Carey Birgel

media@lvhistory.org

610-253-1222

www.lvhistory.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PASSPORT TO HISTORY – FALL WEEKEND

SEPTEMBER 26-28

Free Admission & Activities at 18 Historic Sites in 5 Counties

LEHIGH VALLEY (September 19, 2025) – Our Passport to History Fall Weekend is coming up on Friday, September 26 through Sunday, September 28, and it’s our biggest event of the year!

Eighteen historic sites in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding counties invite you to step back in time with FREE admission, tours, activities, and programs for visitors of all ages.

Savor the crisp fall days with a weekend of old-fashioned fun!

Our September weekend features:

• Local history right around the corner – Explore partner sites in Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Northampton Counties.
• Museums, libraries, & special exhibitions.
• Historic sites including homesteads, barns, mills, taverns, one-room schoolhouses, cabins, canals, 18th-century mansions and farms, Moravian architecture, and cemeteries.
• Learn about the people, cultures, events, and innovations that shaped our community, from the original Native American inhabitants to modern day.
• Living history re-enactments, guided tours, photo walks and workshops, lectures, and heritage craft & skill demonstrations.
• Archaeological digs, local industrial history, hearth cooking and harvest preservation, Revolutionary War and colonial history, Civil War, church history, veterans’ stories, and more.
• Farm stands, gift shops, and a “museum treasures” flea market sale.
• For children and families: old-fashioned games, a one-room schoolhouse experience, mule-drawn canal boat rides, hands-on archaeology, crafts, stories, scavenger hunts, interactive exhibitions, and activities.

“We have wanted to host an autumn Passport to History Weekend for years,” says Megan van Ravenswaay, Executive Director of Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society. “The weather is beautiful, the kids are back to school—it’s the perfect time to explore the stories of your town and meet your neighbors. We hope everyone will come out, discover something new, and connect with the people and places that shape our history.”

WAYS TO ENJOY PASSPORT TO HISTORY WEEKENDS

• Visit old favorites or new-to-you sites in your town or region.
• Venture out of town. Use the map and list of activities on the Passport to History website to plot a course, and make a day of it.
• Follow your interests: What time periods or events in American history interest you? Do you enjoy touring historic buildings and gardens? What kinds of history do you enjoy (e.g., military history, industrial history, Native American history, fraktur or textiles)? Would you like to see living history or heritage skill demonstrations? Our partner sites appeal to a range of interests.
• Take in a special exhibition at one of our partner museums or historical societies.
• Seek out family-friendly activities on the Passport to History website and plan a day out with the kids.
• Try something different. Every site has welcoming staff and volunteers eager to share our community history. Visitors will find fascinating stories and people wherever they go.

• 1753 Bachmann Publick House – Friday & Saturday
• Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum – Saturday & Sunday
• Boyertown Area Historical Society – Bahr’s Mill – Saturday
• Durham Historical Society – Durham Mill – Saturday
• Emmaus Historical Society – Saturday
• Historic Easton Cemetery (Photo Walk & Workshop) – Sunday
• Historic Trappe – Saturday
• Hivel Und Dahl Preservation Society – Schubert-Graber Log Cabin – Saturday
• Horner’s Cemetery – Sunday – *Tours by appointment
• Lower Macungie Township Historical Society – Saturday & Sunday
• Lower Saucon Township Historical Society – Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse – Saturday
• Moravian Historical Society – Saturday & Sunday
• National Canal Museum – Sunday
• Northampton Area Historical Society – Saturday & Sunday
• Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center – Friday – Sunday
• Sigal Museum – Friday & Saturday
• Washington Crossing Historic Park – Friday
• Whitehall Historical Preservation Society – Helfrich Springs Grist Mill & Peter Grim House – Sunday

Click the link below for a map, schedule, and activities for each partner site.

Visit four sites in Easton! Enjoy free museum admission, scavenger hunts, and $5 mule-drawn canal boat rides at the National Canal Museum. Visit Easton Cemetery and learn about historic local photographers or sign up for a photo walk workshop with Dan’s Camera City. Head over to the 1753 Bachmann Publick House to explore colonial life, then take in the Sigal Museum’s new exhibition, Read This! The History of Media in Northampton County, and learn about information, mis-information, and propaganda during the American Revolutionary War.

Image: National Canal Museum

Tour Bucks County’s Durham Mill with Durham Historical Society. Built on the ruins of the 18th-century Durham Furnace, the mill is a window into our industrial past and has fascinating connections to the Revolutionary War, Founding Father George Washington, and George Taylor, a Pennsylvania signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Tour Lower Saucon Township Historical Society’s Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse and transport yourself back to old-fashioned school days. See artifacts, photos, and documents, try hands-on family activities, and experience what education was like for students from 1880-1958.

Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum is the only museum dedicated to the story of the mighty Portland Cement Company. Learn the fascinating history of the business from its local beginnings in the 1870s to today. Share in the stories of the men and women whose work helped build iconic projects from the Empire State Building to the Panama Canal. Image: Courtesy of Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum

Two sites in Montgomery County will bring history to life. Visit Historic Trappe for 18th-century hearth cooking demonstrations and discounted tours of the Speaker’s House. Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center will host a wealth of special exhibits, children’s activities, and a talk on the history of the Green Lane Reservoir.

Image: Courtesy of Historic Trappe

Learn about life on Washington Crossing Historic Park’s Thompson-Neely Farmstead during the time of the American Revolution. Stroll the grounds, see the animals, and watch living history demonstrators preserve the harvest for winter.

Image: Courtesy of Washington Crossing Historic Park

Meet the friendly volunteers of first-time participant, Hivel Und Dahl Preservation Society in Lehigh County. Visit the Schubert-Graber log cabin, learn about the people and traditions of the area, and enjoy light refreshments.

Image: Courtesy of Hivel Und Dahl Preservation Society

Passport to History Weekends are supported in part with funding received through the County of Northampton Hotel Tax Program, the County of Bucks Tourism Program, and the County of Lehigh Tourism Development Program.