Whitehall Township may be interested in adding to its portfolio of historic acquisitions the John Jacob Mickley Jr. Homestead, which has ties to the Revolutionary War and the Liberty Bell in the 1770s.

Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said he does not want the township to miss out on the unique opportunity of taking title to this cherished piece of history. He told The Press July 27 of asking the board of commissioners to consider acquiring such a treasure that generations can enjoy and appreciate.

The property was the home of John Jacob Mickley Jr., a Revolutionary War hero who, as a private in the Northampton County militia, drove one of hundreds of wagons that helped to transport the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Bethlehem - in order not to allow the British to capture the bell and melt it.

The mayor’s proposal is to initially borrow the money from the Lafarge Fund and repay it with a bank line of credit, a plan Hozza said is less expensive than going a bond route.

R. Louis and Susan E. Mickley, owners of the 414-acre Egypt farm and estate at Spring and North Church streets - a quiet refuge in the township’s northern tier - had talked to Hozza about their intent to sell the vast land, the home and farm structures.

In June, Susan Mickley and her husband, R. Louis, an 11th-generation Mickley, along with a Lehigh County Bureau of Agricultural Land Preservation representative, approached the commissioners regarding an easement as a first step to preserve the land from development - with the township paying $173,000 of the $260,000 easement cost.

At a recent township zoning hearing board, the Mickleys were granted a dimensional variance allowing future owners of the farmhouse and adjacent five acres access to the property by a 33-foot-wide driveway without any street frontage.

The township, if successful, would acquire only a portion of the property, about five acres, for its historical aspects; another buyer would acquire the farmland.

Hay, soybeans and corn are grown on a rotating basis on more than 400 acres.

The Mickleys in 2001 were looking to buy a farm and, by happenstance, came across the present farm, not realizing at the time R. Louis Mickley came from the Mickley stock that played such a role in the Revolutionary War. Since then, the couple has made it a mission to maintain the historic piece of land and homestead, with restoration and preservation as their focus.

Believed to be the highest point in the township, the Mickley estate provides a view that offers a 40-mile panoramic view spanning Allentown to Blue Mountain.

The property contains an abundance of trees - in fact, an oak tree dates to the 1700s - a century-old tulip tree, raspberries and blueberries. Deer roam the grounds, and an occasional bear, coyote and other wildlife have been spotted.

An archaeological dig commissioned by the Mickleys resulted in the recovery of a Revolutionary War militia pin that John Jacob Mickley Jr. most likely wore when he served.

The Liberty Bell, brought from Philadelphia, was hidden in John Jacob Mickley Jr.’s wagon and was transported to Bethlehem. Another wagon then carried the bell from Bethlehem to Allentown, where it was hidden beneath floorboards at Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ. It was later returned to Philadelphia when the British left the city.