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Map of Conrad Weiser Homestead
1.
Scheetz House (Visitor Center)
 The
Scheetz House serves as the Visitor Center at the Conrad
Weiser Homestead. All visitors need to start their visit to
the Conrad Weiser Homestead at the Visitor Center.
The building is suggested as
the initial exhibit to view upon the tour of the Weiser
Homestead. The exhibit on the ground floor of the Scheetz
House contains a fairly concise biographical illustration of
Conrad Weiser, largely centering on his lifetime
accomplishments in Native American diplomacy. Furthermore,
the exhibit emphasizes Weiser’s significance as a local
politician, chiefly responsible for the established of Berks
County and Reading. One of the few physical artifacts the
site possesses of which was in Weiser’s possession, an
initialed silver spoon, resides in the exhibit in the
Scheetz House. Finally, the Museum Shop is located at the
conclusion of the exhibit in the Scheetz House. The shop is
predominantly stocked with texts pertaining to Conrad Weiser,
the Seven Years War, early colonial settlement, Iroquois and
Native American culture, and Pennsylvania German/local
cultural interest.
John Sheetz purchased the old Weiser property in the early
1830’s, utilizing the land for agricultural means. According
to the date stone in the eastern gable, Scheetz erected the
large stone building in 1834. It appears around this era
that Scheetz added both the bake oven and the northern
partition to the Weiser House. Furthermore, the massive
barn, just to the south of the site’s property, was
constructed near this time as well. It is believed that the
Scheetz family most likely designated the Weiser House as a
summer kitchen.
The interior of the Scheetz House contains nearly all
original woodwork, doors, and latches throughout two and
half stories. The room immediately through the main
entrance, where the visitor’s desk is located, was a kitchen
and has been slightly modified in contrast with the other
rooms. The original fireplace was closed, the floorboards
were replaced, and a partition wall/doorway was added.
Nonetheless, the hinges, locks, and latches were
unadulterated throughout the house, adding an element of
authenticity. The tornado, which devastated a large portion
of the property in 1904, seems to not have ravaged the
Scheetz House nearly as badly as the barn or the Weiser
House.
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2.
Restroom Building
This building
houses the site restrooms and was constructed in the 1920's
as part of the original Olmsted park plan.
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3. Weiser House
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The Weiser House is the only structure on the property which
could have existed when Conrad Weiser was alive. The exhibit
inside the northern room of the Weiser House highlights the
various personalities that Weiser interacted with throughout
the duration of his life in Pennsylvania. Weiser’s religious
affiliations with the Ephrata Cloister, and both the
Moravian and Lutheran churches are touched upon in the
exposition. Also, the display illustrates the miscellaneous
types of figures who visited his homestead, including
scientists, prominent politicians, and Native American
dignitaries. Over fifty biographies of individuals who spent
considerable time on the property are available to view in
the Weiser House. The southern room of the Weiser House
contains examples of mid 18th century furniture, which many
middle class German settlers would have had in their homes,
such as tables, chairs, a blanket chest, and a family bible.
Finally, the main fireplace is located in the southern room,
which includes a bake oven. The aforementioned room is setup
to portray how the Weiser family may have lived in the
dwelling.
The southern room of the Weiser House is certainly the
oldest section of the building. The northern room and the
bake oven were added later in time, as the original dwelling
was seemingly more square-shaped rather than rectangular.
Through data analysis, it appears that the northern room and
the bake oven were constructed contemporaneously with the
Scheetz House and the Barn in the early 1830’s. If one is to
view pictures of the Weiser House prior to 1926, a division
is clearly visible on the outside of the building between
the northern and southern rooms. Between 1926 and 1928, the
mortar was repointed on the Weiser House to somewhat cloak
the obviousness of the partition.
One of the greatest hindrances in determining the exact age
of the Weiser House and its components is that the vast
majority of the inside of the building was replaced in the
early 1900’s. In 1904 a tornado removed the entire roof from
atop the Weiser House. The building’s walls appeared
undamaged however. Then, in 1907, a vicious fire essentially
gutted the Weiser House, destroying a great deal of the
original wood inside the dwelling. After the fire, extensive
talks ensued as to what should be done with the structure,
including the suggestion to demolish it entirely. However,
the building was refurbished.
