A Day in the Life of a Moravian

Photo Credit Scott Piccotti

Join Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS) for a day full of fun, exploration, and learning at their 6th annual Community Heritage Day on May 6, 2017 from 10 am – 4 pm in the Colonial Industrial Quarter located along the Monocacy Creek. Discover a day in the life of a Moravian settler with live demonstrations from Wildlands Conservancy, HBMS blacksmiths, open-hearth colonial cooking from HBMS Foodways Group, and hairwork artists, tours of the 1762 Waterworks, as well as hands-on construction activities and colonial games.

Get a bird’s eye view of the Colonial Industrial Quarter with Wildlands Conservancy’s Live Bird Presentation! Start out with live-bird presentations at 11am and 2 pm that include red-tail hawks, turkey vulture, owls, and pigeons. See these feathered friends up-close and learn about bird habitats, food, hazards, and behavioral adaptations.

Take part in a guided birding hike, offered at 12 and 3 pm. Receive a free “hiking pack” with binoculars and other supplies, and learn about all things birds. Hike a trail near the Colonial Industrial Quarter and hear from a naturalist how to identify birds, birds’ nests or cavities, food sources, and other signs of bird activity.

What’s it like to be a blacksmith for a day? Come and find out at the 1750 Smithy where our professional blacksmiths will demonstrate how Moravians forged hooks, hinges, and door handles. On the second floor of the Smithy, make one-of-a-kind decorations created with holes punched in tin that you can take home while learning more about tin smiths.

Get a taste for colonial cooking and stop by our open hearth where the Historic Bethlehem Foodways Group will teach you delicious colonial recipes and illustrate different open-hearth cooking methods.  Take colonial cooking home with you and purchase delightful baked goods or a colonial cook book.

Explore the significance of hair with HairWork: Relics of Remembrance photo exhibition featuring a selection of black & white photographs from the Bethlehem Steel Collection that capture hairstyles of Bethlehem residents throughout history.

See hair art brought to life with two demonstrations: A Horse Hair Jewelry Demo from local artist Susan Newquist who will handcraft custom jewelry using hair from a horse’s tail or mane as her primary material and a Hairwork Demo by Lucy Cadwallader who will showcase her contemporary twist on creating intricate, one-of-a-kind jewelry and other keepsakes using the hair of loved ones.

Be wowed by the 1762 Waterworks in action, a National Historic Landmark and the first pumped municipal water system in America! This impressive waterwheel helped pump spring water 92 vertical feet to a tower, by gravity provided water to five locations, and is 18 feet in diameter – that’s the size of three 6-foot tall men standing one on top of each other.

Test your engineering and science skills with a variety of exciting activities, developed by the DaVinci Science Center as a part of our educational program, America’s First Industries: Along the Monocacy Creek, that highlight how the Moravians built what they did. Use logs to build different types of sturdy cabins. Construct an arch to discover how strong stone buildings were made in early Bethlehem. Learn how the Moravian settlers in Bethlehem made all of their own clothing and were able to use certain natural materials to dye them different colors. Experiment with dying a piece of cloth and create your own unique dye colors using primary colors.

Grab a sneak peek of our Heritage Trail: Explore the Monocacy Valley by following the creek that brought Burnside Plantation, Illick’s Mill, and the Colonial Industrial Quarter to life!

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.