Historic Home Belonged to 'Aggressive Minister'

A familiar surname is involved in the answer to last week's historical photo challenge. The house and barn in the photos once belonged to the Zook family, not unlike the barn we featured recently.

None of the answers from commenters mentioned Zook, but a few had the correct location of the photos. The house is located at 10 Winding Way, and the barn is at 12 Winding Way.

According to Tim Caban of the East Whiteland Historical Commission, which supplied the old photos, they were taken in 1979 and the buildings were erected circa 1780. He provided a bit more information about each building:

House at 10 Winding Way:

This house is closely tied to the early history of East Whiteland. The history of the property goes back to the "Welsh" tract of the original William Penn grants.  The home presently standing was the farmhouse which dates prior to the Revolutionary war.

In 1773 Christian Zook bought the property from Robert Powell. Zook and several other Amish – Mennonite families formed a group of about 300 persons of like religious persuasion living in the Great Valley. In 1775, Christian Zook persuaded his namesake son to move next to him and sold him a tract of land.

Christian Jr. was probably the most illustrious owner of this house. He is written of in the annals of Conestoga Valley is a man of great mental and moral force. He was an aggressive minister and in 1795 his congregation erected the first Amish – Mennonite church in America.

After Christian Zook's death, the land was purchased by Randall Malin in 1834. Since then this property has been owned by various members of the Malin family.

The unusual feature of the house is the fact that it is built over a spring "the never faileth." The old kitchen, now the dining room, had a 1 foot square hole that allowed a wooden pump shaft to lift the water to the kitchen.

The many people who lived here during the past 230 years were a productive and presumably happy people. There are no ghosts at 10 Winding Way.

Christian Zook purchased the parcel in 1784 for 547 pounds. The excessive price indicates that he had constructed the farmhouse a few years earlier by a lease and release. He is taxed in 1780 and 1783.

Christian Zook Jr. Was an 18th-century community leader and businessman. He owned and operated a distillery on the property and was a leader in the Amish – Mennonite congregation.

Barn at 12 Winding Way:

This property is a Pennsylvania stone barn built before 1784. [It is] known as a bank barn because it is built into an embankment giving ground-floor access to both sides.

Kudos to new commenter david shaver, who was the first to answer correctly, and to Kristen Klugh Cannella, who was just a hair off on the specific addresses.  

Commenters carol ray and Hannah Goldestein understandably mistook the barn for the Importer building, which was already featured in this series.

Thanks to everyone for participating!