Millersville Borough
Lancaster County, PA
Your Borough
The village of Millersburg was founded in 1761 by John Miller who, during the middle of the 18th century, operated a blacksmith shop and hardware store. The village’s name was changed in the 1820’s to Millerstown, and finally became known as Millersville in the mid-1850’s. The original Miller homestead, built in 1763, is now used by Millersville University to house its police department.
Millersville was incorporated as a borough in 1932 with Borough Offices located at 25 East Charlotte Street. In 1970, Borough Offices were moved to 10 Colonial Avenue and in 2007 to a new facility at 100 Municipal Drive with 27 full-time employees. Prior to this time, Millersville was the largest village in Manor Township. Millersville’s significant growth began after 1855 with the founding of the first Pennsylvania Normal School, which has grown to become Millersville University.
The Borough’s current land area is approximately 2 square miles and the population according to the 2010 census was 8168. The Borough owns and operates a 1.8 million gallons/day Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Borough is five miles southwest of the center of the City of Lancaster, and six miles east of the Susquehanna River.
The Millersville University campus occupies about one-quarter of the Borough’s land area. Set on 245 acres of land, the campus includes 10 residence halls and three dining areas set in two residential complexes, and 60 other campus buildings, most of which lie between these two complexes. These other buildings include two gymnasiums, a library, a health center, a student center, several instructional buildings, and a number of administration buildings.
Within Millersville Borough there is one community park and two other community recreation facilities. The 21-acre Millersville Borough Community Park, Freedom Memorial Park, is located off Blue Rock Road at the northern end of the Borough. This park includes a wide range of recreation amenities and improvements, including playing fields and courts, playgrounds, picnic facilities, a perimeter walking path and a Veterans Memorial.
Two Penn Manor School District buildings are located within the Borough’s land area: Penn Manor High School and Eshleman Elementary School.
Millersville Borough is very fortunate to have a wide variety of civic, fraternal service, religious, and other community organizations which provide Borough residents with various human service needs. These organizations contribute significantly to the quality of life of Borough residents.
Police protection in Millersville Borough is provided on a 24-hour basis by the Borough’s own police department. The department currently has 13 full-time officers which include a Police Chief, one Lieutenant, one Sergeant assigned to criminal investigations, two patrol Sergeants, one officer assigned to the Lancaster County Drug Task Force, one officer assigned as the Penn Manor School District Resource Officer and six full-time patrol officers.
Fire protection is provided by the Blue Rock Regional Fire District. In 2008 with the help of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development a committee known as the Emergency Services Task Force was formed to study the feasibility and practicality of merging West Lancaster Fire Company, Millersville Fire Company, Highville Fire Company and Goodwill Fire Company of Washington Boro into one entirely new organization.
Fire protection is provided by the Blue Rock Regional Fire District. In 2008 with the help of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development a committee known as the Emergency Services Task Force was formed to study the feasibility and practicality of merging West Lancaster Fire Company, Millersville Fire Company, Highville Fire Company and Goodwill Fire Company of Washington Boro into one entirely new organization. The four existing fire stations will remain where they are presently located. The West Lancaster fire house will be known as the north house or House 901. The Highville station will be known as the south house or House 903. The Millersville Station will be known as the east house or House 905. And the Washington Boro station will be known as the west house or House 907. Blue Rock Fire Rescue has been designated as Company 90 by Lancaster County Wide Communications. The name Blue Rock Fire Rescue was selected from entries submitted by members of the four companies. Blue Rock Road runs through Millersville Borough and Manor Township. The member who proposed the name chose Blue Rock as the basis of the name because is a part of the long history of the two municipalities and the four fire companies. The Company maintains a roster of approximately 135 active volunteers, which is presently sufficient to meet its needs. Approximately forty-five of these volunteers are firefighters.
Ambulance service within Millersville Borough is provided on a 24-hour basis by the private Lancaster Emergency Medical Services Association, which also serves the Millersville University campus, most of Manor Township, the western portion of Lancaster Township, and the southwest section of Lancaster City.