Mount Gretna, PA

Mount Gretna is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, with a layout shaped by the Chautauqua movement, Campmeeting traditions, and a collection of summer cottage neighborhoods. The Pennsylvania Chautauqua Society selected the area in the 1890s and built an outdoor auditorium, Hall of Philosophy, cottages, and meeting grounds. The borough now includes sections such as Chautauqua, Campmeeting, Mount Gretna Heights, Stoberdale, and Timber Hills, each with its own local landmarks. The name also reaches beyond the borough: Conewago Lake, Conewago Hill, and Timber Bridge sit in neighboring South Londonderry Township even though they are closely tied to the Mount Gretna landscape.

Water and performance give the place two of its clearest traditions. Conewago Creek was dammed to form Lake Conewago, and in 1889 Robert Coleman built a narrow-gauge railroad that carried visitors around the lake and toward Governor Dick Hill. Gretna Theatre opened at the Mount Gretna Playhouse in 1927 and remains part of the Chautauqua neighborhood's cultural map. The Jigger Shop, the Tabernacle, the Hall of Philosophy, and the old cottage streets add more layers to a borough that began as an organized summer gathering place. Mount Gretna is a small Pennsylvania borough with a remarkably specific mix of lake, theater, faith, and learning.