Cremation is not a choice for everyone, yet amazingly enough, conservative Lancaster County had a crematorium as early as 1884.

The Lancaster Cremation and Funeral Reform Society arose from a meeting in the newspaper office of the Lancaster Intelligencer with J.P. McCaskey and Andrew Jackson Steinman as founding members.

A Gothic red brick crematorium was built along the banks of the Conestoga, over the protests of citizens. Although there were 40 cremations its first year, the society was disbanded in 1905, nine years after the crematorium was last used.

One hundred years later, the crematorium was renovated, placed on the National Register of Historic Places and put back in operation. Dorothy Houser, manager of Haldy Keener Memorials, recalls the building as "beautiful inside" with wood-grained niches where families could meditate. It closed again, about five years ago, according to Dan Raker, sales manager at Greenwood Cemetery, where the crematorium can still be seen from the road.

Today, there are crematories in Lititz, Leola and Terre Hill; at least 17 funeral homes offer cremation services. In fact, the percentage of cremation in Lancaster County has gone from 19.92 percent in 1995, to 35.69 percent in 2000, to 33.04 percent in 2005.

Sources: Sunday News, Oct. 25, 1953; Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, Feb. 23, 1983; Pennsylvania Department of Health Vital Statistics