Ephrata, borough, Lancaster County, southeastern Pennsylvania, on Cocalico Creek; incorporated 1891. Situated in a rich agricultural region, it has industries manufacturing building materials, shoes, and clothing. Ephrata was settled in 1732 by a German religious society under Johann Beissel. The men and women formed the Society of the Solitary Brethren—a semimonastic order advocating celibacy but not prohibiting marriage and favoring common ownership of property but not forbidding private ownership. The community was self-sufficient; its buildings, known as the Cloisters, housed 36 brethren and 35 sisters by 1740. At the period of its greatest prosperity, the community contained about 300 members. In 1745 the second printing press in Pennsylvania was set up in Ephrata, and the hymns and experimental melodies of Beissel published here have influenced American hymnology. John Miller, who became head of the community after the death of Beissel, was commissioned by the U.S. Congress to translate the Declaration of Independence into several European languages. During the British occupation of Philadelphia, Continental money was printed at Ephrata. The community buildings were used as hospitals after the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. The society began to decline after the death of Miller. The Cloisters are now maintained as a museum. Population 11,095 (1980); 12,133 (1990); 13,213 (2000).
