Hamburg Area Historical Society

05/28/2026

Sharing this long post from Memorial Day 2017. If you are a fan of the fictitious movie “Saving Private Ryan”, you will quickly realize that we had a real life version of that movie in our neck of the woods in the Wentzel family story.

Thanks for reading till the end if you make it that far! Also I’d like to announce that on June 12 at 10 AM we will be taking a tour of the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead, 1700 Tulpehocken Road, Wyomissing. More details in a future post.

Because fact sometimes mirrors fiction, keep preserving our past for the future!!

www.hamburgpahistoricalsociety.org

05/25/2026

Have a thankful Memorial Day!! For the past several years we have mentioned changing from “happy” to “thankful” as we remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

We are thankful for their lives and their service.

We are thankful for the Gold Star families who must go on without their loved ones.

Today, we remember two men from our area who gave their lives while serving in the US Army in Korea: PFC Myron Hartman and CPL James Reider. We also remember their families and loved ones who were left behind.

Because freedom is never free, we remember. Then let us live lives worthy of all our nation’s fallen heroes.

Have a thankful Memorial Day.

Keep preserving our past for the future.

www.hamburgpahistoricalsociety.org

Credits: honor365.org and koreanwar.org

05/09/2026

Thanks Berks Nostalgia!! Love these then & now photos! Follow Berks Nostalgia for a lot of great photos and information!!

Then & Now: South 4th Street looking north toward Walnut in Hamburg circa 1920 and today.

05/08/2026

Special thanks to lifelong living historian, reenactor, and tailor Sam Leamer for his informative and outstanding program last night on early coffee culture, material and textile history, and how these areas played significant roles in the early history of our nation. With no notes, Sam seamlessly weaved how there was much more than coffee brewing in those coffeehouses of the mid to late 1700s— a revolution was stirring! He also displayed numerous pieces of clothing he had tailored, including an apron made of 100 year old cloth. His oldest piece was a linen cover that was woven before Andrew Jackson was president. (Any guesses on the age of the cover?)

Please like and follow Sam’s page Coffee with a Colonial to discover the many places he will be this year for America’s 250th celebration.

Thank you Sam!!

Because it’s coffee o’clock somewhere, keep preserving our past for the future!!

www.hamburgpahistoricalsociety.org

(200 years would be the age of that cover he brought to show us.)

05/07/2026

A reminder that tonight is our meeting. Join us for a cup of java and have “Coffee with a Colonial” as Sam Leamer presents his program on tailoring and how America ran on coffee from its earliest days.

Hope to see you tonight!

Keep preserving our past for the future!!

www.hamburgpahistoricalsociety.org

05/05/2026

Join us this Thursday May 7th for our meeting!! We are planning to make this a true “coffee with a colonial” evening. Hope to see you there!

05/02/2026

Good day, and happy start of May!

Did you know that…

- Coffeehouses in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, and New York were the social hubs of the 1700s—places for business, politics, and the latest news?

- After the Boston Tea Party in 1773, many patriots chose coffee over tea as a symbol of resistance to British taxation?

- Colonial coffee was usually boiled in a pot, served strong, and often sweetened with molasses or sugar—very different from today’s filtered brews?

Join us Thursday May 7th at 7 PM in the Large Group Instruction room of the Hamburg Area High School for our program with “Coffee with a Colonial” to learn more facts on how the American coffee culture helped fuel a revolution.

Sam Leamer, who is the colonial in “Coffee with a Colonial”, was born and raised in Berks County. He is a life long living historian/reenactor, with a decade of experience working with 21st century coffee. He brings a blended passion of history and coffee, and wishes to provide a deeper, richer, and a more flavorful understanding of the colonial coffee and material cultures in America and how it fueled a nation’s beginnings.

Check out his page Coffee with a Colonial for more information on all that Sam does to preserve our past for the future.

Hope to see you May 7th!!

www.hamburgpahistoricalsociety.org

Coffee facts from Chat GPT

04/26/2026

Good morning! Today 4/26 is the day to pick up your pork BBQ dinners by Smokin’ Rubs BBQ between 11 AM and 2 PM at the Hamburg Area Middl School. Remember we also have baked goods for sale too!! (Cash only)

There will be a very limited number of extra dinners available but get there early to snag those before they are gone.

Thanks for your support of our mission to preserve our past for the future!!