This page is devoted to The Lancaster Legend, published by the Office of the Village Historian and used as a newsletter by the Lancaster New York Historical Society.

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, download it now. After downloading the Legend, set the "view" in Acrobat at "fit width" for easy reading.

Most recent issue:

Summer 2005. Lancaster's Secret Space Suit

Then please download these previous issues of The Lancaster Legend (contact the Society for older issues):

Winter/Spring 2005. First Grade at School Street School (the old "High School"), 1934-35

Summer/Fall 2004. Gould Coupler: A History

Spring 2004. He Had It Coming: The Sorg Murder (Part 2)

Fall/Winter 2003/04. He Had It Coming: The Sorg Murder (Part 1)

Summer 2003. LAYER'S DAIRY

Spring 2003. JAKE: LANCASTER'S OLD SOLDIER

Winter 2002-03. THE WINTER OF 1945

Summer/Fall 2002. CUSHING'S DRUG STORE

Spring 2002. THE HISTORY OF SCOTT AVIATION CORPORATION

Summer 2001. Gone In Thirty Years: Part II of the Underground Railroad in Lancaster and Cheektowaga.

March/April 2001 . Fascinating story of the Underground Railroad in Lancaster and Cheektowaga.

Jan/Feb 2001 . The Hull House, and plans of the Landmark Society to restore it. Also, Warren Hull bio by Phyllis Pankonin Hughes, Hull Family Association Genealogist, and Grand Re-Opening of the Museum.

Nov/Dec 2000 . Lancaster 1899: The Year of the Mad Dogs. The Artisan's Barn opens, with art and artifact.

Sept/Oct 2000 . Part 2 of the mysterious matter of Philip Sasch's murder or suicide in 1875. Read and vote above.

Summer 2000. Who killed Philip Sasch 125 years ago in Bowmansville? Read this and the Sept/Oct issue and vote above.

Spring 2000. Escape from German Forces: Philip Fink's Return to Lancaster; Report on the Museum.

January/February 2000. Railroad Sites on the Information Superhighway. Battle of the Gauges: Last of the Broad Gauge.

November/December 1999. From Bowmansville and Back: The Odyssey of John Harrison Mills. View Through a Chain Link Fence by Editor W.J. Harnack on the Pending Burial of the Erie Canal Terminus Excavation.

September/October 1999. Fire at the Museum - A Report on the Recent Vandalism on Clark Street. Ten Village Properties Attain National Register Status.

March 1999. War, Prosperity and Village Decline: Part III of the Sesquicentennial History of Lancaster Village.

January/February 1999. Indian Artifacts in Western New York. Tales of 'Ol West Main Street.

November/December 1998. Community Advancement, Conflagration, and Deluge: Part II of the History of Lancaster Village on the Eve of Our Sesquicentennial. Please be patient on the download--this special issue is 8 pages long with full-color pictures, so it weighs in at almost 700K.

September/October 1998. Lieutenant Leander Willis: A Somewhat Solved Civil War Mystery.

July/August 1998. Our Early Beginnings. Part One of the History of Lancaster Village as We Near Our Sesquicentennial.

May/June 1998. The Right People; The Right Time: 25th Anniversay of the Society

March/April 1998. I Remember: Early Memories of Depew, New York.

February 1998. Presbyterian Society of Cayuga Creek celebrates 180 years. LancasterPast announces new bulletin board.

November/December 1997. A look at Broadway from Lake to Church and the proposed widening project (by yours truly). Floyd Kruschke looks at the neighborhood of his paper route in the thirties.

September/October 1997. Bowmansville School: Some Memories; Some History. A great, personal look at a one-room schoolhouse. Please be patient on the download--this special issue is 8 pages long with full-color pictures, so it weighs in at almost 700K.

Summer 1997. Old Lancaster: A Walking Tour. Take a walk through the streets of time and the old village. Please be patient on the download--this special issue is 8 pages long with full-color pictures, so it weighs in at almost 700K.

May 1997. Bowmansville: The Early Years.

April 1997. "Dear Clara": A Letter for Old Times Sake.

March 1997. Gould Coupler Strike of 1914.

February 1997. Ice Houses of Lancaster. The Great Lincoln Train Debate.

January 1997. Stories about Olive P. Lester and Marcia B. Shaffer. Once a Redskin now available.