Intercourse is an unincorporated community and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, east of Lancaster on

Pennsylvania Route 340 Pennsylvania Route 340 (PA 340) is a state highway located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lancaster and Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester counties in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 462, PA 462 in L ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,494, up from 1,274 at the previous census. It is about 8 miles away from Blue Ball, a town with a similarly unusual name. Intercourse is a popular site for

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

because of its location in Amish country and its

sexually suggestive Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. Sex, SEX or sexual may also refer to: *Sexual intercourse, a sexual activity Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Sex'' (1920 ...

name. The movie ''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

'' was filmed in Intercourse as well as other parts of the surrounding area, and '' For Richer or Poorer'' was set there, though not filmed in Intercourse. Because of the town's unusual name, the sign posts for the town are frequently targeted by thieves.

History

Intercourse was founded in 1754. The community was originally named "Cross Keys", after a local tavern. Intercourse became the name in 1814. The village website gives several theories for the origins of the name:

Another theory concerns two famous roads that crossed here. The Old King's highway from
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
to
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
(now the Old Philadelphia Pike) ran east and west through the center of the town. The road from Wilmington to
Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...
intersected in the middle. The joining of these two roads is claimed by some to be the basis for the town 'Cross Keys' or eventually 'Intercourse'.Intercourse PA Merchants Association – Shopping – Tourism – Restaurants
A final idea comes from the use of language during the early days of the village. The word 'intercourse' was commonly used to describe the 'fellowship' and 'social interaction and support' shared in the community of faith, which was much a part of a rural village like this one.

Another theory is that it is derived from a racecourse on the edge of town called "Entercourse".

Geography

Intercourse is located in east-central Lancaster County, in the center of Leacock Township.

(Old Philadelphia Pike) passes through the center of town, leading west to Lancaster, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and east to Downingtown. Pennsylvania Route 772 (East and West Newport Road) joins PA 340 for two blocks in the center of town; it leads northwest to Leola and southeast to Gap. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Intercourse CDP has a total area of , of which , or 0.04%, are water. Muddy Run, a westward-flowing tributary of

Conestoga River The Conestoga River (), also referred to as Conestoga Creek (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through t ...

, forms the northern edge of the community. Intercourse has a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa'') like the remainder of Lancaster County. Average monthly temperatures range from in January to in July. The local

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 6b.

Demographics

According to the 2020 "ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles", 41.0% of the township's population spoke only

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, while 51.6 spoke an "other han SpanishIndo-European language" (mostly being

Pennsylvania German The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate region of Germany ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Economy

Tourism and farming are major industries in the area. Small businesses sell

Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...

crafts and food and give

horse and buggy A buggy refers to a lightweight four-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse, though occasionally by two. Amish buggies are still regularly in use on the roadways of America. The word "buggy" has become a generic term for "carriage" in Americ ...

rides. The town thrives on thousands of

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

s who visit the region each year. Most of the land surrounding the town is farmland.

In popular culture

The village's name is often the subject of jokes relating to

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

. Along with that of Blue Ball, Pennsylvania, which could be mistaken for the slang term "

blue balls Epididymal hypertension (EH), informally referred to as blue balls for males or blue vulva for females, is a harmless but uncomfortable sensation in the genital regions during a prolonged state of sexual arousal. It usually resolves within ho ...

," a term for a temporary testicular and prostate fluid congestion due to prolonged and unsatisfied sexual excitement, the publishers of '' Eros Magazine'' sought mailing privileges from the postmasters of the town.Krassner (1963) Intercourse and Blue Ball are often named in lists of "delightfully-named towns" in

Pennsylvania Dutch Country The Pennsylvania Dutch Country (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Pennsylvanie Deitschland,'' ''Deitscherei,'' or ''Pennsilfaanisch-Deitschland''), or Pennsylvania Dutchland, is a region of German Pennsylvania spanning the Delaware Valley and South Central ...

, along with Gap,

Fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...

, Mount Joy,

Lititz Lititz is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370. History Lititz was ...

, Bareville, Bird-in-Hand and

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

.Ward's quarterly (1965) p.109 quote: ''...in such delightfully-named towns in Pennsylvania Dutchland as his native Mount Joy, and neighboring Lititz, Blue Ball, Bareville, Intercourse, Bird in Hand, and Paradise.''Anderson (1979) p.214 quote: ''...but anyone who names their towns Mount Joy, Intercourse, and Blue Ball can't be all bad. Obviously they have more on their minds than just religion.''Museums Association (2006) p.61 quote: ''Which brings us to Intercourse. You can imagine my delight when I found out that the Amish call the town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania, their home. There seems to be a lot of explanations from locals trying to pass off the name as a bastardisation of 'Enter Course' and so on, but seeing as there are other local towns called Blue Ball, Bird In Hand, and Mount Joy, I suspect that the person responsible had a very juvenile sense of humour. The town sits in upstate Pennsylvania and is a tourist trap for anyone even remotely curious about the Amish way of life.'' The village's name has also been a source for humor on the

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

website ''

The Daily Bonnet ''The Daily Bonnet'' is a satirical Mennonite website, known as ''The Unger Review'' as of 2023. It was created by Andrew Unger and launched in May 2016. It features news stories and editorials, with the structure of conventional newspapers, bu ...

'', in the episode ‘’ The Old Man and the "C" Student’’ of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' as well as an episode of ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', and the second television ...

''.

Sites of interest

* American Military Edged Weaponry Museumhttp://www.visitpa.com/pa-museums/american-military-edged-weaponry-museum , VisitPA.com, Retrieved July 3, 2013 * People's Place Quilt Museum * The People's Place File:Amish Info Intercourse.JPG, Amish and Mennonite Tourist Information Center File:1908 Bank Intercourse.JPG, American Military Edged Weapons Museum File:Quilt Museum Intercourse.JPG, People's Place Quilt Museum

Notable people

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...

, baseball pitcher * Stephen Scott,

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

writer

Notes

References

* Anderson, William Charles (1979
''Home Sweet Home Has Wheels: Or, Please Don't Tailgate the Real Estate''
*

Henry Louis Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

, Raven Ioor McDavid (1963
''The American Language: An Inquiry Into the Development of English in the United States, Volume 1''
*

Museums Association The Museums Association (MA) is a professional membership organisation based in London for museum, gallery and heritage professionals and organisations of the United Kingdom. It also offers international membership. History The association w ...

(2006
''The Museums Journal, Volume 106, Issues 1-6''
indexes to papers read before the Museums Association, 1890–1909. Compiled by Charles Madeley. *

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American writer and satirist. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key figure in t ...

(1963
"The Trial of Eros Magazine"
in ''

The Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, ...

'' No.44, pp. 1
11
*

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...

and Company (1978
''Vacation & Travel Guide''''Ward's Quarterly, Volume 1''
1965 {{authority control 1754 establishments in Pennsylvania Census-designated places in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1754 Unincorporated communities in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania