York, Pennsylvania

York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. The city has an urban area population of 238,549 people when taking into account people residing in surrounding municipalities.

Founded in 1741, York served as the temporary base for the Continental Congress from September 1777 to June 1778, during which the Articles of Confederation were drafted. It is the largest city in the York–Hanover metropolitan area, which is also included in the larger Harrisburg–York–Lebanon combined statistical area of the Susquehanna Valley.

York was also known as Yorktown in the mid-18th to early 19th centuries. It was founded in 1741 by settlers from the Philadelphia region and named for the English city of the same name. By 1777, most of the area residents were of German or Scots-Irish descent. It was incorporated as a borough on September 24, 1787, and as a city on January 11, 1887.

York served as the temporary base for the Continental Congress from September 30, 1777, to June 27, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Congress drafted and adopted the Articles of Confederation in York, though they were not ratified until March 1781. Congress met at the Court House that was built in 1754. It was demolished in 1841 and rebuilt in 1976 as Colonial Court House.

York styles itself the first Capital of the United States, although historians generally consider it to be the fourth capital, after Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Lancaster (for one day). The claim arises from the assertion that the Articles of Confederation was the first legal document to refer to the colonies as "the United States of America". The argument depends on whether the Declaration of Independence would be considered a true legal document of the United States, being drafted under and in opposition to British rule. This does not, however, prevent local businesses and organizations in the York area from using the name, such as First Capital Engineering, First Capital EMS, and First Capital Federal Credit Union.

The Conway Cabal was a political intrigue against General George Washington that originated in the Golden Plough Tavern in York.

According to U.S. census reports from 1800 through 1840, York ranked within the nation's top one hundred most populous urban areas.

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), York became the largest Northern town to be occupied by the Confederate army when the division of Major General Jubal Anderson Early spent June 28–30, 1863 in and around the town while the brigade of John B. Gordon marched to the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville and back. Early placed York under tribute status and collected food, supplies, clothing, shoes, and $28,000 in cash from citizens and merchants before departing westward, obeying the revised orders of Robert E. Lee.