Editing Gap, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
Gap was named for its location at a low [[mountain pass|pass]] through Mine Ridge.<ref>{{cite book|last=Espenshade|first=Abraham Howry|title=Pennsylvania Place Names|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012934249&view=1up&seq=314|year=1925|publisher=Evangelical Press|isbn=978-0-8063-0416-8|page=310}}</ref> Gap has a history which can be dated as far back as [[William Penn]]'s first visits to the area. Isaac Taylor erected the first house in what would become Gap in 1747.<ref>{{Cite book|title= A Biographical History of Lancaster County|first= Alex |last= Harris|publisher= Elias Barr & Co.|location= Lancaster, PA|year=1872 |isbn= 978-0-8063-0590-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/abiographicalhi00harrgoog }}</ref> The area around Gap had a [[copper]] mine and what at the time were the only [[nickel]] mines in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Physical and Industrial Geography of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania |first= Henry Justin |last= Roddy| publisher= The New Era Printing Company |location= Lancaster, PA |year=1917 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mRrPAAAAMAAJ|page=62 }}</ref>

From 1792, the Rising Sun Tavern stood on the Philadelphia–Lancaster Pike (which is now U.S. Route 30) and had a small village with blacksmith shop.<ref name="Logan-2019-10-10-LNP-News">{{Cite news| last=Logan  |first=Rebecca |date=2019-10-10 |title= Buildings in Gap historic district may soon become part of the past [with photos] |newspaper=LNP Lancaster Online |url=https://lancasteronline.com/features/buildings-in-gap-historic-district-may-soon-become-part-of-the-past-photos/article_6c6b9d80-eaca-11e9-af0f-b3eda5191e0c.html |access-date=2022-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125125053/https://lancasteronline.com/features/buildings-in-gap-historic-district-may-soon-become-part-of-the-past-photos/article_6c6b9d80-eaca-11e9-af0f-b3eda5191e0c.html |archive-date=2021-01-25 }}</ref> Most of the buildings stood until circa 2020–2021, when they were removed for redevelopment; the site now contains a large convenience store and gas station. Although there was interest among locals to preserve the buildings, the real estate was valuable commercial frontage and funding for preservation was not available.

A stretch of railroad line was laid through the pass in the 19th century.{{When|date=September 2020}} Today the same railroad right-of-way carries Amtrak trains on the Keystone service.

In the mid-19th century there was a group of men known as "The Gap Gang". They would engage in raids and robberies of citizens traveling the Lancaster Philadelphia Turnpike. They were notorious for kidnapping free blacks and escaped slaves and selling them to slave traders in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. The Gap Gang were most noted for their involvement in the [[Christiana Riot]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/08/15/100945520.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204184949/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/08/15/100945520.pdf |archive-date=2022-12-04 |url-status=live |title=Tried For High Treason - A celebrated incident of the Fugitive Slave Law. Citizens of Lancaster County, Penn., will celebrate an event which has become historical |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 15, 1888 |location=[[New York, NY|New York]] |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=8 December 2013}}</ref>

Nearby to the west, and traditionally closely associated with Gap, is [[White Chimneys]], a country estate that began as a [[Fancy Dutch|Church Dutch]] family farm much like any other in the area but eventually became known for wealth because it was the home of the Slaymaker family, who owned the Slaymaker Lock Company of Lancaster City.