Submitted by Leona Baker for the Historical Society of Salisbury Township

In 2026, the United States is celebrating its 250th anniversary. In 1776, the people were seeking freedom from what they considered an oppressive government. Whether those who were rebelling were Patriots or Tories depended on lifestyle as well as point of view. The next few "From the Attic" columns will discuss the beginnings of villages established before that time in what would later become Salisbury Township.

At first, explorers and trappers traded with the Native Americans. Later, hundreds of European families arrived, escaping either religious persecution or dire poverty. They settled in the forests, cutting trees for wood to build homes and barns, and clearing fields to begin raising crops in the rich soil of the valley. Where one family settled, others soon joined, until a small village evolved.

The first village to endure appears to have been at the crossroads of what became Gap-in-the-Hills. Evidence indicates that Gap was already a geographical entity when Jonas Nilson traveled from Philadelphia to trade furs for goods in 1644. Nilson used a road that lay on the north-south trade route from New Castle, Del. Apparently, trading was brisk and profitable, and by 1701, when William Penn came west to confirm relations with the Susquehannock Native Americans, pioneers were using that north-south trail as one of the clearest routes to the frontier. Francis Jones recognized the importance of providing goods and lodging to those travelers and, in 1726, built a tavern on today's Gap Road to accommodate those coming from New Castle, as well as others traveling from Philadelphia on what was called the Minquas Path. Today, Gap remains a crossroads, and Newport Pike (Route 41) and Lincoln Highway (Route 30) are two of the busiest highways in the county.

Robert Gault brought his family to the New World in 1709. Legend has it that upon arriving in New Castle, Gault traveled ahead to search for the "perfect" place to settle. But after collecting his family, he turned north too early and could not find his marked land. Instead, he settled near a spring on the high ridge above today's Cambridge Road. As other families joined him, the village of South Hermitage began to grow. Today, the family homestead still stands; the 300-year-old Pequea Presbyterian Church continues to thrive; the White Hall school, built in 1834, remains as a private home; and the farmland surrounding continues to produce abundant crops. Legend says that the name South Hermitage derives from a religious group from upper New York that came south to the area and decided to keep its village name, adding "south" to distinguish the change of location.

White Horse, a good day's journey from Philadelphia, began as a settlement along the Colonial road built in 1733. Known as the Kings' Highway, the road roughly followed Old Peter's Road, a trade route used by the French-Canadian fur trader Peter Bisaillon. Bisaillon's route probably followed even older Native American trails. The White Horse Inn, around which the village grew, served many of the pioneers traveling along the route. Today, the old inn is a private home, and the village thrives.

Some information shared in this column can be found in Joan Lorenz's 2002 book, "The History of Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania."