Hand bought the land on which the plantation was built in two transactions, first purchasing 160 acres (65 ha) in 1785 and later buying an additional 17 acres (6.9 ha) in 1792. In late 18th Century Pennsylvania, the word “plantation” was a term for land under cultivation—essentially synonymous with “farm”—and had not yet developed the close association with slavery that it has in modern parlance. Nevertheless, slavery was legal in all of the thirteen original states and existed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania during the time of the Hand family’s residence at Rock Ford.