To this day, an enigma overshadows the Weiser House – did
Conrad Weiser actually live in this building on the
property? The original part of the house is overwhelmingly
diminutive for a rather well to do family to raise seven
children and comfortably house visiting dignitaries. Oral
history suggests that this was the house of Conrad Weiser,
however, Weiser had two grandsons named Conrad who may have
lived on the property. Could the names have been confused in
the fog of local legend? Furthermore, it has been inferred
from wills and inventory listings that many other buildings,
such as barns and mills, existed on the property when Weiser
lived here. Could he have lived in log building that has
since deteriorated – perhaps? However the archeological
testing conducted upon the site in 2001 proved inconclusive,
as no additional building foundations were located around
the homestead. There is simply not sufficient evidence to
suggest that the house was not Weiser’s, therefore, the
building is accepted as the home of Conrad Weiser.
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4. Springhouse
 The springhouse is not normally open to the public for
touring; yet the structure is an essential element of every
rural farm, serving as a source of water and a primitive
“refrigerator.” Currently, underground piping carries water
from a nearby spring and delivers it into an iron-lined
trough outside of the springhouse, as originally, a wooden
pipe was in place. Typically, springhouses serve as a means
of refrigeration for the family farm. Cold water from the
spring would run through a trough in the floor of the
springhouse, as milk and butter could be stored on the
floor. In addition, the constant flow of water aided in
cooking inside the springhouse, making cleanup more
simplistic. The upper level of the building was probably
used for storage.
If one looks rather closely at the southeastern wall of the
building, a large patched-over hole exists. An oven used to
reside in the wall, but was removed prior to 1904. Early
accounts placed the date of the springhouse in alignment
with the Weiser House, potentially indicating that Weiser
himself may have built and used the structure. However,
recent studies suggested that it could have been built at a
later time.
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5. The Education Building
The Education Building was built in the 1930’s as the site
maintenance building. This building is open to the public
and contains information pertaining to the evolution of the
homestead after Weiser’s death. This display includes modern
additions to the park and illustrates the continued efforts
of the community to uphold the Weiser legacy. The building
also houses the original gravestones of Conrad Weiser and
his wife Anna Eva to preserve them from the elements.
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6. The Weiser Gravesite
 Conrad Weiser is buried atop of the small hill to
west of his house. In addition to Conrad Weiser, his father,
his wife, his son Fredrick, his six children who died before
adulthood, and several of his Native American cohorts are
supposedly, according to oral history, buried in the
cemetery plot. Conrad and Anna Eva’s gravestones were the
only legible ones, as the various other gravestones in the
plot have no visible writing upon them. Ground Penetrating
Radar and archaeological tests were conducted in 2001 in the
family cemetery yielding inconclusive results. Future
archaeological studies could produce more concrete
conclusions.
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7.
Weiser Monument
This monument was purchased in 1909 by the Berks County
Chapter of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and was
originally located in front of the Womelsdorf High School.
It was moved to the site of Conrad Weiser’s grave in 1926.
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8. Shikellamy Statue
This statue of Weiser’s Iroquois counterpart was
executed by the New York sculptor, Joseph Pollia, in 1930
and placed in this prominent position. The 1926 Olmstead
Brothers landscape plan for this site included a mall
connecting the Weiser Gravesite with this square. These
“exterior rooms” were common feature in Olmstead-designed
and influenced parks.
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9. Gazebo
 The gazebo, built in 1926, was originally meant
as an overlook area from which visitors could enjoy natural
vistas created by the landscape plan. Other Olmsted
trademarks were serpentine drives and paths and the creation
of natural settings of meadows and groves of trees.
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10. Pond
The pond was manmade, created for aesthetics and
fed by natural springs. Fishing and swimming are prohibited.
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11.
Overlook and Soldier
The Conrad Weiser Memorial Park Association, which founded
this site in the 1920’s, honored the “Heroes of the
Tulpehocken” by erecting this statue of an American
“Doughboy” at this overlook in 1926.
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12. Log Hut
This small log hut was moved to this site by the Founders of
the park in 1927. Its original location and use are unknown.
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13. Maintenance Building
This site maintenance building is not routinely open to the
public.
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Conrad Weiser Homestead
28 Weiser Lane
Womelsdorf, PA 19567
610-589-2934
info@conradweiserhomestead.org
The site is administered by
the
PHMC and aided by the Friends of the Conrad Weiser
Homestead.
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