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===Tourism=== [[File:Lancaster Central Market.JPG|thumb|[[Central Market (Lancaster)|Central Market]] in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], a popular tourist attraction]] [[File:2015 Birds In Hand Balloons 02 image FRD.jpg|thumb|A hot air balloon ride in Lancaster County]] [[File:Jackson's Sawmill Covered Bridge Three Quarters View 3264px.jpg|thumb|One of the county's [[List of Lancaster County covered bridges|29 covered bridges]]]] Tourism is a significant industry in Lancaster County, employing approximately 20,000. In the 1860s, articles in the ''[[Atlantic Monthly]]'' and ''Lippincott's Magazine'' published right after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], introduced Lancaster County to many readers. However, tourism in Lancaster was nearly non-existent prior to 1955. A ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' travel article in 1952 brought 25,000 visitors, but the 1955 [[Broadway musical]] [[Plain and Fancy]] helped to fan the flames of Amish tourism in the mid-1950s. Shortly thereafter, Adolph Neuber (then-owner of the Willows Restaurant) opened the first tourist attraction in Lancaster County showcasing the Amish culture. Lancaster County tourism tapered off, after the [[1973 oil crisis|1974 gas rationing]] and the [[Three Mile Island accident|Three Mile Island]] incident led to five years of stagnation.<ref name=andback>{{cite web |author=James Buescher |title=Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Pa.) |date=September 5, 2005 |url=http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/Press_Releases/Paradise_back.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060327093059/http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/Press_Releases/Paradise_back.doc |archive-date=March 27, 2006}}</ref> Local tourism officials viewed it as [[deus ex machina]] when Hollywood stepped in to rescue their industry. [[Harrison Ford]], in the 1985 movie ''[[Witness (1985 film)|Witness]]'', portrayed a Philadelphia detective who journeys to the Amish community to protect an Amish boy who has witnessed a murder in Philadelphia. The detective is attracted to the boy's widowed mother; the movie is less a thriller than a romance about the difficulties faced by an outsider in love with a widow from The Community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/|title=Witness|date=February 8, 1985|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> The film was nominated for eight Oscars, and won two.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/awards|title=Witness|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> However, the real winner was Lancaster County tourism. Once again, especially after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], tourism in Lancaster County has shifted. Instead of families arriving for a three- to four-day stay for a general visit, now tourists arrive for a specific event, whether it be the rhubarb festival, the "maize maze", to see [[Thomas the Tank Engine]], for [[Sertoma International|Sertoma]]'s annual "World's Largest Chicken Barbecue" or for the latest show at [[Sight & Sound Theatres]].<ref name=andback/> The tourism industry is discouraged by this change, but not despondent: {{blockquote|In four years of working here on the Strasburg Rail Road, I've only had one complaint, she said that the ride is too short. People love Lancaster County. They'll keep coming back.|Betty McCormack<ref name=andback/>}} The county promotes tourist visits to the county's numerous historic and picturesque [[covered bridge]]s by publishing driving tours of the bridges.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Covered Bridges of Lancaster County|work=Lancaster County, PA Government Portal|date=December 10, 2001|url=http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=15&q=257148&lancoNav=%7C5722%7C5789|access-date=September 26, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608124922/http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=15&q=257148&lancoNav=%7C5722%7C5789|archive-date=June 8, 2011}}</ref> With over 200 bridges still in existence, Pennsylvania has more covered bridges than anywhere else in the world, and at [[List of Lancaster County covered bridges|29 covered bridges]], Lancaster County has the largest share.<ref>{{cite web|title=Covered Bridges|work=Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center|publisher=Action Video, Inc.|year=2005|url=http://www.padutch.com/covbrdg.shtml|access-date=September 26, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928175121/http://padutch.com/covbrdg.shtml|archive-date=September 28, 2006}}</ref> The Lancaster County Convention Center Authority [https://web.archive.org/web/20060823065043/http://www.lccca.com/] constructed the $170 million<ref>[http://www.lancasterfirst.org/FinancingPlan_121306.pdf Working together for the future of Lancaster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614004733/http://www.lancasterfirst.org/FinancingPlan_121306.pdf |date=June 14, 2007 }}. Lancaster First. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> [[Lancaster County Convention Center]] in downtown Lancaster on the site of the former [[Watt & Shand]] building.<ref>{{cite web|author=Lancaster County IT and Budget Services|url=http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?A=15&Q=559590|title=Lancaster County Website|publisher=Co.lancaster.pa.us|access-date=July 22, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620100825/http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?A=15&Q=559590|archive-date=June 20, 2010}}</ref> Other tourist attractions include the American Music Theatre, [[Dutch Wonderland]], [[Ephrata Cloister]], [[Ephrata Fair]], [[Hans Herr|Hans Herr House]], [[Landis Valley Museum]], [[Pennsylvania Dutch Country]], [[Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire]] (one of the largest [[Renaissance fair]]s in the world<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hexpdOj8t80C&q=%22Pennsylvania%20Renaissance%20Faire%22%20-inpublisher%3Aicon&pg=PA120|title=Consuming History|last=De Groot|first=Jerome|year=2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=120|isbn=978-0-415-39945-6}}</ref>), [[Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania]], [[Rock Ford plantation]], [[Robert Fulton|Robert Fulton Birthplace]], Sight & Sound Theatres, [[Strasburg Rail Road|Strasburg Railroad]], [[Wilbur Chocolate]], [[Wheatland (James Buchanan House)]] and [[Sturgis Pretzel House]]. There are many tours of this historic area including the Downtown Lancaster Walking Tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.padutchcountry.com/member_pages/Historic_Lancaster_Walking_Tour.asp|title=Historic Lancaster Walking Tour | Pennsylvania Dutch Country Activities | Lancaster, PA|publisher=Padutchcountry.com|access-date=July 22, 2010|archive-date=January 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101034454/http://padutchcountry.com/member_pages/Historic_Lancaster_Walking_Tour.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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