Rock Ford Plantation

Gen. Edward Hand House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
File:Rock Ford Plantation Lancaster Front 1456px.jpg
Location	881 Rock Ford Road, West Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates
Built	1793
Architectural style	Georgian
NRHP Reference #	76001646
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1976

The Rock Ford Plantation or the General Edward Hand House is an historic house in Southeast Lancaster City, surrounded by Lancaster County Central Park, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976. Edward Hand was an Adjutant General to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.

History

File:Rock Ford Plantation Lancaster Rear 3008px.jpg

Rear view

Hand bought the land on which the plantation was built in two transactions, first purchasing 160 acres (65 ha) in 1785 and later buying an additional 17 acres (6.9 ha) in 1792. The Georgian-style brick mansion was built in 1794, and its architecture has since remained largely unchanged. All four floors conform to the same plan, a center hall and four corner rooms, as was typical of the period. The plantation stands on the banks of the Conestoga River, one mile (1.6 km) south of the city of Lancaster. General Edward Hand and his wife Katherine Hand lived at Rock Ford with their 7 children from 1794 until his death in 1802, and then her death in 1805.

Museum

Rock Ford was saved from destruction by the Junior League in 1958, the house was renovated and restored to become an historic house museum. Rock Ford Foundation was established as a nonprofit to take over the museum. Today visitors can come to Rock Ford Plantation for guided tours and learn what it was like to live there between 1794-1805. The house is set up to reflect the inventory of the house when Hand died in 1802. Rock Ford offers visitors an authentic example of refined country living as it existed during the early years of the Republic.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

External links

• Rock Ford Plantation
• Rockford at the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) (Library of Congress)