Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Elizabethtown is a borough of 11,925 people in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, founded in 1753.
Why visit Elizabethtown
Townapedia lists 5 museums and landmarks, 9 parks and trails, 27 places to eat and 2 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include MoviE-town, Kreider Shoe Manufacturing Company, Herr's Mill Covered Bridge and Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium.
July is the warmest month, with average highs of 87°F; January lows average 23°F, and about 30 inches of snow fall in a normal year.
Weather in Elizabethtown
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown (Pennsylvania German: Betzischteddel) is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Harrisburg, the state capital. Small factories existed at the turn of the 20th century when the population in 1900 was 1,861. As of the 2020 census, the population of the borough was 11,639.
From the Wikipedia article Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do2
Museums and landmarks5
Kreider Shoe Manufacturing Company
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.5 mi
Parks, trails and playgrounds9
Restaurants and cafes27
Black Gryphon
Restaurant · 1.0 mi
Excellent food and service, good atmosphere. Live music some nights. Added by designjb
54 Mt Gretna Road
Sa 15:00-22:00; Su 12:00-22:00; Mo-Tu 12:00-21:00
E Yuan
Restaurant · Chinese · 0.4 mi
39 South Market Street, Elizabethtown
Tu-Th 11:00-22:00; Fr-Sa 11:00-22:30; Su 12:00-22:00
P&J Pizza
Restaurant · Pizza · 0.4 mi
22 East High Street, Elizabethtown
Mo-Th 11:00-22:00; Fr-Sa 11:00-23:00; Su 12:00-20:00
Pizza Hut
Restaurant · Pizza · 0.9 mi
900 North Hanover Street, Elizabethtown
Su-Th 11:00-22:00; Fr,Sa 11:00-23:00
Lucky Ducks Bar & Grille
Bar and pub · 0.4 mi
45 North Market Street, Elizabethtown
Mo off; Tu-We 16:00-22:00 "kitchen closes at 20:00"; Th...
Moo Duck Brewery
Bar and pub · 0.8 mi
79 South Wilson Avenue, Elizabethtown
Th-Fr 15:00-21:00, Sa 12:00-21:00
Hokkaido Sushi and Hibachi
Restaurant · Sushi, Asian · 1.2 mi
1623 South Market Street, Elizabethtown
Su 12:00-21:30; Mo-Th 11:00-15:00,16:00-22:00; Fr,Sa 11:00-22:00
15 more on the map.
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. 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. In 1758 General John Forbes supplied the expedition to Fort Duquesne with flour and oats and stationed a regiment here to protect his supplies.
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 1910.
Following the end of 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.
Kreider Shoe Manufacturing Company in Elizabethtown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
From the History section of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Churches and places of worship13
Christ Church United Church of Christ
Church · Protestant · 0.5 mi
247 South Market Street, Elizabethtown
Shopping8
Gas and EV charging8
Schools, colleges and libraries16
Lancaster County Ctc - Mt Joy Campus
School · 5.4 mi
432 Old Market St, Mount Joy
Mount Calvary Christian School
School · 0.9 mi
629 North Holly Street, Elizabethtown
Healthcare4
LG Health Physicians Family Medicine Sycamore Square
Clinic and pharmacy · 0.8 mi
99 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown
Map of Elizabethtown
92 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Climate by month
Monthly table
| Month | High | Low | Rain | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39°F | 23°F | 3.0 in | 9.1 in |
| Feb | 42°F | 25°F | 2.6 in | 9.4 in |
| Mar | 51°F | 32°F | 3.7 in | 5.6 in |
| Apr | 64°F | 42°F | 3.5 in | 0.4 in |
| May | 74°F | 53°F | 3.8 in | 0.0 in |
| Jun | 82°F | 63°F | 4.0 in | 0.0 in |
| Jul | 87°F | 68°F | 4.7 in | 0.0 in |
| Aug | 85°F | 66°F | 3.8 in | 0.0 in |
| Sep | 78°F | 58°F | 4.8 in | 0.0 in |
| Oct | 66°F | 46°F | 3.8 in | 0.2 in |
| Nov | 54°F | 36°F | 3.0 in | 0.8 in |
| Dec | 43°F | 28°F | 3.4 in | 4.4 in |
U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 for Middletown Harrisburg Intl Ap 72399 (9 mi away), NOAA NCEI.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Lancaster County has had 13 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for hurricanes.
- 2020-03-30: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
- 2016-03-23: Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm (Snowstorm)
- 2014-02-06: Severe Winter Storm (Severe Ice Storm)
- 2012-10-29: Hurricane Sandy (Hurricane)
- 2011-09-12: Tropical Storm Lee (Flood)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Reigle Field (58N) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 9 miles away.
- Columbia 10 mi southeast, about 16 min by car
- Colonial Park 15 mi northwest, about 24 min by car
- Carlisle 32 mi west, about 52 min by car
- Bel Air North 43 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Coatesville 43 mi east, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Fallston 44 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Westminster 45 mi southwest, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Bel Air 45 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Bel Air South 47 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
- Cockeysville 47 mi south, about 1 h 15 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (Public domain): climate by month
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- 2013 photo of Center Square, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Pha telegrapher, CC0
- Kreider Shoe Manufacturing Company, Niagara, CC BY 3.0
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