The National Register defines a rural historic landscape as "a geographical area that has been used, shaped or modified over time by human activity, occupancy or intervention, and possesses a significant concentration, linkage or continuity of historic landscape features including areas of land use, buildings, vegetation, roads and waterways, and natural features." The project study area contains a variety of interlaced cultural resources that reflect a history of land use strongly influenced by Plain Sect peoples. These resources were evaluated within the framework of three rural historic landscapes — Mill Creek Tributary, Pequea North and Pequea South.

Rural landscapes such as those in the Pequea Valley commonly reflect the day-to-day occupational activities of people engaged in traditional work such as mining and agriculture, a characteristic common throughout Lancaster County. The two main forces at work in evolving those landscapes are the force of nature and the need to make a living.

The National Register generally categorizes rural historic landscapes into types based upon historic occupation or land use. Some of those include:
  • Agriculture (including various types of cropping and grazing)
  • Industry (including mining, lumbering and milling)
  • Transportation systems
  • Migration trails
  • Conservation (including natural reserves)
  • Sites adapted for ceremonial, religious, or other cultural activities, such as camp meeting grounds.

These landscapes all contain substantial areas of vegetation; open space; or natural features that represent significant historical values. Many are integrally related to historic activities that take place in the area and contribute to the significance of a larger historic district, while some may also qualify individually for listing in the National Register.

Evaluation of a historic landscape entails three major activities: defining its significance, assessing its historic integrity, and selecting its boundaries. The character-defining features for farms that would contribute to a rural historic district are based on landscape components defined by the National Register and would include:

  • Continuation in agricultural use
  • Retention of location of farm cluster
  • Retention of house and/or barn with or without additions
  • Retention of outbuildings
  • Retention of a circulation network connecting the parts of the farm
  • Limited boundary demarcations (as with fence lines and streams)
  • Small-scale features related to agricultural land use, and a
  • Circulation network that connects the farm to the surrounding rural area.

The occasional meetinghouse or church; occasional small, one-room school; grist mills; non-commercial quarries; limekilns; roadways; and railroads would also contribute to rural historic districts.