LBA History

Our History

We trace our roots to the post-Revolutionary period, in 1792, although there were lawyers shaping a young Lancaster County long before then.  The local bar has played a vital role in our growth from a pre-Revolutionary farming region, which exemplified the complimentary American promises of individual liberties and strength in community, to today's flourishing center of commerce and culture.

Notable, early Lancaster Bar Members:

• George Ross, a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, was a member of the First Continental Congress. He was admitted to the Lancaster bar in 1750.
• John Hopkins served in the legislature supporting the call for a Constitutional Convention.
• Two Lancaster attorneys, Jasper Yeates and John Hubley, were delegates to the Pennsylvania Convention and voted to ratify the Constitution.
• James Buchanan served as President of the United States, preceding Abraham Lincoln.
• General Daniel Strickler was Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania.

The Lancaster Bar Association in its modern form was incorporated in 1945.

LBA Headquarters

We owned our first headquarters at 11 North Duke St., then made a brief stop at 28 Penn Square while renovating 28 East Orange Street, the former Orange Street Opera House, which has been our home since 1992.