Alexander Schaeffer

Alexander Schaeffer, founder of Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, was born in Germany on January 8, 1712, migrated to America in 1738, and died on April 10, 1786. In 1758, Schaeffer and his wife Anna purchased the land surrounding Schaefferstown, formerly Heidelberg, laid out the town, and sold lots to the squatters who already had homes. On July 16, 1763, he sold the land and spring, now Fountain Park, along with the pipes and troughs of the gravity water system to representatives of the people of Market Street. This act created the water company that later became the first chartered water works in the United States.

Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania · United States