Good morning, Lancaster County. 

We’re trying out a brand new format and experimenting with what the daily newsletter looks like. 

This version has more events, but less editorialized coverage. 

Let us know what you prefer down in the survey at the bottom of this edition :)

Spring isn't officially here yet, but $147 million in new investment and a fresh batch of state-backed loans say the economy didn't get the memo. Big things are happening around here. Let's get into it.

In today's Lancaster Local:

Pennsylvania recently approved more than $4.1 million in low-interest PIDA loans for business expansion projects around the state, with many Lancaster County businesses getting access. That's not chump change. Those projects are expected to pump $15.2 million into the local economy and create 34 new jobs while keeping 98 existing ones right here.

You may have heard this one before, but it's worth repeating because it just keeps getting bigger: Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories is expanding with a $147.5 million project in Upper Leacock Township. We're talking a brand-new 300,000-square-foot lab and office facility. About 250 jobs are expected over the next three years.

There’s a lot of music and fun productions happening around town. Here’s a few worth knowing.

🦁 Sight & Sound Theatre: JOSHUA - Running daily through the season at 300 Hartman Bridge Rd, Ronks. This is the brand-new 2026 original production - panoramic three-sided stage, live animals, a massive cast. 

🌿 Little Shop of Horrors - Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre - It’s the final weeks at 510 Centerville Rd. It’s a wonderful production with a delicious buffet, and this show closes March 21. If you've been putting this off, that's on you. Go this week.

🔍 Murder Mystery at Mount Hope: 1776–1876 - A culinary whodunit set in 1876, celebrating America's 100th birthday. Four-course meal included. Weekend shows at the Mount Hope Estate in Manheim. Dinner and a crime. Hard to beat.

🖼️ "Arcadia" Art Exhibition - Third Story Art - Nature-inspired works from Donald Crowl, Stephanie Gibson, Barbara J. Hart, and Jeremy Waak at 44 N. Christian St., Suite 300. Free. Through April 25. Part 2 is up at Olivia's Fine Art, 140 N. Prince St., through March 28. Two galleries, one visit, zero dollars.

Out and about in Lancaster County

🎨 Demuth Student Salon - Demuth Museum - Student works inspired by Charles Demuth's Precisionism and watercolors at 120 E. King St.. Always worth a stop.

🥾 Lancaster Conservancy Preserves - Free Hiking - Countless preserves open dawn to dusk countywide - Shenk's Ferry, Tucquan Glen, Turkey Hill, Kelly's Run and more. Shenk's Ferry wildflowers are beginning to emerge in March. This is one of the county's quiet secrets and it costs nothing.

🧱 Gordonville Spring Mud Sale & Auction - March 13 & 14 at the Gordonville Fire Company, 3204 Vigilant St. Quilts, tools, farm equipment, food, and the kind of organized chaos that only Lancaster County can pull off. 

From a farmer's field to a university

Before Millersville University was one of Pennsylvania's leading public institutions, it was a single building on a donated farmer's field - and nobody was sure it would survive its first decade.

The school opened in 1855 as the first state normal school in Pennsylvania, tasked with training teachers at a time when "trained teacher" was a radical concept. The land came from a local farmer. The funding was shaky. The critics were loud.

Today it's a 250-acre university with thousands of students and a nationally recognized education program. 

But the story of how it got there - through wars, financial crises, changing missions, and more than a few near-closures - is one of the best Lancaster County stories nobody knows.

We dug into the full history. It's worth the read.

👉 Read the full story →

Wednesday, March 11 Mild and mostly cloudy. Still very warm in the 70s. Good day to take a nice walk!

Thanks for reading Lancaster Local. If you found something useful, forward it to someone who still gets their news from a Facebook group.