Peter Wentz Homestead: Difference between revisions

	Peter Wentz Homestead
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Peter Wentz Homestead. September 2012.
Location	Schultz Rd., Worcester Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°11′56″N 75°20′2″W / 40.19889°N 75.33389°W
Area	9.9 acres (4.0 ha)
Built	1758
Architectural style	Georgian
NRHP reference No.	73001656
Added to NRHP	May 8, 1973

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The Peter Wentz Farmstead is an historic, Pennsylvania German farm that has been continuously farmed since 1744. It is located in Worcester Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania near Lansdale.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.^[1]

History

The first family to till this land was that of Peter and Rosanna Wentz, who were both first-generation Americans. Peter Wentz inherited the property from his father who may have purchased it as early as 1710. The couple had seven children.

The farm was sold to Dewalt Bieber in 1784 and then to Melchior Schultz, a minister of the Schwenkfelder faith, in 1794. Schultz family descendants owned the home until 1969 when it was purchased by the County of Montgomery.

The Georgian-style farmhouse was built in 1758, and is a large 2+1⁄2-story, dwelling with attached out(summer) kitchen and bake oven. The main house consists of two floors with four rooms each and a central passageway on both, a cellar with a corner water spring trough and a full attic. The front facade is built of dressed local red shale and sandstone. The remainder of the building is built of uncut sandstone and localized red shale stone. Located nearby is a circa 1920's poultry house building that has been converted to a visitor center with restrooms and a gift-shop and employees offices upstairs. Also located on the property, there are many reconstructed outbuildings, including an Privy, a smokehouse, a woodshed, an ice-house, a barn, a chicken house, and a sheepfold. Currently, the farm has sheep, cows, and chickens.

The house served as headquarters for the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army George Washington before and after the Battle of Germantown, October 2–4 and 16–21, 1777. His Excellency did not travel alone. His "military family" included a staff of a military secretary, several aides-de-camp, a dozen servants and his personal guard unit, the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. That unit consisted of sixty infantry soldiers and three officers. Washington set his 9,000 strong army two miles south on top of the Methacton hill to be in striking distance of 8,000 Crown forces in nearby Germantown.^[2]

By October 20 news arrived that the fortifications and breastworks around Philadelphia were completed, the British abandoned their outpost in Germantown. Washington responded by moving his troops within a half days march of Philadelphia. Whitemarsh or Fort Washington was chosen as it was 15 miles (24 km) away.^[3]

This property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.^[1]

Gallery

Front room, Peter Wentz residence, April 2016

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ George Washington to Continental Congress, September 29, 1777, George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741–1799: Series 4. General Correspondence. 1697–1799, Image 477 of 1104.
^ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes William K. Watson (November 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Peter Wentz Homestead" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-05-05.

External links

Peter Wentz Farmstead – official site

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[2] George Washington to Continental Congress, September 29, 1777, George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741–1799: Series 4. General Correspondence. 1697–1799, Image 477 of 1104.

