The Hess Homestead, in

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...

, is a historic

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

farmstead near the town of

Lititz Lititz is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of the city of Lancaster. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370. History Lititz was founded by members of the Moravian Church in 1756 and was named af ...

. The property is an ancestral home of the Hess family, who purchased the land from

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

's sons in 1735. The primary buildings at this site were constructed by the Hess family in the 18th century, including a 1740s log farmhouse, a 1778 stone farmhouse, and a 1769 oil mill. Both houses served as church meeting houses for the local Mennonite community until 1856, when the first Hess Mennonite church building was constructed nearby. The homestead structures survive today, on several adjoining properties, as examples of

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

of the Pennsylvania Germans.

Hess Family History

The farmstead was first surveyed in 1730 as a 200-acre tract for Johannes Hess' grandfather, Hans Hess (ca. 1683-1733). This Hess patriarch immigrated to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1717 with his wife Magdalena (ca. 1688-1767) and their children from Germany or Switzerland. Hans and Magdalena are the first Hess immigrants known to arrive in America. Hans and Magdalena's oldest son Jacob Hess (c. 1706-1741) built the first house on this tract, circa 1730s, with wife Veronica. This Hess family received title to the farm from the

family in 1735. The present log farmhouse was built ca. 1744 for Jacob's widow Veronica and their children. Their oldest son Johannes (1730-1778) was the next owner, with wife Susanna Landis Hess. In 1784 their eldest son Christian Hess (1757-1816) received this farmstead. Six years later, in 1790, Christian deeded this part of the farm to his brother, John Hess ( 1768-1830), and wife Esther Hershey Hess (1769-1824). The next farmstead owners were John and Esther Hess' youngest son Henry Hess, and wife Catherine Huber Hess. In turn, their youngest son became the next owner, Mennonite preacher Jonas Hess, with wife Annie Franck Hess, followed by their son Henry F. Hess and wife Anna C. Shenk. In 1922 the farmstead left the Hess family until 1985 when it was purchased by Clarke E. Hess, a descendant of the immigrant Hans Hess. Clarke Hess spent several years restoring the buildings for use as his residence.

The 1740s Log Farmhouse

The Timbering: ''Blockstanderbau''

The log

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...

at the Hess Homestead is constructed with a Germanic architectural technique known as ''Blockstanderbau'', featuring vertical log corner posts, with many other vertical and diagonal timbers. Colonial Pennsylvania house builders brought corner-post traditions with them from Europe. This form of post-and-beam construction is widespread throughout Germanic Europe. This corner-post design is unusual for historic Pennsylvania log houses. Most 18th century log houses in Pennsylvania used a V-notch for joining corners, rather than using corner posts. This Hess house is considered one of the most elaborate surviving examples of ''Blockstanderbau'' corner-post design. ''Blockstanderbau'' houses are, in effect, half-timbered houses. The horizontal timbers are for infill, rather than for load-bearing support. These horizontals serve the same function as brick infill or

wattle-and-daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...

filler in other half-timber framing. The Hess log farmhouse originally had 33 vertical posts, of which most survive. The horizontal timbers are tenoned into mortises chiseled into the posts. At each

mortise and tenon A mortise and tenon (occasionally mortice and tenon) joint connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at right ...

is a chiseled-in guide symbol, consisting of a Roman numeral or other directional mark. Each corner has two interior diagonal braces. The four corner posts are tenoned into interlocking sill logs.

The Floorplan: ''Durchgaengiges Haus''

The log farmhouse's primary front door opens into a central hallway which is surrounded by a nonsymmetrical arrangement of interior rooms, including the ''Kueche'' (kitchen), ''Stube'' (stove room), and ''Arbeitsraum'' (work room). Although this central hallways is suggestive of the English central hallways of Pennsylvania's Georgian houses, this hallway's DNA is more Germanic than British. Architecture historians describe these houses as ''durchgaengiges Haus'' (through-passage house). This floorplan has deep roots in Germany's rural architecture. Prototypes for Pennsylvania's ''durchgaengiges'' floorplans are illustrated in German books as early as the 17th century. The ''Stube'' (stove room) was heated by a five-plate stove fed from a small fireplace in the central hallway. Beneath the stove room is a vaulted

root cellar A root cellar (American English), fruit cellar (Mid-Western American English) or earth cellar (British English) is a structure, usually underground. or partially underground, used for storage of vegetables, fruits, nuts, or other foods. Its na ...

for food storage. This stove room also served as the ''Kammer'' (parents' bedroom). The second floor's walls were heightened, ca. 1813, to a full story from the original half-story height, using dove-tailed corner timbering. The original, hand-hewn rafters were reused, and a full attic was added, included a ''Rauchkammer'' (smoke room) for smoking meats with smoke from the stovepipe.

The Summer Kitchen

This frame building was built ca. 1850, adjoining the log farmhouse. Henry Hess (1794-1867) constructed the building over a vaulted root cellar, which is one of three arch cellars at this homestead. Included in the building is a walk-in

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

, previously used for butchering, making soap, heating laundry water, etc. A brick squirrel-tail bakeoven was located outside, attached to the fireplace. A hand pump in the building was used for pumping water from an underground

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

, which stored rain water from the kitchen's roof. Outside the summer kitchen was a

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

to pump water from the well.

