Family Fun For All

communityday-banner-1170x300Join Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites for a day full of fun, exploration, and learning for our annual Community Day on May 14, 2016 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Colonial Industrial Quarter. Discover how the Moravian settlers lived and worked in America’s first industrial park with hands-on activities, live demonstrations, and games. You can also meet our amazing volunteers and learn about how you can get involved.

Admission to this family-friendly event is free, and all ages can enjoy the activities. Bring your family out for a day in the sun! Contributions will be accepted in support of the 275th Anniversary Community Heritage Campaign.

Enjoy live demonstrations, special activities, games, tours, and exhibitions at the 1750 Smithy and Luckenbach Mill. See the 1762 Waterworks in action, a National Historic Landmark and the first pumped municipal water system in America, and find out how the Moravians built sturdy houses and used water to power their mills.

Put your problem-solving skills to the test with a variety of exciting activities that highlight the science and engineering principles used by Moravian settlers, brought to you in partnership with the DaVinci Science Center as a part of our new education program, America’s First Industries: Along the Monocacy Creek.

This program also focuses on the physical sciences, including chemistry and physics. Explore the scientific and technological achievements of early Bethlehem, like the science behind the processes used at the 1762 Waterworks and the 1761 Tannery, and the engineering principles that made the Colonial Industrial Quarter so advanced for its time.

Family Activities:

  • STEM Activities- Log cabin construction, grist mill assembly, archway building, and exploring Bethlehem’s water system.
  • Colonial games- Play like a Moravian with a variety of outdoor colonial games, such as Jacob’s Ladder, Graces, and more!
  • Tin Punching – Make one of a kind decorations created with holes punched in tin and learn more about tin smiths at the 1750 Smithy.
  • The Heritage Trail- Explore the Monocacy Valley by following the creek that brought Burnside Plantation, Illick’s Mill, and the Colonial Industrial Quarter to life!

Exhibition Opening

More of an art lover? Check out the Bethlehem Back When exhibition, opening on the second floor of the Luckenbach Mill. This exhibition features over 7,000 photographs of historic Bethlehem’s places and people donated by Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

For years, this collection has been stored by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites awaiting the capability and technology to bring them to light. Now with scanning technology, curatorial software and the generous time of over 15 volunteers thus far, this unique and significant historic record of high quality photographs will be catalogued in a searchable database that the public can access.

This project is entirely volunteer driven. Volunteers continue to work with Lindsey Jancay, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites’ curator, to digitize, catalogue, and helped identify key themes and images for the Spring exhibition.

For more information, call 1-800-360-TOUR or visit www.HistoricBethlehem.org. The Colonial Industrial Quarter is located at 459 Old York Rd, Bethlehem.

All proceeds from this event help Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites to maintain 20 historic landmarks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Historic Bethlehem is a not-for-profit institution that brings to life three centuries of American history. Historic Bethlehem tells the story of a small town of great influence, home to some of our nation’s earliest settlers, to America’s first municipal water pumping system, and to one of the world’s greatest industrial companies. Historic Bethlehem is located in Eastern Pennsylvania, only a 1.5 hour drive from Philadelphia to the north and 2 hours west of New York City. Historic Bethlehem is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and is distinguished as a National Historic Landmark District for Historic Moravian Bethlehem.