Ever since Ben Riel joined the efforts to preserve the Nicholas Stotzfus Homestead in Wyomissing more than 25 years ago, he had wanted to make the trip up from his home in Gordonville, Lancaster County, by horse and buggy.
The president of the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead Preservation Committee finally got his chance last Thursday, when he joined a caravan of horse-drawn wagons and buggies that made the trip to attend the dedication ceremony Saturday for the Beiler-Renno Pavilion at the homestead.
“It was a challenge,” he said, addressing the over 100 visitors and guests at the homestead, “but we really enjoyed it.”
A caravan of horse-drawn wagons and buggies set out from Gordon, Lancaster County, on Thursday at the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead in Wyomissing on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The pavilion is the latest improvement at the property located at the dead end of Tulpehocken Road. In the early 2000s, all that remained of the 1767 home of the original Amish settler and patriarch of the Stoltzfuses in America was an overgrown tangle of trees, weeds, and a ramshackle stone house slated for demolition.
Through the urging of Paul Kurtz, a committee to save the homestead was formed and restoration began with the blessings of former Gov. George Leader and his family, who had developed the Country Meadows retirement community adjacent to the homestead and who had owned the homestead property.
The Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead in Wyomissing was abandoned and slated for demolition in the early 2000s before a conservation effort preserved the property. Courtesy of the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead Preservation Committee.
Riel pointed to the late governor’s son Michael Leader in the audience and thanked him for the contributions his family made to the homestead and the Amish community at large.
“George Leader as governor helped create the Amish school system for our 14-year-olds,” Riel said. ”Almost every school meeting that the Amish have, they talk about George Leader. So most Amish, even the young folks here, know about that name, George Leader.”
When Leader became governor in 1955, Amish fathers routinely were jailed for not keeping their sons in school until age 16, Riel explained.
Michael Leader picked up the story and quoted his father, who had once provided him a written statement about his role in the Amish school community.
“No Amish father went to prison after I became governor,” George wrote. “We immediately sat down with the Amish educational leaders and the schools committee and developed a curriculum that met the needs of boys and girls being educated in Amish schools, that also met the requirements of the state.
“I always admired William Penn and the Quakers who made this a commonwealth where religious freedom would exist, and I made sure that it would prevail for Amish families.”
Ben Riehl, chairman of the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead Preservation Committee, speaks during the dedication of the Beiler-Renno Pavilion at the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead in Wyomissing Saturday. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The pavilion occupies a place in Amish history as a bridge from the past to the future, as the stones for the foundation were part of the mid-18th century barn of Jacob Beiler of Penn Township. One wall area of the open pavilion will be made from boards that were part of the log cabin that was built by immigrant Simon Renno in 1760 along Jungle Road in Upper Bern Township.
When it’s completed, there will be a summer kitchen with a stove and refrigerator.
“We envision this place as an even better space to serve people in the family and the community, our friends,” said Esther Stoltzfus, one of the property’s resident caretakers. “This is going to be a wonderful addition.”
The Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead in Wyomissing held a dedication for the Beiler-Renner Pavilion, right, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)