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Reversing a century-long trend, between 1950 and 2000 the population of Adams County more than doubled, increasing from 44,197 to 91,292. Measured by percentage, not by number, Adams County is one of the three or four fastest growing counties in the state. In 2006, it may have as many as 100,000 residents. Neighboring counties have experienced similar growth. In 2000, about 2 percent of the population was foreign born; 1.5 percent was Black; and about 3.6 percent, most recent arrivals, was Hispanic. There are 21 townships and 13 boroughs. Two of the boroughs (Bonneauville and Carroll Valley) were created since 1950. In the 2000 census, 40 percent of the population was considered urban, although only three boroughs (Gettysburg, Littlestown, and Carroll Valley) had a population exceeding 3,000.
Growth since 1950 has occurred in all parts of the county. The commissioners created an Office of Planning and Development in 1967. It and similar agencies are concerned with water resources (all of the streams flow out of the county, while none flow into it), the disappearance of agricultural land, and providing the infrastructure which an increasing population in the twenty-first century expects.
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A study of religious congregations and members in the United States as of 2000 conducted by the Glenmary Research Center recorded 117 congregations in Adams County. In terms of what were called adherents, the four largest churches were Roman Catholic, Lutheran, United Church of Christ (the former Reformed), and Methodist. Since 1950, the Roman Catholic has become the largest church in the county. Since 1950, numerous congregations have been formed which are either independent or affiliates of churches with little or no previous representation in the county.
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Postwar state legislation requiring the consolidation of school districts resulted in more significant changes in the Adams County public school system than at any time since 1834. By 1948-1949 there were seven of what were called joint school systems, including most of the schools in the county. Further development of this arrangement by 1971 brought about the present six school districts: Bermudian Springs, Conewago Valley, Fairfield Area, Gettysburg Area, Littlestown Area, and Upper Adams.
Gone were the districts formed years before in each township and borough; the last township school closed its doors in 1962; and the county superintendent (the first was chosen in 1854) was replaced by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit, to provide what were described as "consultative, advisory, or education program services" for districts in Adams, Franklin, and York counties. The new system required much new building in each district. State regulations called for many changes in curriculum. Parochial and other private schools continue to operate.
The first public library in Adams County began to operate in Gettysburg in 1946. The present Adams County Library System has branches and satellites in various parts of the county. Enrollment in the Lutheran Theological Seminary founded in 1826 and in Gettysburg College founded in 1832 has doubled since 1950. Their programs have adapted to the needs created by changes in culture during the last half century. Both institutions have become national in scope.
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As already noted, in presidential elections Adams County has been a reliably Republican county since 1920. In the elections of 2000 and 2004, that party's presidential ticket won two-thirds of the vote. John S. Rice (1899-1985), an Adams County Democrat, lost his bid for governor in 1946, but served in the administrations of two Democratic governors (1955-1961). He was United States Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1961 until 1964.
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Although since 1950 the number of Adams county farms and the acreage devoted to agriculture have been decreasing, in 2002 the county ranked second in the state in the production of wheat, seventh in com, and second in eggs. The value of all fruit produced in the county in 2002 was 45 percent of the total for the state. Erie County, with 17 percent, ranked second.
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The Gettysburg-Adams Area Chamber of Commerce list of the ten top employers in the county in 2005 included Knouse Foods Cooperative, Lincoln Intermediate Unit, Liberty Mountain Resort and Hotel, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg Hospital, Brethren Home Community, Masterbrand Cabinets, Tyco, Pilgram's Pride Corporation, and Quebecor World Fairfield. Together they employ about 8,000 people. Gone from this list are most of the leading employers of 1921, such as the cigar factories, silk mills, and shoe factories. The Adams County Office of Planning and Development estimates that about half of the county work force is now employed outside the county.
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In 1955, the National Park Service estimated that the 20,000,000th visitor to the battlefield since 1863 was expected in July or August of that year. An estimate made half a century later and based on the same assumptions might well have led to welcoming the 80,000,000th visitor in July or August of2005. Neither the bicentennial of the American Revolution in 1976-1983 nor the tribute due and paid to the veterans of two world wars and subsequent wars has eclipsed the interest which still brings well over 1,000,000 visitors to the battlefield each year. The estimated annual average for 1990-2005 was 1,684,000.
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In 1951, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) purchased a farm on the battlefield and after rebuilding the house made it his permanent residence. In 1956, he became the first United States president to establish Adams County as his voting residence. Five years later, when he left the presidency, he and Mamie D. Eisenhower (1896-1979) retired to the farm.
In 1967, Eisenhower published a book titled At Ease: Stories I tell to Friends. In it, he asserted that history is more than battles and assaults. "In a place like Gettysburg" he believed both native and visitor "may easily become absorbed in the three days of conflict," ignoring the fact that both before and since 1863, "history was also made here in quiet lives, on farm and village street."
Surely, George Arnold would agree wholeheartedly with what Dwight Eisenhower wrote, but he would add quietly what he had come to believe six weeks after the battle: nevertheless, "our town has…become immortalised.” Confirmation of his judgment came from another American president, speaking in Gettysburg on November 19, 1863. In a statement, which has proved to be half-false and half-true, Abraham Lincoln declared, "the world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."
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