Lewisberry Borough

York County, Pennsylvania

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Lewisberry Borough Hall is located at 308 Main Street, Lewisberry PA 17339.
Phone: 717‑428‑3938.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

Lewisberry — Incorporated from Newberry Township, April 2, 1832. The earliest Quaker settlements west of the Susquehanna were made here under the leadership of Ellis Lewis as early as 1734, while the valley was yet occupied by Indians. Major Ellis Lewis, Jr., a native of the valley, in 1750, was an officer of the Continental Army. He surveyed twelve acres of the Lewis tract, in 1798, and laid it out in lots. The place was named for his father, the owner of the town site. As early as 1760 flint lock guns, muskets and rifles were made here, and during the Revolution, John Rankin, Samuel Grove, John Foster and George Blymire were kept busy manufacturing these guns for the Continental Army. Lyman Lewis, descendant of Ellis Lewis, founder of the town, began the manufacture of brimstone matches, shortly after the close of the war, in the first match factory in America. It grew to be an important industry. Ellis Lewis, grandson of the founder, was born here May 16, 1798. He became an editor at Harrisburg and Williamsport; later studied law, and practiced at Wellsboro and Towanda; served in the General Assembly; was Attorney-General, and then president judge of the Eighth District, and became Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, on December 1, 1854. He died March 19, 1871. Coffee mills and clocks were early products, and it remains a manufacturing community today. The post office was established November 29, 1829. Population in 1940 was 262.

  1. Godcharles, Frederic A., Litt.D., Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania, 1944, Lewis Historical Publishing, Inc., New York

Nearby Towns: Fairview Township • New Cumberland Boro • Steelton Boro • Wellsville Boro •


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