Farming Foundations

Farming Foundations. . , Farming has been significant for centuries in this region, thanks to rich soil and plentiful, clear-running water. The area's earliest farmers were the Susquehannocks, Indigenous people who relied on simple techniques to grow corn, beans, and squash. Beginning in the 1700s, European settlers used manufactured farming tools to grow food for their families and the local community. Today, farming remains an important industry in Lancaster County, which ranks first in Pennsylvania for agricultural sales., Family Business , A sharp sickle was critical in the back-breaking work of harvesting grains by hand. From 1796 through 1855, Colonel Hugh Long, followed by his son, manufactured high-quality, affordable sickles in Drumore Township. The sickles were sold as far away as Baltimore and Philadelphia, which drove the English competition out of the market., Linked to the Land , Pennsylvania's founder, William Penn, gave Colonel Hugh Long 1,000 acres in or near what is now Susquehannock State Park. Parcels of the land passed from generation to generation. The stone farmhouse before you is representative of early 1800's architecture, and similar to one in which the Long family would have lived.