[arch-3] "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes William K. Watson (November 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Peter Wentz Homestead" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-05-05.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States}}
 {{distinguish|text=the [[Peter Wentz House]], a residence (also on the National Register of Historic Places) in Provo, Utah.}}
@@ Line 6: / Line 8: @@
 | image        = Peter Wentz Homestead 01.JPG
 | caption      = Peter Wentz Homestead. September 2012.
-| location     = Schultz Rd., [[Worcester Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Worcester Township, Pennsylvania]]
+| location     = Schultz Rd., [[Worcester Township, Pennsylvania]]
 | coordinates  = {{coord|40|11|56|N|75|20|2|W|display=inline,title}}
 | locmapin     = Pennsylvania#USA
@@ Line 16: / Line 18: @@
 }}
-'''Peter Wentz Farmstead''' is a historical [[German American]] farm which has been continuously farmed since 1744. It is located in [[Worcester Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania|Worcester Township]], [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]] near [[Lansdale, Pennsylvania|Lansdale]].
+The '''Peter Wentz Farmstead''' is an historic, [[Pennsylvania German]] farm that has been continuously farmed since 1744. It is located in [[Worcester Township, Pennsylvania|Worcester Township]], [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]] near [[Lansdale, Pennsylvania|Lansdale]].
+It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1973.<ref name="nris"/>
 ==History==
+The first family to till this land was that of Peter and Rosanna Wentz, who were both first-generation Americans. Peter Wentz inherited the property from his father who may have purchased it as early as 1710. The couple had seven children.
-The first family to till this land was Peter and Rosanna Wentz (both 1st generation) and their 6 children. Peter inherited the property from his father who may have purchased it as early as 1710. It was sold to Dewalt Bieber in 1784 and then to Melchior Schultz, a minister of the [[Schwenkfelder Church|Schwenkfelder]] faith, in 1794. Schultz family descendants owned the home until 1969 when it was purchased by the County of Montgomery. The [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] style mansion was built in 1758, and is a large 2 1/2-story, dwelling with attached summer kitchen and bake oven. The main house consists of two floors with four rooms and a large hallway on both, a cellar with a [[spring house]] and a full attic. The front facade is built of dressed red [[sandstone]] and the remainder of the building is built on uncut sandstone. Nearby is a red building that has a visitor center with restrooms and a gift-shop and employees offices upstairs. Also on the property, there are many reconstructed outbuildings; [[outhouse|Privy]], [[smokehouse]], woodshed, [[Ice house (building)|ice-house]], barn, chicken house and sheepfold. Currently the farm has sheep, cows, pigs, horses and chickens.
+The farm was sold to Dewalt Bieber in 1784 and then to Melchior Schultz, a minister of the [[Schwenkfelder Church|Schwenkfelder]] faith, in 1794. Schultz family descendants owned the home until 1969 when it was purchased by the County of Montgomery.
-[[File:Front Room, Peter Wentz Farmstead - Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|left|The front room of the Peter Wentz residence, April 2016]]
-The house served as headquarters for the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army [[George Washington]] before and after the [[Battle of Germantown]], October 2–4 and 16–21, 1777.  His Excellency did not travel alone. He had a staff of 9 military secretaries or aides-de-camp, a dozen servants and his personal guard unit, the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. That unit consisted of 60 infantry soldiers and 3 officers. Washington set his 12,000 strong army 2 miles south on top of the Methacton hill to be in striking distance of the 8,000 Crown forces in nearby Germantown.<ref>George Washington to Continental Congress, September 29, 1777, George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 4. General Correspondence. 1697-1799, Image 477 of 1104.</ref>
+The [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]]-style farmhouse was built in 1758, and is a large {{frac|2|1|2}}-story, dwelling with attached out(summer) kitchen and bake oven. The main house consists of two floors with four rooms each and a central passageway on both, a cellar with a corner water spring trough and a full attic. The front facade is built of dressed local red shale and sandstone. The remainder of the building is built of uncut sandstone and localized red shale stone. Located nearby is a circa 1920's poultry house building that has been converted to a visitor center with restrooms and a gift-shop and employees offices upstairs. Also located on the property, there are many reconstructed outbuildings, including an [[outhouse|Privy]], a [[smokehouse]], a woodshed, an [[Ice house (building)|ice-house]], a barn, a chicken house, and a sheepfold. Currently, the farm has sheep, cows, and chickens.
+The house served as headquarters for the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army [[George Washington]] before and after the [[Battle of Germantown]], October 2–4 and 16–21, 1777. His Excellency did not travel alone. His "military family" included a staff of a military secretary, several aides-de-camp, a dozen servants and his personal guard unit, the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. That unit consisted of sixty infantry soldiers and three officers. Washington set his 9,000 strong army two miles south on top of the Methacton hill to be in striking distance of 8,000 Crown forces in nearby Germantown.<ref>George Washington to Continental Congress, September 29, 1777, George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741–1799: Series 4. General Correspondence. 1697–1799, Image 477 of 1104.</ref>
 By October 20 news arrived that the fortifications and breastworks around [[Philadelphia]] were completed, the British abandoned their outpost in Germantown. Washington responded by moving his troops within a half days march of Philadelphia. Whitemarsh or Fort Washington was chosen as it was {{convert|15|mi|km}} away.<ref name="arch">{{cite web| url = https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce/SelectWelcome.asp| title = National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania| publisher = CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System| format = Searchable database}} ''Note:'' This includes {{cite web| url = {{NRHP-PA|H000582_01H.pdf}} | title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Peter Wentz Homestead| accessdate = 2012-05-05| author = William K. Watson | format = PDF| date= November 1972}}</ref>
-It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1973.<ref name="nris"/>
+This property was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1973.<ref name="nris"/>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 32: / Line 39: @@
 * [[National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]
 * [[List of Washington's Headquarters during the Revolutionary War]]
+==Gallery==
+<gallery>
+File:Front Room, Peter Wentz Farmstead - Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.jpg|Front room, Peter Wentz residence, April 2016
+</gallery>
 ==References==
@@ Line 38: / Line 50: @@
 ==External links==
 {{commons category|Peter Wentz Homestead}}
-* [http://www.peterwentzfarmsteadsociety.org/ Peter Wentz Farmstead] - official site
+* [http://www.peterwentzfarmsteadsociety.org/ Peter Wentz Farmstead] – official site
 {{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
@@ Line 50: / Line 62: @@
 [[Category:Historic house museums in Pennsylvania]]
 [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]
-[[Category:Historic House Museums of the Pennsylvania Germans]]
+[[Category:Historic house museums of the Pennsylvania Germans]]
-{{MontgomeryCountyPA-NRHP-stub}}

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