Edwards Air Force Base has had a major impact on the local economy and continues to have an impact with the Air Force Flight Test Center's programs. Until it was incorporated in 1977, the area was under the political influence of Los Angeles County. Citizens in the area felt a need for better interaction with their policy-making body and local control. With the work of the Citizens for Incorporation, cityhood became a reality.

Some historians believe the name "Lancaster" was bestowed upon the town by Mr. M.L. Wicks, a real estate developer who purchased six sections of land from the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1884 at a price of about $2.50 an acre. Prior to that date, Wicks had started a Scottish settlement of about 150 residents in the Valley. It is said that he named the new city for his former home, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Regardless of the origin of the name, the area would not have developed as it has without the influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was completed between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1867. Following the completion of the railroad and the establishment of a water stop, the Western Hotel was built. By 1890, Lancaster was quite prosperous.

In 1898, gold was discovered in the hills north of Lancaster and attracted scores of prospectors, who staked claims that are still visible and being prospected. The old-time miners would rig "V" shaped wagons with sails and ride across Muroc Dry Lake going to and from work. Also, in 1898, borax was found in the mountains surrounding the Antelope Valley, sparking the world's largest open-pit borax mine.