Lancaster is a city located in Fairfield County, Ohio. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 35,335. It is located near the Hocking River, approximately 33 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio.
Col. Ebenezer Zane of Wheeling founded Lancaster, Ohio on November 10, 1800. Lancaster has been most fortunate in the great men of national stature that lived here. General William T. Sherman, famous Civil War General, was born in Lancaster, as was his equally famous brother, John Sherman, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, and father of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Also, Lancaster was home to Thomas Ewing, U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, and organizer and first Secretary of the Interior, Henry Stanberry, Attorney General of the United States and defender of President Andrew Johnson at his impeachment trial, and three Ohio Governors.
A few of the important landmarks of Lancaster and Fairfield County are Mt. Pleasant, Wagnalls Memorial, the locks at Lockville, Stonewall Cemetery, Rock Mill, Elmwood Cemetery, the Sherman Memorial, the William Reese home (commonly referred to as the “Reese-Peters house” and currently the “Decorative Arts Center of Ohio”), the S. F. McCracken home (The Georgian), the Thomas Ewing home, the Mumaugh Memorial, St. John’s Episcopal Church, and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. Lancaster is well known for its numerous, well-preserved, early homes located for the most part on the Main Street and Wheeling Street hills.