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Village History
Schaefferstown was founded in June 1758 by German immigrant Alexander Schaeffer. He called his new village Heidelberg, but it was not long before people began referring to it simply as Schaeffer’s Town.

The town Schaeffer planned was very much like those he had known in Europe. Building lots for homes and businesses were arranged around a large central square, at the intersection of two main roads, one running east to west, from Harris’s Ferry (Harrisburg) and Hummelstown to Ephrata via the Cornwall Iron Furnace, and the other north and south, connecting Conrad Weiser’s settlement at Tulpehocken with Lancaster, passing by Elizabeth Furnace.

Because of its prominent location near larger settlements and iron sites there was much traffic through the town, and stores and taverns sprang up to cater to travelers and residents alike. In 1761, an advertiser in the Pennsylvania Gazette announced that a post rider would take mail each Monday between Lancaster and Lebanon, with the tavern kept by Paul Gemberling on the square in “Heidelberg Town” as one of the regular stops. The tavern is now known as the Gemberling-Rex House. By the end of the 18th century there was also an open-sided wooden market house on the north side of the square.

To provide water for the town, Schaeffer installed underground wooden pipes connecting a spring at the south end of Market Street to the square. The flow from the spring was so strong that the water actually flowed uphill to fill two troughs (or fountains). At the time, both were located on the town square.
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