Strickler Family Farmhouse

Strickler Family Farmhouse, also known as the County Farm, is a historic home located at Springettsbury Township, York County, Pennsylvania.

Strickler Family Farmhouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	1205 Williams Rd., east of York, Springettsbury Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	39°59′16″N 76°39′33″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	c. 1740, c. 1835, c. 1865
Architectural style	Colonial, Georgian, Other, Post-medieval German
NRHP reference No.	91000093[1]
Added to NRHP	February 21, 1991

Description

The farmhouse consists of three sections: a 1 1/2-story, 2 bay by 1 bay, Germanic influenced limestone main house; a 2 1/2-story, brick Georgian-style wing, built about 1835; and a 2-story brick ell, built about 1865. Also on the property is the Strickler family cemetery, with burials dating back to the 1700s.[2]

The oldest of the house's three sections, with the middle on the left

The house's newest section, with the middle section behind it

History

Ulrich and Mary Strickler purchased 200 acres of farmland west of the Susqeuhanna River from the Penn family and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1737. Samuel Strickler was born in the stone house in 1875. The family sold the farm in the early 20th century and it was later sold to York County and used for a prison site. For a few years, the federal immigration service used the house for office space, before it went unused.[3] Three generations of family members visited the house in July 2020 after learning of its ancestral link.[4]

NRHP registration and demolition plans

The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[1] As of October 2019, the farmhouse faces demolition after York County's plans to move its coroner's office there were cancelled. Nearly half a million dollars of repairs, including mold mitigation, are required for such a use of the structure, and only $11,000 of donations were obtained.[5] Also in autumn 2019, York County hired a consulting firm to document the history of the farmhouse.[4]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Laura L. Hamberger (July 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Strickler Family Farmhouse" (PDF). Retrieved December 18, 2011.
3. Argento, Mike (July 23, 2019). "His Mennonite ancestors fled persecution to York. Now their farm is an immigration jail". York Daily Record. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
4. Boeckel, Teresa (July 8, 2020). "Descendants of Ulrich Strickler gather for photos at his endangered historic farmhouse". York Daily Record. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
5. Boeckel, Teresa (October 28, 2019). "Demolition planned for prison-site farmhouse on National Register of Historic Places". York Daily Record. Retrieved October 30, 2019.