Lancaster is the small county seat of Schuyler County, due north of Kirksville on US Highway 63. As with many of the small, sparsely populated counties, Schuyler County required the rebuilding of its courthouse, designed by Kenneth von Aachen. Relatively conservative when commissioned in 1958, the Colonial Revival building replaced an older Nineteenth Century structure.

There are some nice Italianate storefronts and houses in the town, on or near the square.