Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
District Representative Party
13 John Lawrence Republican
37 Mindy Fee Republican
41 Brett Miller Republican
43 Keith Greiner Republican
96 Mike Sturla Democratic
97 Steven Mentzer Republican
98 David Hickernell Republican
99 David Zimmerman Republican
100 Bryan Cutler Republican
128 Mark M. Gillen Republican
129 Jim A. Cox Republican
Government and politics -- Pennsylvania House of Representatives [ 89 ]
Lancaster County locally /ˈlæŋkəstər/, (Pennsylvania German: Lengeschder Kaundi) sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 519,445. Its county seat is Lancaster. Lancaster County comprises the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is a part of Philadelphia's Designated Media Market. The County of Lancaster is a popular tourist destination, with its Amish community a major attraction. Contrary to popular belief, the word Dutch in Pennsylvania Dutch not a mistranslation, but rather a corruption of the Pennsylvania German endonym Deitsch, which means Pennsylvania Dutch / German or German. Ultimately, the terms Deitsch, Dutch, Diets and Deutsch are all cognates of the Proto-Germanic word *þiudiskaz meaning popular or of the people. The continued use of Dutch instead of German was strengthend by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 19th century as a way of distinguising themselves from later (post 1830) waves of German immigrants to the United States, with the Pennsylvania Dutch referring to themselves as Deitsche and to Germans as Deitschlenner (literally Germany-ers, compare Deutschland-er) whom they saw as a related but distinct group. The ancestors of the Amish began to immigrate to colonial Pennsylvania in the early 18th century to take advantage of the religious freedom offered by William Penn. They were also attracted by the area's rich soil and mild climate. Also attracted to promises of religious freedom, French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution settled this area in 1710. There were also significant numbers of English, Welsh and Ulster Scots (also known as the Scotch-Irish in the colonies).