History

There are two stories about the origin of the town’s name. In one version it is named after Elizabeth Reeby, wife of Michael Reeby who sold the first building lots here in about 1795. Another version has it named after the wife of Captain Barnabas Hughes who purchased The Black Bear Tavern in 1750.

The officially accepted history is that, in 1753, Captain Barnabas Hughes acquired land and laid out a town, naming it for his wife, Elizabeth. The early settlers were primarily Scots-Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch.

Elizabethtown became a borough in 1827, and a railroad was built through the area in the 1830s. The town was primarily agricultural until the early 1900s, when the Klein Chocolate Company (now part of Mars, Inc.) and several shoe factories (the last of which closed in 1979) opened. Elizabethtown College was established in 1899, and the Masonic Homes (now the Masonic Village) followed in 1911.

After World War II, Elizabethtown grew rapidly, more than doubling its population between 1950 and 2000. Homes and businesses expanded into nearby farmland, making sprawl, farmland preservation, and revitalizing the downtown area important issues.^[1]

Geography

Elizabethtown is located at 40°9?12?N 76°36?2?W? / ?40.15333°N 76.60056°W? / 40.15333; -76.60056 (40.153207, -76.600431)^[2].

The borough has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.8 km²), of which, 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²) of it is land and 0.38% is water.

[edit] Economy

Elizabethtown is home to Continental Press, White Oak Mills (an animal feed plant), Elizabethtown College, the Masonic Village, a large Masterfoods USA (a division of Mars, Incorporated) plant,Messick’s Farm and Construction Equipment, and numerous smaller businesses.^[2] Many residents commute to the nearby cities of Harrisburg and Lancaster for work.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 11,887 people, 4,271 households, and 2,703 families residing in the borough. The population density was 4,567.4 people per square mile (1,765.2/km²). There were 4,483 housing units at an average density of 1,722.5/sq mi (665.7/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 96.32% White, 0.90% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,271 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the borough the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 18.8% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 82.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.5 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $42,752, and the median income for a family was $52,214. Males had a median income of $35,764 versus $26,316 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,384. About 3.3% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania borough hall

Colleges and universities

• Elizabethtown College

Public school districts

• Elizabethtown Area School District

Public library

• Elizabethtown Public Library [1], member of the Library System of Lancaster County

[edit] Sister city

Letterkenny, Republic of Ireland

[edit] Annual events

• May: Arts in the Park
  Memorial Day parade

• May-July: Lunch on the Square (Thursdays)

• End of August: Elizabethtown Fair (notable for being the “kickoff” of Lancaster County’s fair season and the end of the Elizabethtown Area High School students’ summer)

• December: Holiday Parade
  New Year’s Eve M&M drop^[2]