fastest since the 1990s. The nation's population will reach a record-high of 4.7 million by 2050, the report says. That's up from 3.4% in 2000. The United States is expectedto grow by 2.9% in the coming decades. The world's population has grown by 1.6% in that time, the United Nations says, and the rate of population growth is the highest since the 1960s and 1970s. It is the world's fastest growing demographic group since the 1950s and 1960s. America's population growth has been the fastest in the last 50 years, the survey finds. The number of people living in America has grown from 1.3% to 1.7%. The population's growth rate has been about 3.6%. The United Nations estimates that it will reach 2.7 percent by 2030, up from 2.1% in 2007. The global population growth rate will be 2.4%.

History

Gordonville is located on part of a grant of 2,300 acres (9.3 km²) of land by the sons of William Penn. Around 1829 land was surveyed for the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, chartered in 1823 and again in 1826. The first U.S.-made locomotive, built at Philadelphia's Baldwin Locomotive Works, was produced in 1832. On 17 April 1834 the first long distance steam train ran through Gordonville along the new Columbia Railroad. Abraham Lincoln spoke from his train at nearby Leaman Place-Strasburg railroad junction on 22 February 1861. In 1870 two barns in Gordonville were destroyed by fire caused by locomotive sparks. By 1898 the railway was widened to four tracks, and by the early twentieth century 200 trains per day passed through the town. The railway line was electrified in 1938. Today the village has a population of about 460 people. 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 and SEPTA trains. In 1968 Hubert H. Humphrey, candidate for president, stopped and spoke at the same place. The nickname "Main Line" was affixed to the railroad route. Later in the 20th 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. The town was once home to the Christian Hershey family, associated with the land from as early as 1709.

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. On 13 March 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. At noon the last people to attempt to leave, a family which actively volunteered with the fireCompany, ambulance, and the spring sale, discovered that the roads were actually impassable. In the next 24 hours only 24 inches (610 mm) of snow fell, but 50 to 60 mile per hour winds limited visibility and caused drifting snow to blocked the roads. It was at least a week before things were normal. On 8 January 1996 a two-foot snowfall led to all roadways in 47 Pennsylvania counties being closed by the governor's order. 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.