From Bedford traveling south on Route 220 past Patiance the lane is on the left just before you reach the Bortz Lutheran Church.

The Wertz Farm, Spring Meadow Farm as it is known today, has changed ownership only eight times, and changed families only four times. Spring Meadow Farm was first recognized as private property on March 4, 1766. Samuel Finley of Hagerstown, Maryland obtained 250 acres of forest in Cumberland Valley from the Honorable of the Proprietors of Pennsylvania.

In 1790 Paul Wertz bought the land, along with 141 acres of adjoining land. Paul was born in Holland in 1745. He arrived in Bedford County in 1771. The first tax recordings to show any existence of a farm on the land were those of 1814. Also listed on Paul's land was his son, John Wertz. After Paul's death the land was divided between his sons Henry, John, and Paul. Henry's section of land was roughly what is now Spring Meadow Farm.

Upon Henry Wertz' death in 1872, his son George and his wife Hannah (Smith) inherited the farm. George died in 1905 and in 1919 his widow sold the farm to Tom and Julia Pearl (Mickey) Hite. Tom died in 1975. His son Frank lived on the farm until 1986 when he sold it to Ronald V. and Marilyn Growden of Washington, D.C.

The Growden's bought the farm as a vacation home, and as a place to move to upon Ron's 1990 retirement from the Air Force. From 1986 to 1990, James and Margie Eckard of Cumberland Valley lived on the farm while the Growden's lived overseas.

In the summer of 1998, the old tractor lane that runs from Route 220 past Spring Meadow Farm and on to the two farms located over the hill was moved. A new road now runs behind the farm and along the side of the hill, diverting traffic around the house instead of directly in front of it.

The Wertz cemetery is to the left of this lane, under some tall cedar trees.

Source: Emily Growden's school paper, May 20, 1998 - The Wertz Farm, 1766-1798