What's So great About Pequea?

Pequea

The Village of Pequea - pronounced <pek - way> - sits nestled among the rolling hills of Southern Lancaster County on beautiful Lake Aldred.

Aldred is a man made lake on the Lower Susquehanna River between the towns of Holtwood and Peach Bottom.

Pequea is part of Martic Township and it is located about 15 miles south of the City of Lancaster, in the southwestern part of Lancaster County Pennsylvania, USA.

Martic was first organized as a township in 1729 when it was one of the six townships into which Lancaster County was originally divided.

The early testimony of Martic Township elders indicates that the area's first settler was one Mathias Kreider. According to their testimony Mathias first settled upon the southern bank of the Pequea Creek, a little to the north of the present village of Marticville sometime around 1691.

When mister Kreider purchased his two hundred acres of land the price for his property was set at one shilling per acre, or one cord of wood for every acre of land.

And in a move still appreciated by locals Mathias paid for his land with the wood that grew upon it.

Today Pequea is bordered by campgrounds, hiking trails and nature preserves many of which are managed by Pennsylvania Power and Light, LLC (PP&L).

The lake itself measures 2,400-acres and provides a safe hunting ground on the lower Susquehanna river for the bald eagle and the yellow-crowned night heron.

Long found on Pennsylvania's endangered species list, these birds have found a safe home here. Both species are making strong comebacks from the edge of extinction as statewide focus on the environment helps to cut down on threats to the animals from pesticides like DDT and pollution, which almost caused their extinction.

Today, it is not uncommon to see bald eagles soaring up the lake's shoreline in search of prey.

On the way to Pequea from Lancaster you can drive through Conestoga, Pennsylvania. This small town is where they first built the Conestoga Wagons which helped our founding fathers to settle our nation. On the drive through town you will pass the Conestoga Historical Society.

From downtown Pequea near Arrowhead Marina and the Pequea Boat Club we can see the Holtwood Hydroelectric Station and dam off to the north.

Between the dam and downtown Pequea in the middle of the lake sits Bear Island, a popular summer party and boating destination.

At the Southern end of the village of pequea is the entrance to the trails leading to Wind Cave and House Rock.

Across the lake we can see York County and Airville, home of the Indian Steps Museum and it's extensive Native American Artifact collections.

It's nice here. All year round really. It is quiet and the people are friendly and helpful.

We look forward to adding to the descriptions details and lists here and hope to bring you more answers to the eternal question "What's So Great About Pequea?" very soon.

Thank you for visiting our site and look forward to hearing from you.

The View from Downtown Pequea.

The view from Holtwood Pinnacle Observation Point.

Holtwood

The Indian Steps Museum