It was once considered an admirable skill to have the endurance to walk long distances. The most famous long distance walker from the Bethlehem area was Solomon Jennings. He was described as "a man of powerful frame and great muscular strength." People said he could carry four 162-pound bags of wheat, all at the same time.

In 1736, he paid William Allen the sum of 131 pounds for 200 acres, located on both sides of the Lehigh River, in the Rittersville area. He had possibly squatted illegally on the land since the 1720s.

The earliest story about Jennings appeared in the Sept. 9, 1734 issue of the New York Weekly Journal. It described an incident of several Lenape capturing Jennings' son, mistaking him for an outlaw. Jennings heard the cries of his son and rushed to protect him. He engaged in fighting several of the indians at once, suffering knife and bullet wounds and managed to escape with his son, just narrowly.

In the years leading up to 1737, the Lenni Lanapes were becoming more and more nervous about the encroachment of settlers on their property north of South Mountain. Because of these concerns they agreed to meet with John and Thomas Penn to establish the borders of their land.

The Lenape leaders were misled by the Penns in several ways. The Penns fraudulently insisted that they had previously purchased all the land that could be walked, in one and one half days, between the Delaware River and Neshaminy Creek. To determine the borders of this property, on Sept. 19, 1737, a large crowd gathered around a large chestnut tree in Wrightstown. Bucks County Sheriff Timothy Smith, Thomas Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, and a small group of Lenni Lenape men were present. Sheriff Smith called out that it was time to begin. James Yeates, Edward Marshall and Solomon Jennings stepped forward and placed their right hands upon the tree and the famous walk began.

The Lenape immediately cried foul as the walkers proceeded in a northwesterly direction and the pace was grueling to cover more territory. Six hours into the walk, (18 miles) Jennings collapsed and could not continue. The walk ended near Jim Thorpe, adding 710,000 of valuable acres to the Penn brothers' holdings.

When the Moravians settled in Nazareth in 1740, they found Jennings to be a helpful neighbor. His house was one of only three in the vicinity. Jennings sold the Moravians his surplus produce from his farm and purchased household goods from them. Moravian Reverend Abraham Reinke baptized his daughter, Judith Jennings in 1745.

Solomon Jennings was illiterate and made the mark "So" on legal papers. He was well regarded and was often called upon to mediate for neighbors' differences. In October of 1755, Jennings was elected as Northampton County Commissioner. In November of 1755, when the French and Indian War broke out, Jennings volunteered as captain of a company of local men to defend the settlements to the north of Bethlehem.

Between 1735 and 1761, a road was constructed from the Philadelphia Road, which passed by the Jennings farmhouse. Jennings had established a ferry service from his farm, in 1737, across the Lehigh River, to allow the road to continue north.

He married Eleanor sometime before 1730 and they had seven children. They built a large two story stone house in 1750 along with a stone barn. The house stood for hundred years until was demolished by the next owners of the property. Rubble from the home can still be seen today.

On Feb. 15, 1757, Jennings died after a short illness and was buried on the family farm. The location of his grave has been lost. Eleanor died in 1764 and the property went up for auction. Jacob Geisinger of Lower Saucon Township was the highest bidder. Solomon's son, John Jennings was elected as Sheriff of Northampton County for two terms. One of his daughters, Rachel married Nicholas Scull IV, a Bucks County innkeeper, surveyor and map maker.

The farm remained in the Geissinger family until the late 1950s when it was purchased by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in anticipation of expansion. In 1998 and 2006, the Wildlands Conservancy and Lehigh County jointly purchased the property to save it from development.