Event offers a new way to learn local history

Free living history event features tours, music, demonstrations and vendors

The Boyertown Area Historical Society will host its second annual living history event, “Not Your Run Of The Mill” at Bahrs Mill on June 18 with a rain date of June 19.

“The Boyertown Area Historical Society created this event last year to provide the community a new way to learn about local history,” said Boyertown Area Historical Society Executive Director Jillian Magee.

Located at 85 Sawmill Road in Boyertown, Bahrs Mill has often been a historically overlooked landmark. Created in the 1820s, this little mill has had a large impact in the community's culture from transportation to sports to agriculture and more.

“The site itself is a historic location, recorded with the national registry. Built in the 1800s, the mill had produced all kinds of wooden items from carriage spokes, tool handles, table legs, to baseball bats,” Magee said.

From 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the free event features tours, live music, live demonstrations and vendors.

“We invite the public to come and see live demonstrations of how products were made in the past.

There will be music, food, artisanal vendors, tours of the mill, and live demonstrations,” said Magee.

Some of the demonstrations include live blacksmithing, quilting, broom making and weaving.

“The Boyertown Area Historical Society hopes that with this event we can provide a fun, interactive way for families and individuals of all ages to learn something new and maybe even be inspired to start up a new hobby,” said Magee.

In addition to the live demonstrations will be various speakers presenting a few different topics.

“The Boyertown Area Historical Society hopes that when people come to this event they can enjoy all kinds of skilled crafts, support local small businesses, and can come away with a new perspective on how our community's past has helped to shape our present,” she said.

A 501c(3) library and museum, the Boyertown Area Historical Society mission is to collect and preserve historically significant items and information from the Boyertown area's past while enabling this history to be enjoyed and studied into the Boyertown area's future.

For additional information or questions, contact Executive Director Jillian Magee at Director@boyertownhistory.org or call 610367-5255.