City Of Lancaster

 Lancaster is the fifth-largest city in Los Angeles County, California, and the ninth-fastest growing city in the United States.The population of Lancaster has grown from 37,000 residents at the time of incorporation in 1977, to 156,633 people as of the 2010 census.

Lancaster was the first community settled in the Antelope Valley, although Palmdale ended up incorporating as a city slightly sooner. The community of Lancaster was settled in the late 19th century by M.L. Wicks, a real estate developer who purchased six sections of land from the Southern Pacific Railroad (now merged into the Union Pacific Railroad).

In 1933 the United States Army Air Corps began conducting flight and weapons tests at Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) and Lancaster has grown steadily since that time. It is home to many employees of Edwards Air Force Base, as well as to employees of Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman , all of which have manufacturing facilities at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 which is south of the Lancaster city limits.

The first wave of home buyers to Lancaster from the L.A. area, made up of so-called "escapees" and employees in the booming aviation industry, arrived in the 1970s. As the area was not yet incorporated and was therefore under the political influence of Los Angeles County, a local group called Citizens for Incorporation campaigned for city status and succeeded in 1977. The population of the new city more than doubled from 45,000 people in 1980 to 97,000 by 1990, making Lancaster a large bedroom community.