Tulpehocken Manor Plantation

Last updated
Tulpehocken Manor Plantation
Tulpehocken Manor Plantation.jpg
USA Pennsylvania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location2 miles (3.2 km) west of Myerstown on U.S. Route 422, Jackson Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°21′48″N76°20′25″W / 40.36333°N 76.34028°W / 40.36333; -76.34028
Area150 acres (61 ha)
Builtc. 1740, 1769, 1883
Architectural styleGeorgian, Second Empire, "Swiss bank"
NRHP reference No. 75001648 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 12, 1975

Tulpehocken Manor Plantation, also known as the Ley Home, is a historic property which is located near Myerstown, Jackson Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. [2]

Contents

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 12, 1975, [1] the building now serves as the headquarters of the Hanover Rifle Battalion, Revolutionary War re-enactors.

History

A historic home which was awarded National Register status on May 12, 1975, the Tulpehocken Manor Plantation is tied to both the late 18th century mass emigration of German Palatines to the American Colonies and to George Washington, the first President of the United States through its association with the Ley family, [3] [4] whose patriarch, Christopher Ley (1695-1745), came to America from the German Palatinate in 1732. [5] [6] A recipient of an early to mid-1700s land grant from the sons of William Penn near what is, today, Myerstown, Pennsylvania, Christopher Ley quickly began to improve that land and build a life with his wife, Barbara. Among their nine children was son Michael Ley (1739-1824), who first met United States President George Washington as a boy, a relationship which would continue well into Michael Ley's adult years. [7]

Still residing in the vicinity of Myerstown during his 20s and 30s, Michael Ley then became the owner of his father's land after paying 680 pounds for it on November 6, 1760. Nine years later, he finished building his own residence there. An eight-room, two-story mansion, it was initially designed in a Georgian style, and would ultimately come to be known as the Tulpehocken Manor Plantation. It was also where he would raise a family with his wife, Eva Magdalena (Lower) Ley, [8] who was a daughter of Christian Lower (1740-1806), a blacksmith who became actively involved in the American Revolution and served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. [9] Their children included son Christian Ley (1762-1831), who would also go on to serve in the Pennsylvania House from 1799 to 1802, [10] [11] and would also later build another of Pennsylvania's historic homes, Nutting Hall. [12]

Within a few short years, Michael Ley's residence (Tulpehocken Manor) would come to be known as a place of relaxation for President Washington, most notably during three trips that Washington made to Lebanon County between 1777 and 1794. [13] During the first, Washington traveled to Ley's home from Valley Forge, where the Continental Army was encamped, for a brief respite from his military command duties. On two subsequent visits, he specifically visited the property to inspect work on four locks that were under construction there as part of Pennsylvania's Union Canal system. [8]

Despite the close connection with America's first President and Michael Ley's own service as an officer in the Continental Army, the Ley family underwent serious financial hardships following the Revolutionary War. Having spent significant sums of money to support Washington's troops during the war and then having also lost heavily when their coal industry speculations failed post-war, they were forced to repeatedly mortgage their property until finally losing it in a sheriff's sale in 1834 to Conrad Loos. Loos then subsequently transferred the home and land to his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Cyrus Shark. Their daughter, Eliza, then became the owner during the 1880s after her husband, Samuel Urich, purchased the property. During their tenure of ownership, they remodeled and enlarged the residence into a 27-room Victorian manor house with a mansard roof, a process which took place between 1883 and 1885. Subsequently, purchasing two houses and land to the east from the Spangler family, they also then bought a small frame house on the western side of the property in 1886. That small building then became known as the Cyrus Sherk Pipe Smoking House. [8]

In 1960, the Urich family sold the buildings and land to John S. Nissly; his daughter, Esther E. Nissly; and James Henry. [14] [8]

The Tulpehocken Manor Planation was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 12, 1975. [1] From May 2 to May 3, 1997, the entire contents of the inn and plantation were sold at auction by James G. Cochran, Auctioneer, of Boonboro, Maryland. According to pre-sale newspaper advertisements that were published in February 1997, "The contents of the twenty-seven room Michael Ley Mansion, the guest houses and outbuildings on the 160 acre plantation include a sulfur inlaid walnut Kas dated 1771; painted architectural corner cupboard with glass doors; a Charles Cooner-Lebanon tall case clock; a painted mantel and pediment dated 1769 and all original to the home; painted benches; fireplace and cooking items; over 50 quilts; oriental, hooked and braided rugs; over ten walnut Victorian bedroom sets; many marble top tables; a mohair Victorian parlor set and other sofas and chairs; Victorian cellerette; ornate walnut organ; wall clocks; chandeliers and lamps; gilded pier mirrors and overmantels; hall trees; towel racks; many nice paintings and prints; a double silhouette of Mr. and Mrs. Mier - founders of Myerstown; stoneware; china and glassware; carriages; farm equipment; vehicles; tools and many other items not mentioned" (which were subsequently printed in the auctioneer's catalog for the sale that was released on March 15, 1997). [15]

