Burnside Plantation
Burnside Plantation Farmhouse. June 2013.
Burnside Plantation (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) is located in Pennsylvania
Burnside Plantation (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
Location1461 Schoenersville Road,
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°37′52″N 75°23′22″W / 40.63111°N 75.38944°W / 40.63111; -75.38944
Area6.5 acres (2.6 ha)
Architectural styleFederal,
Vernacular Germanic
NRHP reference No.90000705[1]
Added to NRHPMay 2, 1990

The Burnside Plantation is a 6.5-acre (2.6 ha) plantation in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is also known as the James Burnside Plantation and Lerch Farm.[1] The plantation is located 0.2 miles (0.32 km) southeast of the intersection with Eaton Ave, on Schoenersville Road.

History

James Burnside bought a 500-acre (200 ha) tract of land from John Stephen Benezet in 1748.[2] Burnside sold 200 acres (81 ha) a group of Moravians in 1751. In 1758, Burnside's widow sold the remaining 300 acres (120 ha) to the Moravian Church. The Church leased the plantation to individual farmers from 1765 to 1845.

The plantation was sold to Charles A. Luckenbach, who sold it to William Lerch in 1853. It stayed in the Lerch family until 1928, when it sold and was divided between the Hafleighs and the Birks.

Lehigh County bought the plantation in 1986 and leased it into the private corporation Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites "to restore, develop, and manage [it] as a living and natural history resource". It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1990.[2]

The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program.[3]

Today the farmstead hosts a variety of events, volunteer projects, venue rentals, historic tours, and festivals. Visitors can tour the farmhouse and the barns and learn about the daily lives of the early people who lived here.

No people or animals presently live on the plantation but it was home to the Bethlehem Mounted Police Unit horses from 2009 through early 2017.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  2. 1 2 Osborn, Rachel B (December 5, 1989). "Burnside Plantation" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Historic Bethlehem Partnership, Inc". Affiliate detail. Smithsonian Affiliations. 2011. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  4. ↑ Cassi, Sarah (July 2, 2017). "Bethlehem mounted unit throwing open barn doors for the public". Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
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