While most farm-minded follies tend to wrap up following the Halloween season, some venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic offer delightful endeavors year-round. This is especially true when it’s a notable farm museum and living history site renowned for showcasing 200 years of rural area history and heritage. That’s certainly the case at Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum.
Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum has been operating as a noted area attraction for a hundred years now. That gives it a unique angle and boasting rights that other, newer museums can’t compete with. Furthermore, it exceeds the standard museum status by showcasing an overall representation of historic village life in addition to offering educational enticements to both educate and entertain. Such a feat is truly remarkable on so many levels. That’s why, for this Flashback Friday Feature, I’m sharing the centennial story behind the formation of Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum.
Pennsylvania German History and Heritage in Farming
Pennsylvania has long been known for its notably heavy concentration of German settlers in the area. The first ones, on a main scale, arrived here sometime within the first half of the 18th century. Since then, German customs and traditions have significantly shaped the life and landscape of the area.
Farm life emerged as a primary livelihood and a necessary means of survival for most settlers to the New World during the early colonial days. It goes without saying that the normal means and methods by which tasks, chores, and all aspects of daily life were carried out were always heavily influenced by the immigrant populations dominating a particular area. This accounts for such terms as “Pennsylvania German” coming into being.
Establishing a Farm Museum
Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum was established in 1925 by two brothers, George and Henry Landis. They themselves were descendants of some of the original German settlers to the area. They were motivated to preserve the ways of their 18th and 19th-century Pennsylvania German heritage, which they feared were at a decline owing to the rapidly emerging modern advancements brought on by 20th-century technology. Not wanting the heritage, history, and legacy to fall away into forgetful obscurity, the brothers felt preservation was crucial to the cause.
They started out by filling their notable Barn Museum with thousands of everyday farm and household objects. The focus encompassed all aspects of Pennsylvania German heritage, from the frequently used tools and farm equipment of yesteryear and the overall life and legacy that were relied upon by the people who lived here.
The Landis Brothers expanded their museum holdings in 1939, once things started getting crowded, and their collection of items and artifacts continued to increase. A few short years later, in 1941, they were provided with financial assistance from the Oberlander Trust. With the Trust lending a hand, they were able to construct an edifice styled after an early 19th-century tavern. This building operated as the museum’s first visitor center and research library. Other buildings constructed with reflective authenticity soon followed, including a gun shop and two sheds.
By the 1950s, financial resources were at an obvious decline. But in 1953, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, an agency of the state government, stepped in to administer needed support.
Over the next 45 years, they got busy purchasing structures. Some of these included an 1856 hotel, two 19th-century log cabins, a schoolhouse from the 1890s, and an old blacksmith shop. All of the aforementioned were preexisting structures that were moved to the Landis location from their original placements throughout the region.
Other buildings to come into fruition were built as recreated replicas in the likeness of historic counterparts. These included a firehouse, a 19th-century Swiss bank barn, an 18th-century log home with a bakehouse and smokehouse, a pigsty, and a springhouse. A newer visitor center opened in 1970, in addition to a textile building. Later, in 1999, came the creation of a Collections Gallery.
Emergence as an Area Attraction
Today, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum is renowned as being the largest museum showcasing Pennsylvania German history in the nation. While the focus is history-based (primarily local life from 1740 through 1940), the opportunities and activities here appeal to all ages as an all-out family-friendly venture.
As mentioned previously, this is not your usual museum setup. Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum is an entire 100-acre open-air, living history site. Not to be overlooked is the fact that it lies situated on what was once an actual crossroads village—common of early settlement communities from early Colonial American times. From costumed interpreters, living history demonstrations, self-paced and led tours (available by request), a collection consisting of more than 100,000 items, and 26 historic structures that all offer unique appeal, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum remains an appealing area attraction of great fame and popularity.
Visiting the site is a year-round delight. But do take note of various seasonal, calendar offerings taking place here at any given time. Click here to find out about all upcoming events.
Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum truly is a special place to explore. Not only do they chronicle 200 years of history in a most unique, mutually befitting setup, but the fact that they’ve been doing so for a century and are based on historic grounds in addition drives home the point in an absolutely admirable fashion that ups the ante.
They are located at 2451 Kissel Hill Road, Lancaster, PA 17601. For more information, visit the website at www.landisvalleymuseum.org.