68
—Lancaster Farm!
They’re surrounded by history, urban sprawl
Editor’s Note: This is the 6th in a continuing series of
feature articles describing farms in southeastern
southcentral Pa. which have been in the same family for 100
or more years. It is LANCASTER FARMING’S way of
recognizing and saluting agriculture - the foundation of
civilization everywhere.
By DIETER KRIEG
BLUE BELL - Located just 18 miles northeast of downtown
Philadelphia, the Zimmerman’s “Silver Lake Farm” is
hemmed in by developments, the northeast extension of the
Pennsylvania Turnpike, and urban sprawl in general. It’s
one of the last farms in the area, and was THE last dairy
farm to go out of business.
Purchased by William Zimmerman in 1775, the original
farm contained as many .as 830 acres according to some
accounts. It has been whittled down to 98 acres. Two
brothers, Edward and Merrill Zimmerman, and their wives,
Blanche and Louise, are the property’s present owners. Their
large two-family house contains a section which was erected
by the farm’s first owner in 1752, Built of stones held together
by a lime mortar, the walls are 18 inches thick.
History was in the making when William Zimmerman and
his family moved to the farm. The Revolutionary War was in
progress. Valley Forge is only eight miles southwest of here,
Germantown is nearby, and Washington’s Crossing is within
easy riding distance. General Washington was in the vicinity
and wounded Continental soldiers were treated within two
miles of their house. But according to the Zimmerman family
their ancestors didn’t participate in the Revolution very
much. Fanning was their profession and they were needed to
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provide food not only for their own families but for soldiers as
well.
Up until six years ago the Zimmermans were still milking
cows - a tradition which had started on a “business scale” in
1804. They were retailing their own milk from 1934 up until
the time they closed dorpi in 1970 as a result of economic and
urbanization pressures.
Edward Zimmerman still farms the original homestead
along with other acreages in this area. When the family had
the dairy business, he farmed a total of 450 acres, he said.
Now he boards a herd of dairy heifers in his old, well kept
bam (built in 1804 out of stones and hand-hewn timbers) and
raises hay. Most of his farming income, however, comes
from custom wort: - something he has been invloved with
since the days when he first started farming. He fashioned
Edward and Blanche
Zimmerman check
through an old ledger
book listing prices from
late 1800’s.
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TODAY
his own self-propelled custom silage harvester in the late
1940’s and was one of only six men in the United States to
have participated in the Farmers Exchange Program in
1956. The program is for farmers interested in world affairs
and provides such men with opportunities to visit foreign
agricultural communities. Zimmerman visited Denmark,
Venezuela and Italy.
Although Merrill Zimmerman is no longer a full-time
farmer, he is a partner in the “Silver Lake Farm” operation
and shared the “Master Farmer” award with his brother in
1960.
The Zimmerman family came to the United States as a
result of religious differences which arose between John
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