The "555 Miles Divide Lancaster From Lancaster" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking the website for the South Carolina County known as Lancaster.  Seeing how it may compare to its sister County, and my hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania County.  

Outline of the state of South Carolina

Though they are 555 miles from one an- other, they both share some of the same history as well as both being known as either the "Garden Spot of America" or the "Garden of Eden."  Lancaster, PA was founded in 1729 and is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States while Lancaster, SC was founded in 1785.  

The shape of Lancaster County, PA is similar

Today, Lancaster, PA has approximately 60,000 residents while Lancaster, SC has about 10,000 residents.  The first settlers in Lancaster, SC were Scots-Irish who migrated south on the Great Wagon trail from Lancaster, PA.  They traveled to the Waxhaws region of Lancaster, SC which today is just north of the Lancaster, SC county seat.  At the time the Scots-Irish moved south, they came upon a "Garden of Eden" of Native Americans which included the Cherokee, Catawba and Waxhaw tribes.  

Both share the same logo

The new arrivals from up north, which included many from Lancaster, PA, ushered in an era of sizeable change.  They named the new area for their homeland in England, the region of the famous House of Lancaster that opposed the House of York in the War of the Roses.  Both Lancaster, SC and Lancaster, PA claim the Red Rose emblem as their "Coat of Arms" of the House of Lancaster.  

Monument in front of the Courthouse in Lancaster, South Carolina

Recently, Lancaster, PA's resident newspaper historian, "The Scribbler" Jack Brubaker, made a visit to Lancaster, SC where he and his wife toured the courthouse and viewed the Confederate monument that stands in front of the courthouse.  Jack wrote an article in the Lancaster Newspaper about his travels.  

An 1877 photograph of the square in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Lancaster, PA also has a Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of town, near where its courthouse once stood in center city.  My home city's monument stands 43 feet high and has a rectangular pillar topped with a statue of a robed woman on a pedestal known as "The Genius of Liberty."  She stands facing north so her back faces away from the Confederate States of America which were defeated during the Civil War.  

Painting of what the Courthouse in Lancaster, PA used to look like

There are also four statues of men representing the four branches of the American armed services which surround the center statue.  It was erected within a decade of the end of the Civil War.  The statue which stands in front of the courthouse in Lancaster, SC is 30 feet in height and has a single soldier standing atop it.  It wasn't dedicated until 1909.  During the Civil War, troops under Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the town of Lancaster, SC.  The soldiers looted the town and stabled their horses in the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church that had been built in 1862.  That had to be a real slam to the residents of Lancaster, SC!  

A more current photograph of the statue in Lancaster, SC

Lancaster, PA had many famous residents with President James Buchanan being one of them, while Lancaster, SC can also lay claim to a President in Andrew Jackson.  Today, both Lancasters still have some of the best farm land in the country.  And, we still share the Red Rose emblem, but do differ in that Lancaster, SC still harbors some of the same attitudes that were supposed to have been laid to rest after the Civil War.  My guess is that will never change!  Though Confederate flags are not seen near the monument in Lancaster, SC, I'm sure you will still see them at many other locations in Lancaster County, SC.  Some things will never be laid to rest in our nation!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.