Schlegel, Christian, Farm

Located east of Fleetwood in the limestone Great Valley of Berks County, this working farm centers on a two-bay stone farmhouse dated 1789 and a frame bank barn built in 1887, with its roof rebuilt in 1947 on the original stone gable walls. The farmstead includes a stone summer kitchen, a stone ground cellar, a smoke house, and a stone wagonshed with carefully coursed masonry, along with sheds, privies, and chicken houses. The farm was worked by a family that acquired the land in 1738 and has been passed down through the same family without deeds or recorded sales. The nomination regards it as an example of the diversified family farm that turned to dairying in the early twentieth century. Its long unbroken agricultural use and well-kept buildings make it one of the best-preserved farms of its type in the county.