06/17/2026
FROM THE ORDINANCE BOOKS
As promised, we are going to start sharing some of Lancaster's early ordinances from the original ordinance books! All of them are interesting and some of them, like this one, are quite humorous.
From April 26, 1832
This ordinance made it unlawful for stud horses to be in the public square, streets or alleys of the town without a rider. Also, people were not allowed to "permit or let such horses to a mare or mares within the limits of the corporation..." [Translation: no "horseplay" in view of the public] 😆
However, there is an exception in the ordinance...."horseplay" is permitted as long as long as the owner builds an enclosure "sufficient to keep out of public view such horse and mare..."
The penalty for breaking this law was a fine for each offense not exceeding ten dollars and not less than one dollar.
We look forward to sharing more of these ordinances! Thank you to Geopro Imaging, LLC for scanning these important documents! We look forward to future events with them and the City of Lancaster as we unveil more within these pages!
