Alexander, son of Hans Henry and Anna Margaretha (Mayer) Schaeffer, immigrated to Philadelphia from Baden, Germany, in 1738. By the time of his death in 1786 he had laid out the town he named Heidelberg (now Schaefferstown), in Lancaster Co., PA, built the King George Hotel (the present day Franklin House), and created the first gravitational water conveyance system by underground pipes in all the British colonies. In about 1738 he married Anna Engel and together they had 7 children. He was of the German Reformed faith and was a guiding force in establishing that church in Heidelberg.
Alexander, son of Hans Henry and Anna Margaretha (Mayer) Schaeffer, immigrated to Philadelphia from Baden, Germany, in 1738. By the time of his death in 1786 he had laid out the town he named Heidelberg (now Schaefferstown), in Lancaster Co., PA, built the King George Hotel (the present day Franklin House), and created the first gravitational water conveyance system by underground pipes in all the British colonies. In about 1738 he married Anna Engel and together they had 7 children. He was of the German Reformed faith and was a guiding force in establishing that church in Heidelberg.
Inscription
FOUNDER OF SCHAEFFERSTOWN, PA.
BORN IN GERMANY JANUARY 8, 1712.
MIGRATED TO AMERICA IN 1738
DIED 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 REPRESENTATTIVES OF THE
PEOPLE OF MARKET STREET. THIS ACT CREATED THE WATER
COMPANY WHICH LATER BECAME THE FIRST CHARTERED WATER
WORKS IN THE UNITED STATES.
ERECTED BY THE HEIDELBERG LIONS CLUB
1963
