During the last weeks, my digging into the history of the abandoned farm house I found in Northampton County of Pennsylvania has been pretty successful and I could figure out some interesting facts about this farmstead.
As I told before, the past of the property is closely intertwined with the long history of Kiefer family.
After publishing the first episode of the video, some members of the Kiefer family reached out to me and, thanks to their infinite kindness, I learned a few stories about the family life in this house and got some old photos.
In the first episode, I mentioned that the root of Kiefer family can be ascribed to the year of 1730, when J. Kiefer, a German immigrant settled in Pennsylvania. His descendants acquired this land plot along the Delaware River, including a local island, and built this house.
In the beginning of 20th century, the farmstead was under ownership of Herbert Kiefer, a grandson of Joseph Kiefer.
After WW1, Herbert Kiefer, sold the property to his son Arlington. Arlington inherited the family business and used the property as a farm and cow pasture. Also he leased a section of the Kiefer Island to the Boy scouts in the 1930s and 1940s for a summer camp and charged them $1 a year for the lease.
The last owner, belonging to the Kiefer dynasty, George Kiefer Sr. bought the farm from his father Arlington in 1953 for 10,000 dollars with everything: cows, chickens, a tractor, and a couple of wagons. The farmstead was named Riverside Dairy Farm and the business was pretty profitable.
As well, a gravel pit used to be here along the river that George Kiefer leased out and got paid 50 cents a ton that went out the driveway. The ruins are neat and aren't defaced with graffiti.
During 1973, the Kiefer family had suffered from a series of losses and serious problems. Mother of George Kiefer Sr., Grace Kiefer, passed in April 1973. Father, Arlington Kiefer, dead in June of same year.
In July 1973, the cow barn, which used to be on this place, caught fire and burned to the ground. The house suffered extensive damage from the fire as well and became uninhabitable. George couldn’t rebuild the house and the family had to move. The barn foundation still is visible in aerial photos taken after 1973. Nevertheless, the property had been under Kiefer’s ownership until 2003. The next owner purchased it to make a bed and breakfast place out of it, but failed. The construction site burned down again around 2007 and since the house stays abandoned.
The gravel pit that George Kiefer leased out is located in a 10 minutes walk from the farm along the river. It had been active between 1940s and 1955. Two of its structures have survived to this day: the truck loading station and engine house ruin. It was cool to find these concrete walls free of ugly graffiti.
Only curious historical note, I spotted, was written at a 10 feet height from the ground. This water level mark was done by red paint in August of 1955, when the Delaware River experienced record flooding caused by two hurricanes that hit the area within a week.
Hurricanes Connie and Diane caused extensive property damage and loss of life in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Over 100 lives were lost due to the flooding. I believe that the flooding caused the gravel pit to be abandoned in those years.
Have no idea, how the abandoned farm, we explored today, survived that disaster. Definitely, the generations of the farm family used to live on this land could cope with life’s challenges.
00:00 A leap into history of the abandoned farm house
00:49 Farmstead exploration, historical documents investigation
11:00 The gravel pit ruins. Legacy of 1955 disaster caused by Hurricanes Connie and Diane
Special thanks to Northampton Historical Society for their assistance in the research!
First episode: ua-cam.com/video/1RSmzn9bRQg/v-deo.html
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I search and explore alone ghost towns, historic, abandoned, haunted places in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. My explorations are based on local creepy legends and old maps research and aimed to discover something new in urban exploring.
200 year old ABANDONED FARMSTEAD in PA! Historical records investigation
Please be respectful to ghost towns, haunted and abandoned houses! No trash and graffiti!
Music credit provided by:
Alexander Nakarada - Scandos;
Lucid Forest - Placid Place Fantasy;
Savfk - What Happens When We Die;
Atlas Kind - Tino's Lullaby.
#urbex #abandoned #urbanexploring #haunted