Visions of the Past
This is a common enough building practice in Lancaster County barns even today but it can also be found in many of Lancaster's earliest remaining homes.
We belive that these rafters were first installed in the roof that Thaddeus Stevens commissioned with the renovations to his house on South Queen Street in about 1858. It is likely they were then re-used when the roof was raised for a full third floor some years after his death.
These rafters are not suitable for a third re-use in the changes to the interior needed for 21st century workspace. But the rafters have been carefully removed and placed in storage.