Lancaster Gunsmiths of the Early Republic

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on Lancaster Gunsmiths of the Early Republic In August 2026, as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum will open Lancaster Gunsmiths of the Early Republic, a major exhibition exploring the artistry, innovation and historical significance of Lancaster County firearms during the Revolutionary era and the early years of the United States. Presented as part of the national...
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German Founders: The Muhlenberg Family and the War for Independence

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on German Founders: The Muhlenberg Family and the War for Independence On July 2, 1776, Philadelphians were living on a razor’s edge. At the State House, the Continental Congress gathered to decide the colonists’ collective fate. Lutheran pastor Henry Muhlenberg (1711–87) recorded in his diary, “It is said that the Continental Congress resolved to declare the thirteen united colonies free and independent.” Two days later, on July 4, he wrote, “Today the Continental...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, we continue our series of articles on Pennsylvania in the American Revolution. Three features in this edition focus on individuals of the era and their contributions to the new nation. British emigrant Thomas Paine arrived in Philadelphia in November 1774 and soon began working as the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine. In January 1776, he...
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Bath Crossroads Historic District

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Bath Crossroads Historic District Nearly 40 years before the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, the quaint village of Bath began to emerge in Northampton County, just 8 miles north of Bethlehem. Thanks to recent local preservation efforts by the Bath Borough’s Historic Architectural Review Board, approximately 34 acres of the original crossroads village is now listed in the National Register of Historic...
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Carved from Our Roots: The Folk Art Sculptures of Marshall D. Rumbaugh

Posted by on Dec 1, 2025 in | Comments Off on Carved from Our Roots: The Folk Art Sculptures of Marshall D. Rumbaugh   A steel mallet rings like the chiming of a bell, as the delicate petal of a tulip unfolds under the sculptor’s chisel from the surface of the limestone. The fluidity of his hands, the tempo of the mallet, the precision of the chisel — all seemed effortless, as a visitor to the museum asked Marshall Rumbaugh how he learned to carve stone. “Well,” he said modestly with a broad smile, “I’ve...
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The Hobby That Became a Museum: Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, 1925–2025

Posted by on Aug 29, 2025 in | Comments Off on The Hobby That Became a Museum: Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, 1925–2025 Brothers Henry Landis (1865–1955) and George Landis (1867–1954), the founders of Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum, were descendants of Germanic Mennonite families who moved to the area that would become Lancaster County in 1717. As young boys, Henry and George were encouraged by their forward-thinking parents and several teachers to pursue their personal interests and begin collecting....
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Aug 25, 2025 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter One hundred years ago, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum — now a site on PHMC’s Pennsylvania Trails of History — opened to the public. It was founded by two free-spirited brothers, Henry and George Landis, who essentially devoted their lives to building a massive collection of artifacts related to Pennsylvania German rural life and culture. Conestoga wagons, farm implements and machinery,...
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Carved in Stone, Revealed in New Light: Early Gravestone Carvers and Funerary Folk Culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on Carved in Stone, Revealed in New Light: Early Gravestone Carvers and Funerary Folk Culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch In the winter of 1747, tragedy struck in the Tulpehocken Valley. Leonard Rieth (1691–1747) — among the first German-speaking settlers to journey into the valley from Schoharie, New York, in 1723 — was crushed by two cogs in his gristmill along the Mill Creek. Rieth’s untimely death also coincided with a schism that divided the Lutheran congregation that bore his family name: Rieth’s (later...
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Folk Tales of the Pennsylvania Dutch by William Woys Weaver

Posted by on Jul 25, 2023 in | Comments Off on Folk Tales of the Pennsylvania Dutch by William Woys Weaver Folk Tales of the Pennsylvania Dutch Stories of Witchcraft, Magic, and the Supernatural by William Woys Weaver Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, 200 pp., hardcover $35 The Pennsylvania Dutch hold a rich tradition of oral storytelling, yet little scholarship to date focused on the supernatural tales of this community. William Woys Weaver’s latest book, the 10th volume of the...
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A Wish, a Dish & a Fish: New Year’s Rituals of the Pennsylvania Dutch

Posted by on Dec 15, 2022 in | Comments Off on A Wish, a Dish & a Fish: New Year’s Rituals of the Pennsylvania Dutch It was just before midnight on New Year’s Eve of 1945. While the Battle of the Bulge still raged in Europe, a young mother in North Heidelberg Township, Berks County, carefully placed a stoneware dish on the outer windowsill of the farmhouse in the stillness of the cold open air. On the dish were the family’s selections for the annual New Year’s ritual of the “Three Things” (Die Drei Dinger): a...
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