Daniel Boone Homestead Charter Day to celebrate Pennsylvania’s founding
A living history event, Charter Day, features 18th century demonstrations, trades and hands-on activities at the Daniel Boone Homestead in Exeter Township on March 12.
Hosted by the Daniel Boone Homestead Associates in observance of Pennsylvania’s founding, Charter Day recognizes the day William Penn received his land grant for Pennsylvania from King Charles II of England in 1681.
The birthplace of the famed frontiersman Daniel Boone, the Daniel Boone Homestead consists of the fully furnished 10-room stone Boone House on 579 acres of rolling countryside. The Homestead is owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and daily historic operations are run by the Daniel Boone Homestead Associates, a nonprofit organization. Charter Day is a Commission-wide event and several historic sites across the state participate.
Held from noon to 4 p.m., the open house includes demonstrations of gun building, quill pen writing, spinning, quilting, leatherworking, candle dipping, and more. The event also will feature craft and specialty food vendors as well as food trucks and concessions.
Tour the spring cellar and first-floor rooms of the Boone House and learn about the three families who lived there during the 18th and early-19th centuries. Volunteers will be cooking a hearty meal over the hearth in the kitchen. Additional historic buildings will be open for viewing including the smokehouse, blacksmith shop and homestead barn.
Throughout the historic area, learn about the detailed work of leatherworking, watch the skillful work of a gun builder and tour the three-room Bertolet Log House. The Hopewell Quilters will demonstrate quilt making throughout the afternoon as well. Hands-on activities include quill pen writing, candle dipping and 18th-century toys and games.
Visitors will get to see the Bertolet Sawmill in operation during two afternoon demonstrations. The sawmill is one of the oldest operating water-powered vertical blade sawmills in Pennsylvania. It was moved to the Homestead in 1972 from its original location in the Oley Valley.
This program is sponsored and run by the Daniel Boone Homestead Associates. No admission is charged for this program, but donations are welcome. No pets (except service animals) and no smoking on site. Several activities and demonstrations are weather dependent. Visit www.thedanielboonehomestead.org and The Daniel Boone Homestead on Facebook.