Historic Outbuildings at the Log Farmhouse

File:Spring_House_at_the_Hess_Homestead.jpg, The 1829 springhouse File:Tool_shed_at_the_Hess_Homestead.jpg, The tool shed File:The_ca._1785_Log_Cabin.jpg, The ca. 1785 log cabin File:Second Springhouse at the Hess Homestead.jpg, The 1930s springhouse File:The_Pigsty_at_the_Hess_Homestead.jpg, The pigsty

The 1778 Stone Farmhouse

The stone farmhouse is next door to the log farmhouse. The construction date 1778 is carved in the gable

datestone A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt (with the old da ...

, with the initials C. H. These initials are for Christian Hess (1757-1816), the great-grandson of immigrant Hans Hess. Christian Hess and wife Anna farmed approximately 100 acres here. Christian also operated the Hess mill built by his father Johannes. A vaulted arch cellar is beneath the kitchen. The kitchen retains its original

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...

and mantle. The house was enlarged to its present form ca 1800 by Christian's sister Elizabeth and her husband Mennonite Deacon Daniel Burkholder.

The 1885 Mill

This oil and

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

mill, located on the Lititz Run creek, was built by Johannes Hess c. 1769, while he was living in the log farmhouse with wife Susanna. The mill produced flaxseed oil and hempseed oil until 1790, when it began operation as a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

to grind wheat for flour. A

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

was added during this time, in an adjoining shed. The grist mill burned in an 1884 fire, but the stone first floor survived. One year later a frame mill was constructed on the mill's original stones walls, as it now stands. Milling ceased ca. 1900, and the building was used as a

pretzel A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

bakery by the Sturgis family. During that same era the mill was also used for storing whiskey distilled at the Rome Distillery, located a short distance upstream. The mill was later used as a tobacco warehouse.

Hess Homestead Restoration

Beginning in 1985, the log farmhouse and stone farmhouse were purchased and restored by Clarke Hess, a descendant of the immigrants Hans and Magdalena Hess.Jurgelski 1993, p. C-4 Clarke Hess also relocated several historic outbuildings to the homestead. Those outbuildings had been threatened with demolition at their previous sites, including a stone

spring house A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building, usually of a single room, constructed over a spring. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing stru ...

, a

pig sty A sty or pigsty is a small-scale outdoor enclosure for raising domestic pigs as livestock. It is sometimes referred to as a hog pen, hog parlor, pigpen, pig parlor, or pig-cote, although pig pen may refer to pens confining pigs that are kep ...

with hand-hewn timbers, and a ca. 1785 central-chimney

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...

. In 1999 Warwick Township officials installed historical markers for the log farmhouse and for the stone farmhouse. The signs are located on a walking trail that adjoins the farmhouses. This trail is the site of the former Reading Railroad line of the

Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

Notes

* Bergengren, Charles (1988). "The Cycle of Transformation in the Houses of Schaefferstwon, Pennsylvania. " Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania. * van Dolsen, Nancy; et al. (2004). ''Architecture and Landscape of the Pennsylvania Germans 1720-1920. Guidebook for the Vernacular Architecture Forum Annual Conference''. Hess, Clarke. "Religious Communities". pp. 113–133. Vernacular Architecture Forum. * Gilbert, Geri (2005). ''The Warrant Maps of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania'', Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA. * Jurgelski, Susan (1993). "Uncovering History / 18th-century Hess Homestead to be on Historic Preservation Trust Tour". ''Lancaster New Era'', Lancaster, PA. * Hess, Clarke (2008). ''A Brief History of the Rome Mill''. Monograph, Lititz. * Hess, John H. (1880). ''A Family Record of the Hess Family''. Sunbeam Print, Lititz. * Keen, R. Martin (January 1990). "Community and Material Culture Among Lancaster Mennonites: Hans Hess from 1717 to 1733". ''Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage''. * McMury, Sally; van Dolsen, Nancy (2011). ''Architecture and Landscape of the Pennsylvania Germans 1720-1920''. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Oxford. * Phelps, Hermann, (1967). ''Alemannische Holzbaukunst''. Franz Steiner, Weisbaden. * Schneider, Davib B.,(1994). ''Foundations in a Fertile Soil / Farming and Farm Buildings in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.'' The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County. * Siegrist, Joanne Hess (1998). ''Hess Story''. Siegrist, Joanne Hess, Bird in Hand, PA. * Siegrist, Joanne Hess; Hess, Suzanne Ruhl (2004). ''Hess Family Tours''. Hess Historians, Lancaster, PA. * Ziegler und Ulrich, (pub) (Feb. 9, 1804). ''Zuercherisches Wochen-Blatt''. Vol 21. No.12., Zurich.

References

External links

Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society

LancasterHistory.org

Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County

Lititz Historical Foundation

Hans Hess Family Cemetery

Hess Homestead Family Cemetery

Hess Mennonite Meetinghouse Cemetery

Historic Mennonite Farms and Homes - Lititz, Pennsylvania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess Homestead Houses completed in 1778 Log buildings and structures in Pennsylvania Vernacular architecture in Pennsylvania Colonial architecture in Pennsylvania Historic preservation in the United States Houses in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Mennonitism in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania German culture Tobacco buildings in the United States