Percheron Filly at Landis Valley Museum
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Sharing the Common Wealth category and the Fall 1999 issue Topics in this article: George D. Landis, Henry K. Landis, Lancaster County, Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, Pennsylvania Dutch (Pennsylvania German)Museum visitors do expect to see objects, artifacts, documents and, with growing frequency, interactive kiosks. Living history sites, such as Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster County, offer visitors a firsthand look at living – and growing – collections, among them trees, gardens, and landscape plantings, as well as historical breeds of animals, such as draft horses, once so vital to America’s farmers. Percherons, a breed of workhorse brought to this country in the early nineteenth century, became a popular draft animal of the Pennsylvania Germans. This past spring, a Percheron filly was born at Landis Valley museum, its most recent living acquisition. Named Nettie May in honor of the sister of the museum’s founders, brothers George and Henry Landis, she awaits well-wishers who may want to watch her at play in the complex’s green pasture or at her mother’s side in training to pull a wagon or cart.
