About this Website: 

Above: Penn Township farmland, near Lititz. Google Maps satellite view.  See these farms in a larger Google map.
 

This project is a digital tour of Mennonite history here in Lititz, Pennsylvania. For Clarke Hess and me, this blog is a mini-celebration of our ancestral-Mennonite cultural identity.

Clarke Hess provides much of the information for this site. Clarke has often been one of the go-to guys for Lititz Mennonite history. In 2007 he led a bus tour of Lititz Mennonite sites for the 100th anniversary of the Lititz Mennonite Church. And in 1988 he led a bus tour of the Lititz area for the Bomberger family reunion. 

Clarke was on the board of directors of the Lancaster Mennonite Society for 30 years. Plus he is the author of Mennonite Arts, a book about Mennonite antiques and regional culture.

So my work, with this blog, is to combine Clarke's knowledge with information I obtain from additional historical sources. Then I write the text, search Google Maps for images, and program the site. 

That makes me the geeky, amateur historian, here, while Clarke Hess is the official, hard-core historian. This site is an ongoing project.  I will add information to these pages as the blogging muse inspires me.

Lee J. Stoltzfus        Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.   Spring, 2015.

Clarke Hess' email: [email protected]      Lee Stoltzfus' email: [email protected]    

 

 

 

Above: Joseph Lehn's house on Google Maps Street View. 

Joseph Lehn (1798-1892) is the Lititz area's best-known (and priciest) craftsman and folk artist.

More information about Lehn on this site, here.

 

 
Image: Lee J. Stoltzfus

Above: Farm fields on the Becker Homestead. More information about the Beckers on this site here.

 

 

Above:  Erb Mennonite Church on Google Maps Street View.

 

 Map: Historic Mennonite Sites around Lititz, PA:

View this map in more detail Here.

(This map is an ongoing project. More sites will be added.)

 

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The Old Hess Mennonite Church on Google Maps:

 

Above: The Old Hess Mennonite Church near Lititz. As seen on Google Maps. With shadow of Google's camera car.

Below: The same building, as seen on Google Maps, satellite view.

(Today the building is used for church by a Dunkard Brethren congregations.)
 

 

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Middle Creek School and Millway Meetinghouse on Google Maps:

 

 Below: Middle Creek Parochial School. Across the street from the Millway Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse. 

With shadow of Google's camera car.  Google Maps image.

 

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Three other Websites we Created about Lancaster County History:

Above: Left:  The Black Art: A History of Printing in Lancaster County, PA.    Here:  LancasterLyrics.com

Above Center: The Hess Homestead: A Mennonite Farm in Lancaster County, PA.  Here:  Hess Homestead Lititz

Above Right: John Fass: A Pennsylvania Dutch Artist in New York City.   Here:  HammerCreek.org

My latest websites: The Photography of Dillman Bomberger, Lancaster County, PA   Here: Dillman Bomberger

The Historic One-Story Houses of Lancaster, PA   Here: Lancaster Houses

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My Instagram: Lancaster Streetscape: Historic Townhouses etc. of Lancaster, PA:

Here: Lancaster Streetscape

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This Blog's Sources:

 

• Bomberger, Lloyd Huber (1986). Bomberger Lancaster County Roots 1722-1986. n. p.

• van Brookhoven, Charlene Mearig (1996). Historical Views of Lititz. n.p.

• van Brookhoven, Cory (2011). Images of America / Warwick Township Lancaster County. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, S. C.

• Brubacher, Jacob N (1884). The Brubacher Genealogy in America. Mennonite Publishing Co., Elkhart, Ind.

• Eby, Ezra E. (1889). A Biographical History of the Eby Family. Hett and Eby, Berlin, Ontario.

• Eby, Jacob (1923). A Brief Record of the Ebys. n. p., Lancaster, PA.

• Frantz, Mrs. D. B. (1966). Hess Family History. n.p.

• Gibble, Phares Brubaker (1951). History and Genealogy of the Brubaker Brubacher Brewbaker Family in America. The Eastern Pennsylvania Brubaker Association.

• Hess, Clarke (2008). A Brief History of the Rome Mill. Monograph, Lititz.

• Hess, Clarke (2002). Mennonite Arts. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd, Atglen, PA.

• Hess, Clarke (1988). Bomberger Lancaster County Roots. June 18, 1988 Reunion Bus Tour Guide. Clarke Hess, Lititz, PA.

• Hess, John H. (1880). A Family Record of the Hess Family. Sunbeam Print, Lititz.

• Hess, John H. (1986). A Genealogy of the Hess Family. Express Print, Lititz, PA.

• Hess, Robert A.; Hess, Frank W.; Hess, Suzanne Ruhl; Hess, Joanne Siegrist  (2004). Hess Genealogy: The Descendants of 1717 Immigrants Hans & Magdalena Hess, 1717-2004. Hess Historians, [Bird in Hand, PA].

• Lichtenwalter, Gladys Eva Gurney. (1961).  Erb Family History 1679 / 1961. n. p.

•          Reist, Henry G. (1933). Peter Reist of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and some of his Descendants. Schenectady, New York.

• Siegrist, Joanne Hess; Hess, Suzanne Ruhl (2004). Hess Family Tours. Hess Historians, Lancaster, PA.

• Siegrist, Joanne Hess (1998). Hess Story. Siegrist, Joanne Hess, Bird in Hand, PA.

• Siegrist, Joanne Hess (2014). Landis Homes Retirement Community. Landis Homes, Lititz, PA.

• Zook, John G. (pub.) (1905). Historical and Pictorial Lititz. Express Printing Company, Lititz, PA.
  

• etc.

 

 Above: Millway Old Order Mennonite Meetinghouse with horse sheds. On right is the school shown in previous image.

 Google Maps image. (Arrows and text added)

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Additional Links:

 Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society

Lititz Historical Foundation

LancasterHistory.org

Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County

American Folk Art Museum. New York City.

Hans Hess Family Cemetery

Landis Valley Museum

Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley