On Sunday November 25 from 1pm to 4pm, visitors will be welcomed at Lebanon’s Chestnut Street Log House (1110 Chestnut Street), where they will have an opportunity to sit by the fire, enjoy some refreshments, and enjoy the story of this special building.
The event was announced on Facebook by Janice Brandt Morrissey who is the President of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lebanon County, which oversees the Chestnut Street Log House, as well as Light’s Fort and the Monroe Valley Chapel.
The Chestnut Street Log House is typically open on Wednesday’s from 1pm to 4pm during July and August, but opportunities to visit the rest of the year are limited.
The house is an example of early Lebanon dwellings, dating to the 1770’s when the area was known as Steitztown, after George Steitz who received the first warrants of land.
The house has a cellar, main floor, and a loft. The cellar is entered by an exterior door and has an earthen floor. The first floor consists of three rooms: the kammer (bedroom), the stübe (living room), and the kitchen. The fireplace hearth faces the kitchen. The building rests on a limestone foundation and the whole building appears to have been raised around 1850 to match the level of nearby buildings.
Until 1976 the building was sheathed with clapboard and it was scheduled for demolition until the logs underneath were discovered. Deed searches revealed who owned the house starting in the 1820’s but no earlier records have yet been found.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 after being petitioned by the Historic Preservation Trust.
Can’t make it? Here are some pictures courtesy of the Historic Preservation Trust.
