Did you know that Palmyra, Pennsylvania, was not always called Palmyra? It used to be known as Palmstown, named after its founder, Johannes Palm. This was a man who came here in the 1700s, a time when these lands were ripe for the taking and the land was occupied by the Lenape and Susquehannock tribes. He left the old country to escape persecution and found his own little piece of heaven in this area. In the beginning, he was not the only one; Scotch-Irish immigrants arrived to establish their own communities too. Even though the original name of the town was Palmstown, it only took a few years for people to start calling the thriving settlement Palmyra, possibly in honor of the famous Roman outpost in Syria. In 1810, that’s when it officially got the name it still bears today. Over the next decades, the town started on its way to becoming the thriving, lively community it is today. The Berks and Dauphin Turnpike, which connected Reading and Hummelstown, was built in 1805, connecting Palmyra to neighboring settlements. In 1812, Harrisburg became the state capital, and Palmyra, situated along the way, benefited from all the traffic moving through it. The town started growing, with new businesses popping up to provide travelers and locals with lodgings, shops, and services. Then came the steam era, and with it, the Lebanon Valley Railroad, which arrived in 1857. Palmyra was rapidly becoming a vital hub in the network of settlements in Pennsylvania. You are looking now at a place that has seen lots of change over the past centuries. It’s always been a strong and welcoming place that has seen a constant stream of people from all walks of life. If these old walls could speak, they’d tell a story of hardworking people and the resilience of a community that faced many challenges. Who knows what the future holds for Palmyra, but that is a story for another time.
Zion Baptist Church
Founded in 1882 Zion Baptist Church stands proudly in Philadelphia. It’s a testament to faith resilience and community. This wasn’t