Lancaster

Lancaster, city, seat of Lancaster county, northern South Carolina, U.S., near the Catawba River. It was founded in the 1750s by settlers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The architect Robert Mills designed the jail (1823) and the courthouse (1828). In the early 19th century the community was identified with the Waxhaw Revival, part of the Great Revival (a nationwide movement of religious vagaries), and witchcraft was once legally recognized. A textile-based economy prevails, supplemented by light industries. A campus of the University of South Carolina was opened in Lancaster in 1959. A state park 8 miles (13 km) north marks the site of President Andrew Jackson’s birthplace. Inc. village, 1802; town, 1830; city, 1898. Pop. (2000) 8,177; (2010) 8,526.