Just like John, Paul, George, and Ringo circa 1964, the Marquis de Lafayette took the country by storm. He became a hero in the Revolutionary War, and a national celebrity when he returned to America decades later. 

These days, Lafayette’s big-as-the-Beatles status has vanished, but 2024 puts the Marquis back in the spotlight as we commemorate the 200th anniversary of his farewell tour and his visit to Lancaster in September 1824.

The American Friends of Lafayette will install informative, artistic panels in our Reference Room for patrons to engage any time the Library is open. The panels will be on view in the Library's Reference room from August 10 to August 20. Don't forget to sign our guest book!

Visit us again on Tuesday, September 3, at 9 a.m., as the American Friends of Lafayette, Thayer Memorial Library, and the First Church of Lancaster Unitarian Universalist reenact General Lafayette’s stop in Lancaster.

Reverend Nathaniel Thayer addressed Gen Lafayette on our historic Town Green on September 3, 1824.