when pennsylvania first legislated routes in 1911, present-day pa 897 between gap and white horse was designated as part of legislative route 142, which continued west from white horse to lancaster. by 1926, the road between gap and white horse was paved. pa 897 was designated in 1928 to run from reinholds west to kleinfeletersville along an unpaved road. also, the road between gap and white horse was designated as the easternmost portion of pa 340. at this, the road between kleinfeltersville and lebanon was an unnumbered paved road while the rest of the present alignment was an unnumbered unpaved road. by 1930, the road between blue ball and terre hill was paved. in the 1930s, pa 897 was extended to its current length between us 30 and gap and us 422 in lebanon, replacing the portion of pa 340 between gap and white horse that was rerouted to head east. at this time, the entire length of the route was paved. pa 897 has remained on the same alignment since. pa 419 and pa 897 previously ran concurrent with pa 501 in schaefferstown between stiegel pike and carpenter street. in 2013, pa 501 was shifted to bypass schaefferstown to the west along a new alignment, eliminating the concurrency with pa 419 and pa 897.