Living History Sundays at Pottsgrove Manor

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottsgrove Manor.

Pottsgrove Manor’s living history volunteers, dressed in colonial period clothing, will be living life the the 18th century way during Living History Sundays on Aug. 14, 21, and 28, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Come spend a casual summer Sunday afternoon at historic Pottsgrove Manor and enjoy the 18th century surroundings as volunteers demonstrate colonial trades and pastimes. 

Activities may include needlework, tape weaving, hornsmithing, cooking, and more. 

Visitors can watch, learn, and even join in! Activities will vary from week to week, so call ahead or check the site’s webpage at www.montcopa.org/PottsgroveManor to find out what will be offered each day.

A donation of $2 per person is suggested for this program. 

Guests can also tour the manor house, see the museum’s current exhibit, “Potts & Family: Colonial

Consumers,” and shop in the museum.

The “Colonial Consumers” exhibit can also be viewed during a guided tour of Pottsgrove Manor during regular museum hours now through Nov. 6. 

Regular museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Tours are given on the hour. The last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m. The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. Groups of ten or more should preregister by calling 610-326-4014.

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422. 

Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. 

For more information, call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor. 

Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.

Hands-On History at Pottsgrove Manor

Making candles

Pottsgrove Manor will host a day of interactive history with “The Plantation Whereon I Live: A Hands-On Experience of Everyday Life at Pottsgrove Manor” on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Learn what day-to-day life was like for the inhabitants of the iron plantation and colonial town of

John Potts. 

Participants in this program will experience chores, trades, and pastimes of the 18th century with a number of hands-on activities, living history demonstrations, and take-home crafts. 

Timed activities include: 

• Dip a candle to take home (sessions at 12, 1 and 2 p.m.) 
• Learn to make an 18th century stitched book (sessions at 11 a.m., 12 and 2 p.m.) 
• Create decorative marbled paper (sessions at 11:30 a.m., 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30 p.m.) 
• Learn about the role of the colonial militia and participate in military drills (sessions at 11:30 a.m., 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30.p.m.) 

Ongoing activities include:

• Meet sheep, try carding their wool, and see how it and other fibers were made into yarn on a spinning wheel, 
• See open-hearth cooking demonstrations – the cook may ask for help mixing ingredients, rolling out dough, or grinding spices, 
• Help stir the pot to make apple butter over an open fire, 
• Grind and press apples for cider, 
• Learn how to write with a quill pen, and take home a sample of personal penmanship, 
• Try weaving linen tape, and take a piece of hand-woven tape home, 

  

  Working the cider press

• Try out the toys and games that colonial children would have played.

In addition to the scheduled activities, the first-floor of John Potts’ 1752 manor house will be open for self-guided tours. 

Guides will be stationed in each room to talk about the Potts family and how they, their servants, and their slaves lived in the house in the 1750s and 1760s. 

The Pottsgrove Manor museum shop will also be open for business throughout the day, selling historically-themed books, toys, and more. 

While it is an all-ages event, the scheduled activities are best suited for elementary-aged children. 

There is a $5 materials fee per participating child; adults and non-participating children are free. 

Preregistration is required for groups of ten or more. 

This event will be held weather permitting, and visitors should dress for the weather, as most activities will be outdoors. 

Making apple butter

While only the first floor will be open for tours during this program, the entire mansion and the current exhibit, “Pride of Place: The Local Legacy of the Potts Family,” can be toured during regular museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. 

Tours are given on the hour. The last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m.  The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. 

Groups of ten or more should preregister by calling 610-326-4014. 

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King St. near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422, in Pottstown. 

Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. 

For more information, please call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor. Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.

Cut from Commoners' Cloth

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottsgrove Manor

Pottsgrove Manor will show visitors what their colonial ancestors wore to work with a living history program entitled, “Clothing the Common Sort” today Saturday, Sept. 20,  from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

At 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. historian Deborah Peterson will give show-and-tell presentations explaining the clothing of laboring men, women, and children in eighteenth-century America.

Throughout the day, the site’s living history volunteers will demonstrate various colonial chores, including cooking at the open hearth, while dressed in their working-class attire. 

Some activities will be hands-on, and visitors will get a chance to try on some of the reproduction clothes for themselves.

This program is being held in conjunction with the Manor’s current exhibit of both reproduction and original 18th-century garments, “To the Manor Worn: Clothing the 18th-Century Household,” which can be toured on the hour during the program. 

There is a suggested donation of $2 per person for this program. 

The museum shop will also be open throughout the event and will be having a special one-day-only sale—10% off all sewing-related items!

The clothing exhibit can also be toured during regular museum hours through Nov. 2: Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Tours are given on the hour. The last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m.. The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. 

Groups of ten or more should pre-register by calling 610-326-4014.

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422, in Pottstown. 

Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. 

For more information, please call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor. 

Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.

Living History Month at Pottsgrove Manor

Gunsmithing

Cooking

Step into the past at Pottsgrove Manor and enjoy an afternoon learning about colonial trades and pastimes.

On August 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2013 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Pottsgrove Manor’s living history volunteers, dressed in colonial period clothing, will be living life the 18th-century way.

Activities will include hearth cooking, needlework, quilting, tape weaving, gunsmithing, hornsmithing, and country dancing. 

 Visitors can watch, learn, and even join in fun! Activities will vary from week to week, so call ahead or check Pottsgrove Manor’s webpage at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor to find out what activities will be offered that day.

A donation of $2 per person is suggested for this program. 

Hornsmithing

Guests can also tour the museum’s current exhibit, “Forging a Lifestyle: Ironworking with the Potts’ Family,” during their visit.

The exhibit can also be viewed during a guided tour of Pottsgrove Manor during regular museum hours now through Nov. 4, 2013. 

Regular museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.. Tours are given on the hour. 

The last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m. The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. 

Groups of ten or more should pre-register by calling 610-326-4014.

Pottstown Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422.

Dancing

Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. 

For more information, call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor. Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.