{"nrhp_refnum":"75001648","name":"Tulpehocken Manor Plantation","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2 mi. W of Myerstown on U.S. 422","address_restricted":false,"city":"Myerstown","county":"Lebanon County","state":"PA","lat":40.36381753450007,"lon":-76.33996112278092,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1738-era farm complex on the Tulpehocken Creek in Lebanon County near Myerstown, Pennsylvania, including two stone Swiss/German bank houses built c. 1740-1745, a Georgian manor house of 1769 remodeled in 1883, outbuildings, a stone quarry and remnants of the Union Canal summit locks.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the central-arch bank houses are rare examples of Lower Rhine Valley building traditions in America and that the Victorian manor house and stone bank barn are architecturally important. It also presents the plantation as an early farmstead that played a role in regional commerce through its quarry and the Union Canal summit locks.","narrative":"Tulpehocken Manor Plantation near Myerstown in Lebanon County is a farm complex begun on land bought from Casper Wistar of Philadelphia around 1738 by Christopher Ley and Jacob Lower, recent immigrants from the Rhine Valley. Between 1740 and 1745 they built two nearly identical limestone bank houses, set into a steep slope above the creek, with central vaulted arches sheltering springs that fed the kitchens and cellars. The houses are regarded as rare survivals of a building tradition seldom seen in America. Michael Ley built a Georgian manor house in 1769, and in 1883 Samuel Urich remodeled it with a mansard roof, hooded dormers, a gingerbread porch and iron grillwork. Its interiors are noted as strong examples of Victorian design. The farm also keeps a mid-19th-century stone bank barn, a decorative Victorian necessary, and a quarry that supplied stone for the buildings and for shipment on the Union Canal, whose summit locks built in 1794 survive as ruins.","period_of_significance":"1740, 1769, 1883","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Swiss/German bank house; Georgian; Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Operated as a working farm and tourist attraction; accommodations available in the Manor House and adjacent buildings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.608238-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001648.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001648/3fcbef45a5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001648/3fcbef45a5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JoeRed","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tulpehocken_Manor_Plantation.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JoeRed</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tulpehocken_Manor_Plantation.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996660","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpehocken_Manor_Plantation","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7852312"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lebanon-county/tulpehocken-manor-plantation-75001648/"}