Tulpehocken Manor currently serves as the headquarters of the Hanover Rifle Battalion, Revolutionary War reenactors. [6]

Architecture and grounds

In addition to the manor house, which was initially constructed in the Georgian style as an eight-room, two-story mansion, and then remodeled and enlarged in the Second Empire style in 1883, the property is home to 18 contributing buildings, one contributing site, and four contributing structures, including a small gambrel roofed dwelling known as the Cyrus Sherk House, a mid-19th century stone bank barn, numerous sheds and other farm outbuildings, a seven-seat outhouse, a large stone quarry, and the ruins of four locks from the Union Canal which were built in 1794. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Jackson Township is an American township that is located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The population was 9,352 at the time of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myerstown, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in the United States

Myerstown is a borough located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lebanon, Pennsylvania Metropolitan statistical area. The population was 3,103 at the 2020 census. It is home to over 100 businesses, including a Bayer manufacturing plant, a GAF manufacturing plant, Farmer Boy Ag, Stoneridge Towne Centre and Wengers of Myerstown. The Evangelical Seminary is located on South College Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania</span> Census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States

Schaefferstown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Heidelberg Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 941 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulpehocken Creek (Pennsylvania)</span>

Tulpehocken Creek is a 39.5-mile-long (63.6 km) tributary of the Schuylkill River in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States, and during the American Canal Age, once provided nearly half the length of the Union Canal linking the port of Philadelphia, the largest American city and the other communities of Delaware Valley with the Susquehanna basin and the Pennsylvania Canal System connecting the Eastern seaboard to Lake Erie and the new settlements of the Northwest Territory via the Allegheny}, Monongahela. and Ohio Rivers at Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chippokes State Park</span> State park in Virginia, USA

Chippokes State Park is a Virginia state park on the south side of the James River on the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. In addition to forests and fossil hunting on the beach, it includes three historic houses as well as an open-air agricultural and forestry museum with seasonally appropriate events. Other recreational facilities include a visitor center, swimming pool, hiking trails, cabins, yurts and campgrounds). It is located at 695 Chippokes Park Road, in rural Surry County, Virginia off Route 10.

Tulpehocken may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyrus McCormick Farm</span> United States historic place

The Cyrus McCormick Farm and Workshop is on the family farm of inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick known as Walnut Grove. Cyrus Hall McCormick improved and patented the mechanical reaper, which eventually led to the creation of the combine harvester. The farm is near Steele's Tavern and Raphine, close to the northern border of Rockbridge and Augusta counties in the U.S. state of Virginia, and is currently a museum run by the Virginia Agricultural Experimental Station of Virginia Tech. The museum has free admission and covers 5 acres (2.0 ha) of the initial 532-acre (215.3 ha) farm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Route 501</span> State highway in Pennsylvania, US

Pennsylvania Route 501 is a north–south state highway in south central Pennsylvania that runs for 38.7 miles (62.3 km). Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 222 and PA 272 north of Lancaster, and its northern terminus is PA 895 southeast of Pine Grove. The route heads north from Lancaster and runs through suburban and rural areas in northern Lancaster County, passing through Lititz and crossing US 322 in Brickerville. PA 501 continues into Lebanon County and heads into the Lebanon Valley, where it passes through Schaefferstown and intersects US 422 in Myerstown. The route passes through western Berks County, where it has an interchange with Interstate 78 (I-78)/US 22 near the community of Bethel. PA 501 crosses Blue Mountain into Schuylkill County and continues to its northern terminus.

Christian Lower was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walnut Grove Plantation</span> Historic house in South Carolina, United States

Walnut Grove Plantation, the home of Charles and Mary Moore, was built in 1765 on a land grant given by King George III. The property is located in Roebuck in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Charles Moore was a school teacher and used the 3,000-acre (12 km2) plantation as a farm. The Moores had ten children, and some of their descendants still live within the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belmont Manor House</span> Historic house in Virginia, United States

