The Daniel Boone Homestead Associates are excited to kick off their 2024 season with their annual Charter Day Open House event celebrating Pennsylvania’s 343rd birthday. Charter Day recognizes the day William Penn received his land grant for Pennsylvania from King Charles II of England in 1681. In observance of Pennsylvania’s founding, the Daniel Boone Homestead will offer an exciting open house and living history event featuring eighteenth-century demonstrations, trades, and hands-on activities, including the operation of the unique Bertolet Sawmill. Additional demonstrations include gunsmithing, leatherworking, hearth cooking, spinning, wool dyeing, and blacksmithing. The event will also feature craft and specialty food vendors as well as food trucks and concessions.
Visitors can tour the spring cellar and Boone House as they learn about the three families who lived there during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Volunteers will be cooking a hearty meal over the hearth in the kitchen. Other buildings in the historic area will also be open for viewing, including the Smokehouse, Blacksmith Shop, and Homestead Barn. Throughout the historic area, visitors can learn about the skillful work of a blacksmith, the detailed work of a leatherworker, and the intricate work of a gunsmith. Visitors will also have the unique opportunity to tour the three-room Bertolet Log House and enjoy colonial toys and games. Finally, staff will be running the Bertolet Sawmill throughout the afternoon. Visitors can choose from two times – 1 and 3 p.m. – to watch this rare piece of machinery in action. 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.
No admission is charged for this program, but donations are welcome. Please, no pets (except service animals), and no smoking on site. Several activities and demonstrations are weather-dependent. Please visit our website or Facebook page for the most up-to-date details – www.thedanielboonehomestead.org and The Daniel Boone Homestead on Facebook. This program is sponsored and run by the Daniel Boone Homestead Associates.
The Daniel Boone Homestead is the birthplace of the famed frontiersman, born in 1734. The Boone House, constructed in three stages throughout the eighteenth century, is a 10-room stone structure fully furnished to the period and situated on 579 acres of rolling countryside. The Daniel Boone Homestead is located halfway between Reading and Pottstown, one mile north of Rt. 422 near Baumstown. The Homestead is owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), and daily historical operations are run by the Daniel Boone Homestead Associates, a local nonprofit organization. Charter Day is a PHMC-wide event, and several historic sites across the state participate.
