Intercourse, Pennsylvania
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Intercourse, Pennsylvania (pop. roughly 1,000) is an unincorporated village in Leacock Township, Lancaster County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is ten miles east of Lancaster along PA 340. The village is located within the 17534 ZIP code, 717 area code, 768 is the local exchange.
As with the nearby towns of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, Blue Ball, and Paradise, Pennsylvania, Intercourse is a popular site for tourists on account of its location in "Amish country". Its name has acquired sexual connotations unrelated to the reasons the village was named. Sign posts for the town are frequently targeted by thieves. Stephen King mentions the town in his short story You know they got the Hell of a Band for its name.
Apart from and despite its name, Intercourse is also famous for its Amish communities. For this reason the movie Witness was filmed in Intercourse and For Richer or Poorer was set there, though not filmed in Intercourse.
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[edit] Economy
Tourism and farmland are major industries in the town. Small businesses sell Amish crafts, food, and give horse and buggy rides. The town thrives on thousands of tourists who visit the region each year. Most of the land surrounding the town is farmland. Intercourse is also home to the North America's largest African Elephant "Fannie." She can be found Mondays through Fridays at the Intercourse Zoo.
[edit] History
Intercourse was founded in 1754. The community was originally named Cross Keys, after a local tavern. Intercourse became the name in 1814, and there are various theories to explain this; one possibility is that the name derived from a race course, the "Entercourse", which was located along Old Philadelphia Pike just outside of town. The village website gives some other theories for the origins of the name.
"Another theory concerns two famous roads that crossed here. The Old King's highway from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (now the Old Philadelphia Pike) ran east and west through the center of the town. The road from Wilmington to Erie intersected in the middle. The joining of these two roads is claimed by some to be the basis for the town 'Cross Keys' or eventually 'Intercourse'.[1] A final idea comes from the use of language during the early days of the Village. The word 'intercourse' was commonly used to describe the 'fellowship' and 'social interaction and support' shared in the community of faith, which was much a part of a rural village like this one."[1]
While it may seem attractive to some to misconstrue "intercourse" in its more base sexual form, this has nothing to do with the origins of the village name.
[edit] Sites of interest
- Museums and Historic Sites
- American Military Edged Weaponry Museum
- People's Place Quilt Museum
- The People's Place
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Coordinates: 40°02′15″N 76°06′19″W / 40.0375°N 76.10528°W
