Format: Paperback  

ISBN: 978-1932864212

Pages: 154

Copyright Year: 2005

Availability: Usually ships within 24 to 48 hours unless otherwise noted in the product description.

Hempstone Heritage I explores the fascinating story of the thriving hemp industry of early Pennsylvania. The book's subtitle offers a succinct summation: "All the Heckled Hemp She Can Spin - A Study of the Early American Homespun Hemp Industry as Revealed by the Wills of Old Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: 1729-1845."

The first book in the Hempstone Heritage Series, this work reveals the untold tale of the hempfields of Pennsylvania. Hemp was a vital necessity for our ancestors. They used it for everything from course cloth to fine linen and everything in between. The Conestoga wagons were covered in hemp canvas, and hemp was used for grain bags, rugs, curtains, tablecloths, napkins, handkerchiefs, towels, pillowcases, sheets, and tough, durable work clothes. Between 1729 and1845, Pennsylvania's Lancaster County alone contained more than 100 water-powered hemp mills, and dozens more were located in York County. The author reveals this and much more in this detailed account. It's a story that is changing the way historians have viewed our history and opening the eyes of many.

In a race to save Lancaster County's prime farmland and unique culture before this beautiful but endangered land is paved over forever, Hempstone Heritage donates one dollar for every book sold to the Lancaster Farmland Trust.