In the late 1990's the Lenni Lenape and the museum adjoining the Springhouse raised about $40,000 to restore it. The following article describes the efforts. It is used for festivals and exhibits at the nearby Museum of Indian Culture.
During the Colonial era, America's settlers looked for a home site that was close to a good spring.
In the Lehigh Valley, where fieldstone was a readily available building material, a stone building constructed over a spring provided year-round refrigeration for the family. These buildings were called springhouses. Eggs and produce were kept on built-in shelves, while butter and milk were stored in containers and placed directly in the water. The springhouse also served as a temporary shelter while the family home was being erected.
"The wealthier people like the Bieber family were able to afford luxurious two-floor springhouses, so that they could have their sleeping quarters upstairs, which was a lot nicer because it was so damp inside," explains Carla Messinger, executive director of the Lenni Lenape Historical Society, Allentown.
The Biebers came to Eastern Pennsylvania from Germany in the mid-1700s. The heyday of stone farmhouse, springhouse and barn building in the region was roughly from the 1750s-1850s.
The non-profit Lenni Lenape Historical Society is raising funds to restore the Bieber two-story springhouse at the society's museum along Fish Hatchery Road in the Little Lehigh Parkway.
"It's in really bad shape," says Messinger of the springhouse. "Everything, the inside and outside masonry, the fact that vandals have broken every window, and the original wood has deteriorated because of the dampness. We also have to do electrical work and fix up the chimney for the fireplace."
The society estimates that $40,000 is needed for the restoration. So far, $8,000 in grants has been received from the Society of Friends and the Century Fund. The society hopes to qualify for a Keystone Challenge Grant, in which the state would match $20,000 for $20,000 raised.
Proceeds from all three of the society's annual festivals -- the first one will be held Sunday -- will support the springhouse project.
"Last year, we had an auction to help make the balance for our roof, and Liz Taylor sent a carry-all tote bag and a signed picture," says Messinger. The society plans another auction this year.
A new roof was placed on the building, originally the Bieber family home, that houses the society's Museum of Indian Culture.
Why is a Native American organization putting so much effort into saving a piece of Colonial history? Messinger explains:
"I'd like to share with the community not just the native cultural heritage, but also their own heritage. The springhouse is part of the land that we have, so we want to maintain it for future generations."
The Museum of Indian Culture has a small display of Bieber family items. "One year the Biebers had a family reunion and they gave us one of the family Bibles that came over from Germany," says Messinger.
"We also have articles that we found in the cellar or outside -- a porcelain doll's head, with little holes where the body was sewn to it. We also have several bottles, dishes, and cups from different eras, a Civil War cannonball, and Civil War and Revolutionary War buttons."
The Lenni Lenape Historical Society plans to do more with the renovated springhouse than just put it on display. Says Messinger:
"We want to give it new life and put it to use. We have re-established a variety of native plants -- duckweed, scouring rush, and shadberry -- to help stabilize the environment and to give cover to the critters that live in and around the building, and to give them food.
"We have salamanders, newts, and turtles, and our one snake regularly sheds, so we have lots of skin to share with kids who visit.
"And when we have guests who come out for an evening program, say, in the fall, we can serve hot apple cider and have star watching and storytelling in the springhouse. When we have our festivals, the dancers can change their clothing in there."
Messinger hopes that the local community, especially those who enjoy hiking through the park, can get excited about saving the springhouse for the education and enjoyment of future generations.
"If we are able to fix it up, that means that your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be hiking by and looking at it, too," Messinger points out. "The springhouse represents something that can't be rebuilt. Once it's gone, that's it. The history is gone."
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