Daniel Boone Homestead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Daniel Boone Homestead Site and Bertolet Cabin
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This house stands over the site of the log cabin that Daniel Boone was born in. The basement in the house is original to the log cabin.
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 Location in Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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| Area | 577 acres (234 ha) |
| Built | 1730 |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001090 |
| Added to NRHP | March 24, 1972 |
The Daniel Boone Homestead is a special place in Pennsylvania. It is the birthplace of Daniel Boone, a famous American frontiersman. Today, it is a museum and historic house.
The homestead is managed by the Friends of the Daniel Boone Homestead. It is located near Birdsboro in Berks County. The site covers almost 600 acres (about 2.4 square kilometers). It is the largest property owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Staff at the homestead help visitors learn about the families who lived there. These include the Boone family, the Maugridge family, and the DeTurk family. The park is easy to find, just off U.S. Route 422.
Contents
Exploring the Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone's First Home
In 1730, Daniel Boone's father, Squire Boone, built a log cabin. This cabin was in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County. Daniel Boone was born in this small, one-and-a-half-story log house.
One wall of the cabin was made from local stone. The basement of the house was a spring house. This meant it had a natural spring inside. This spring provided fresh water for cleaning, cooking, and drinking. It also kept food cool, like a natural refrigerator.
Life on the Farm
Squire Boone bought more land in 1741. He added 25 acres (about 100,000 square meters) for a pasture. This land was used for his dairy cattle. Squire Boone worked as a blacksmith and a weaver.
Daniel was given the job of looking after the cattle. During the summer, he stayed in a simple cabin near the pasture. From there, he could protect the cattle from wild animals. These animals included black bears, bobcats, and mountain lions.
The Boone family later faced some disagreements with their local Quaker community. Because of these issues, Squire Boone decided to sell his land in 1750. The family then moved south. They eventually settled on the Yadkin River in Davie County, North Carolina.
Changes to the House
After the Boones moved, William Maugridge bought the homestead in 1750. He was a relative of the Boones from Philadelphia. Maugridge was a shipwright (someone who builds ships) and a carpenter.
The house was made bigger around this time. It became a two-story house. It had a common design called a "hall and parlor" house. It also had a small "bible closet."
Maugridge died in 1766. Then, John DeTurk bought the property. DeTurk completely changed the house. He removed the log cabin walls and rebuilt them with stone. DeTurk might also have built the smokehouse you can see at the park today.
Several other farmers owned the land after DeTurk. But in 1926, people started working to save it. They wanted to preserve it for history.
Saving History
In 1926, Reverend A. B. Vossler and William C. Foote bought the farm. They wanted to protect Daniel Boone's homestead. In 1937, they sold it to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Soon after, work began to restore the homestead. Many examples of colonial life from the Oley Valley were brought to the site. A blacksmith's shop from around 1769 has been restored there. Also, the "Bertolet House" is at the park. It shows what early 18th-century Pennsylvania German homes looked like.
Daniel Boone's Early Life
Daniel Boone was born on October 22, 1734. Later, the calendar changed, so his birth date is sometimes given as November 2, 1734. However, Boone always used the October date. He was the sixth of eleven children in his family. His family were Quakers.
His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), came to Pennsylvania from Bradninch, England, in 1713. Daniel's grandparents also moved to Pennsylvania in 1717. They built a log cabin at Boonecroft in 1720. Squire Boone worked as a weaver and a blacksmith. He married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales.
Daniel spent his early years on the edge of the Pennsylvania frontier. The Quakers were generally peaceful with Native Americans. But more white settlers kept moving west. This caused many Native Americans to move further west too.
Daniel got his first rifle in 1749. This started his lifelong love of hunting. Many folk tales tell about Boone's amazing hunting skills. In one story, young Daniel is hunting with other boys. A panther screams, and the other boys run away. But Daniel stays calm. He aims his squirrel gun and shoots the animal through the heart as it jumps at him. Like many stories about Boone, this one might not be completely true. But it was told so often that it became part of his legend.
See also
- Open-air museum
