Conestoga

History

Conestoga refers to the Conestoga people, the English name for the Susquehannock who had inhabited the area before European settlement. The name is thought to have been derived from kanastoge meaning "at the place of the immersed pole." The name was also used for the Conestoga River which forms the northern boundary of Conestoga Township, and for Conestoga Manor, a large tract of land reserved by William Penn that was located north of the river in what is now Manor Township. Conestoga also referred to a succession of Susquehannock settlements located within Conestoga Manor. In 1763, the last of these settlements was destroyed and its inhabitants massacred by the Paxton Boys, a vigilante group of Scotch-Irish settlers from Lancaster County. The town of Conestoga Centre in Conestoga Township was laid out in 1805 by John Kendig who had been operating a tavern at this location since 1790. By 1815, eleven families were living there. A tax list from 1815 lists John Kendig Sr., John Kendig Jr., Martin Kendig, Magdalene Ponper, Adam Brady, Cornelius Conrad, John Carry, Theophilus Dunning, Solomon Falk, Catherine Grummel, and Jacob Yentzer. The headquarters of Turkey Hill Dairy, a food company specializing in iced teas and dairy products that was founded in 1931, has a Conestoga mailing address. It is located northwest of Conestoga in Manor Township. The area was in the national news in 2001 when President George W. Bush held a photo opportunity at the Safe Harbor power station southwest of Conestoga.

Geography

Conestoga is in southwestern Lancaster County, in the eastern part of Conestoga Township. It is situated between the Conestoga River to the northwest and Pequea Creek to the southeast. It is south-southwest of Lancaster, the county seat, and northeast of the Susquehanna River. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Conestoga CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.22%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• McCaskey Campus
  High · Lancaster · 2,620 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Penn Manor HS
  High · Millersville · 1,783 students · 17:1 ratio
• Conestoga Valley SHS
  High · Lancaster · 1,282 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• Gerald G Huesken MS
  Middle · Lancaster · 965 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Lampeter-Strasburg SHS
  High · Lampeter · 940 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Martin School
  Elementary · Lancaster · 672 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• Hans Herr El Sch
  Elementary · Lampeter · 655 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Martin Meylin MS
  Middle · Lampeter · 639 students · 13.3:1 ratio