Hopewell Furnace Hosts Talk on 19th Century Diary

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site will host a presentation by local historian Robert Wood on Saturday, June 22 titled "The Diaries of Daniel Royer." 

The program is free and will be in the Visitor Center’s auditorium located at 2 Mark Bird Lane, Elverson. 

Discover what daily life was like the year operations ceased at Hopewell Furnace. Between the years of 1883 and 1911 Daniel Royer recorded a myriad of local and regional events in his personal diaries.

From these diaries we can get a feel for local nineteenth century village life around the village of Sumneytown, located 28 miles northwest of Hopewell Furnace. 

After the presentation, visitors will have access to Daniel Royer’s 1883 entries through Town and Country newspaper’s "A Glimpse of the Past" excerpts.

“From the diaries comes a picture of Daniel Royer as an avid reader of books and newspapers, a lifelong Democrat, and a man fully involved in church and community. The diaries also give a fascinating look at the texture of everyday life--weather, farm prices, working conditions, illness and death in a small rural town.”Spring 1995 Journal of the Montgomery County Historical Society."

[NOTE: Excerpted from the Historian, produced by the New Hanover Township Historical Society]. 

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site preserves and interprets an early American industrial landscape and community. 

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.

Showcasing an iron making community and its surrounding countryside, Hopewell Furnace was active from 1771 to 1883. 

The park’s facilities are currently open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. 

Hopewell Furnace is located five miles south of Birdsboro, PA, off of Route 345. Admission to the park is free. 

 For more information, stop by the park's visitor center, call 610-582-8773, or visit the park's web site at www.nps.gov/hofu