Millersville And Lancaster Pennsylvania

Millersville University was established in 1855 as the Lancaster County Normal School, the first state normal school in Pennsylvania. It subsequently changed its name to the Millersville State Normal School in 1859 and Millersville later became a state teacher's college in 1928. It was renamed Millersville State College in 1957 and officially became Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 1983. The College of Graduate Studies and Adult Learning was created in 1959 and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Millersville is one of 14 state owned universities administered by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Located on 250 acres in the heart of historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Millersville University enjoys a tranquil campus featuring a pleasing mix of historic buildings and modern structures. Millersville University is known for its campus, particularly the pond at the heart of its campus. Home of Miller and S'ville, Millersville's resident swans, the pond was originally a brickyard in the 1800s. The university's central location affords easy access to the culture and fun of major East Coast cities such as Baltimore and Philadelphia (one hour away), and Washington, D.C., and New York City, only two-three hours from campus.

The town of Millersville is a borough of 2.0 square miles in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Millersville originally consisted of farmland owned by John Miller in Manor Township. Millerstown was a crossroads for goods and sales brought from the local farming communities into Lancaster City. Later the town's name changed to Millersville and it officially became a separate borough in Lancaster County.

Lancaster City is located in South Central Pennsylvania and serves as the seat of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County. It is one of the older non-coastal towns in the United States (along with Springfield, Massachusetts; Petersburg, Virginia; Schenectady, New York; and several other settlements). Lancaster City ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities. It is the 101st largest metropolitan area in the US and the second largest in the South Central Pennsylvania area. Survey results from USAToday in February 2012 ranked Lancaster, PA as the number one metro area in the US where people indicate they have the highest sense of well-being.

Lancaster was also home to James Buchanan, the nation's 15th president, and to congressman and abolitionist, Thaddeus Stevens.

The city's primary industries include healthcare, tourism, public administration, manufacturing, both professional and semi-professional services, and home of the Park City Center shopping mall, the largest indoor retail facility in the entire south-central Pennsylvania region. Lancaster is known for its innovative adoption of advanced technology and hosts more electronic public CCTV outdoor cameras per capita than any US city.

There is something for everyone in Lancaster! Lancaster has a fantastic art community with over 90 art venues, shopping and dining at over 300 establishments, historic architecture, and great cultural and entertainment attractions. One favorite of many Millersville students is First Friday, where shops, cafes and artists stay open into the evening. It's a great experience to see the cultural heart of the city. Another interesting and fun place to visit is the downtown market, where you can buy fresh produce, home-made traditional foods like whoopie pies, and try new ethnic cuisines.

In addition to the downtown area, Lancaster County has many scenic views and drives. You can explore the peaceful countryside and farmlands, drive over covered bridges, and learn more about the Amish culture. If you enjoy small towns and villages, you'll also want to visit the nearby locales of Lititz, Manheim, Ephrata, Akron, Strasburg, Intercourse, Columbia, and Bird-in-Hand, amongst others.

Lancaster offers many shopping opportunities. Park City Center, located 15 minutes from the University, contains a wide variety of stores and restaurants for your convenience. The Rockvale and Tanger Outlets, about 30 minutes away, are another highly popular shopping destination. Lancaster City and the surrounding region are also home to many stores, some of which you will be familiar with and some of which are unique to Lancaster.

One of the best parts of Lancaster, however, is the diversity of restaurants. A visitor to Lancaster can enjoy traditional Pennsylvania Dutch meals, Latin and South American cuisine, Thai food, Vietnamese food, Chinese restaurants, Japanese sushi and hibachi, Ethiopian cuisine, Indian restaurants, and more! If you're looking to try some traditional farm fresh, Pennsylvania Dutch foods while you're here, then be sure to sample some of these foods: Lancaster chicken pot pie, fastnachts, birch beer, apple butter, Lebanon bologna, scrapple, apple dumplings, whoopie pies, and shoofly pie.

What to do in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Get out and see the town! This website links you to happenings in and around Lancaster County.

Getting To Millersville

From downtown Lancaster and the train station, it is approximately 15-20 minutes to Millersville University by car or taxi. If taking the bus, it may be longer depending on the route taken and the number of stops.

Directions on how to get to Millersville University campus from nearby locations

Driving Directions from the Lancaster Train Station
Taking the bus from the Lancaster Train Station: To take the bus from the train station, you have several options. Between 7:35am and 6:15pm, the Red Rose Trolley will pick you up in front of the train station and take you to the transfer station at their 225 N. Queen Street headquarters. From there you will get on the #16 bus to Millersville.

Outside of those hours, you must walk one block west to Prince Street, and the one block south to the corner of Price and Liberty Streets. At that corner, you can take either the #19 bus inbound from Manheim or the #3 bus inbound from Park City C.

The fare is $1.20 and exact change is required. If you are connecting from the trolley, it is an additional $.20 and you must request a transfer ticket from the driver before you get off the trolley.

For any questions, please contact Red Rose Transit directly.

Driving Directions to regional airports:
Philadelphia International Airport (approx. 1½ hours east of Lancaster off I-95)
Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) (approx. 2 - 2½ hours south of Lancaster off I-95)
Harrisburg International Airport (approx. 45 minutes northwest of Lancaster off Route 283)

Connecting from the airport to the train station: To get to the train station from the Philadelphia airport, you must take the SEPTA R1 train from the airport to 30th Street Station, where you connect to the AMTRAK train to Lancaster.

To get to the train station from BWI airport, take the free airport shuttle to the BWI Rail station and connect with the AMTRAK train to the Lancaster Train Station.

You may also take one of the taxis found outside of the train station, although it is not recommended due the cost of travel (approx. $20.00) as opposed to the cheaper method of the bus.

• Local Millersville Bus Schedule - take you from Millersville to a variety of places such a the movie theatre, the mall, grocery store, and more.
• Greyhound Bus (for National or long-distance travel)
• Local Bus Travel (Lancaster and surrounding cities)
• Train
• Taxi

Weather 

Lancaster County has four distinct seasons, each lending a distinctive personality to the countryside. Temperature throughout the year ranges from highs in the '80's in July and August to lows in the '30's in late December through February.

For current weather conditions, click here. (Tip, use zip code 17551)

Millersville, Pa

Population: 7,774

• 5 miles from Lancaster City
• 50 minutes from Hershey Park
• 1.5 hours from Philadelphia
• 1.5 hours from Baltimore, MD
• 2.5 hours from Washington D.C.
• 3 hours from New York

Visitor's Bureau

Visit the PA Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau website or call 1-800-PADUTCH for accommodations and points of interest.