Belmont Manor House, formally known as Belmont Plantation, is a two-story, five-part Federal mansion in Loudoun County, Virginia, built between the years of 1799–1802 by Ludwell Lee (1760–1836), son of Richard Henry Lee. The land surrounding the mansion, the Belmont property, was handed down to his first wife, Flora Lee, from their grandfather, Thomas Lee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulpehocken Station Historic District</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The Tulpehocken Station Historic District is a historic area in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Large suburban houses were built in the area from about 1850 to 1900 in a variety of styles including Carpenter Gothic, Italianate, and Bracketed as part of the Picturesque Movement of architecture. In the 1870s styles moved toward High Victorian and Second Empire. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and it covers about six square blocks, bounded by McCallum Street on the north, the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks on the south, Tulpehocken Street on the west, and Walnut Lane on the east. Thirty-seven buildings in the district are considered to be significant and 118 are considered to be contributing, with only 13 considered to be intrusions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alden Villa</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Alden Villa, also known as Millwood, is a historic home located in Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Representative of the Queen Anne and Shingle Style, it was designed by Stanford White, one of the leading architects of the Gilded Age. Built in 1881, the home and its eight-acre property were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Meier Homestead</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Isaac Meier Homestead, also known as "The Old Fort," Isaac Myer Homestead, Isaac Meyers Homestead, and Isaac Myers Homestead, is an historic American home which is located in Myerstown, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swatara Furnace</span> United States historic place

The Swatara Furnace is a historic iron furnace and 200-acre national historic district located along Mill Creek, a tributary of the Swatara Creek in Pine Grove Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nutting Hall</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

Nutting Hall is a historic home located at 205 South Tulpehocken Street in the Borough of Pine Grove, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Erected between 1823 and 1825 for Christian Lay who had, as a boy, met and come to know American President George Washington, it was built by Peter Filbert, a pioneering industrialist who was involved in Pine Grove's founding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Grove Historic District (Pine Grove, Pennsylvania)</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The Pine Grove Historic District is a national historic district located in Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, it encompasses 1,770 acres, 233 contributing buildings, one contributing site, and one contributing structure in a residential section of Pine Grove, and is bordered by South Tulpehocken and Mill streets and the Swatara Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Womelsdorf Historic District</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The Womelsdorf Historic District is a national historic district located in Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulpehocken Creek Historic District</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The Tulpehocken Creek Historic District is a national historic district located in North Heidelberg Township, and Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Encompassing a total of 17,000 acres, this district stretches from the Tulpehocken Creek and Mill Creek at the Berks County-Lebanon County line to the Blue March Dam between Bernville and Millardsville, and is composed of 152 contributing buildings, one contributing site, and four contributing structures which were related to the development which occurred along the upper Tulpehocken Creek from the early 18th century through the late 19th century. Historic buildings located here include early settlement period log cabins, which were built between 1723 and 1750; buildings related to the Charming Forge community, which existed between 1749 and 1895; an early 18th century cemetery and early 19th century church; buildings related to 18th and 19th century farming operations; and structures associated with the development and operation of the Union Canal.

Christian Ley (1762-1831) was an American politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving in the 24th Pennsylvania General Assembly from 1799 to 1802. He subsequently filled the vacant Pennsylvania Senate seat of John Kean, holding that position from 1805 to 1806.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Tulpehocken Manor and Meier House on Visitor's Schedule." Lebanon, Pennsylvania: Lebanon Daily News, July 3, 1076, p. 97.
  3. Egle, William Henry. History of the Counties of Dauphin and Lebanon: In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: "Frieden's Evangelical Lutheran Church," p. 207. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck, 1883.
  4. Croll, Philip Columbus. Ancient and Historic Landmarks in the Lebanon Valley ," p. 167. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lutheran Publication Society, 1895.
  5. "Yesterday, today live together in historic Pine Grove house." Pottsville, Pennsylvania: Pottsville Republican, September 22, 1984, p. 13.
  6. 1 2 "Tulpehocken Manor and Meier House on Visitor's Schedule," Lebanon Daily News.
  7. "History." Myerstown, Pennsylvania: Tulpehocken Manor, retrieved online August 25, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "History," Tulpehocken Manor.
  9. "Christian Lower" (biographical sketch). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Senate, retrieved online August 27, 2019.
  10. Bierman, E. Benjamin. Lebanon County State Legislature: Paper Read Before the Lebanon County Historical Society, February 19, 1904, Vol. II, No. 13, pp. 360-361: "Christian Ley". Annville, Pennsylvania: Lebanon County Historical Society, 1904.
  11. "Christian Ley" (brief biographical sketch). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Senate, retrieved online August 26, 2019.
  12. "Yesterday, today live together in historic Pine Grove house," Pottsville Republican, September 22, 1984, p. 13.
  13. Huff, Claire. "Nice and quiet: Washington slept." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Inquirer, July 8, 1979, p. 89.
  14. "Tulpehocken Manor." in "Historic Sites, Tulpehocken." Lebanon, Pennsylvania: Lebanon Daily News, September 9, 1972, p. 7.
  15. "Another Cochran Auction: Tulpehocken Manor Inn and Planation, Myerstown, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania" (auction advertisement). Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Lancaster Farming, February 22, 1997, p. 60.
  16. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System.Note: This includes William K. Watson (March 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Tulpehocken Manor Plantation" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-28.