While here, General Washington planned his attempt to keep the British forces from occupying
Philadelphia, which resulted in the Battle of Germantown on October 4th. It was also here on October 18th
that the news of Burgoyne's surrender to General Gates at Saratoga was received and celebrated. According
to tradition, a salute was fired so close to the house, the glass in a number of windows was shattered.
In 1794, Melchior Schultz, a minister of the Schwenkfelder faith, purchased the farm and his descendants
continued to live and farm here until 1969, when it was purchased by the County of Montgomery.
The site has been restored and the house furnished to reflect its appearance at the time of the American
Revolution. The Wentz Farmstead is surrounded by 90 plus acres that are managed as an eighteenth century
working farmstead. A reconstructed barn houses farm animals that are typical of the period. There are
gardens, orchards, and fields cultivated as they would have been in the period.
Special events and exhibits representing the Pennsylvania German culture and early American farm
life take place throughout the year. |
