Ephrata Cloister is one of the oldest historic sites in Lancaster County.
In 1732, Conrad Beissel made the site next to Cocalico Creek his home to prepare for the rapture. On the edge of the frontier, a growing community prayed, sang, worshipped and worked: creating religious texts by hand and on its own printing press.
The site became the state’s first historic property three centuries later. The Cloister has amassed more than 3,000 artifacts to tell the story of the communities who made this place their home.
Test your knowledge of local history in this quiz based on five artifacts from the collection.
