Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites Unveils May 2024 Events

May 7th, 2024

Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS) announced its lineup of events and activities during May 2024, including the grand opening of the Schropp Dry Goods Shoppe and six historic tours: Old Bethlehem Walking Tour; Rise & Fall of Bethlehem Steel; What About the Kids: Walking Tour; Colonial Industrial Quarter Walking Tour; Apothecary Tour; and Love, Lust & Marriage Tour.

“We are excited to be offering an eclectic mix of events and tours in May that provide enriching experiences for our community and out-of-town visitors alike,” said LoriAnn Wukitsch, HBMS’s president and CEO. “The Schropp Dry Goods Shoppe’s grand opening is just the beginning of our organization’s exciting journey forward, and this momentous occasion marks a new chapter in our ongoing commitment to preserving Bethlehem’s rich heritage and fostering community engagement and meaningful experiences for generations to come.”

HBMS is celebrating the grand opening of the Schropp Dry Goods Shoppe with a ribbon-cutting event open to the public on Thursday, May 23, 2024, at 505 Main Street, Bethlehem. The weekend following the grand opening event is filled with activities, including product samples, demonstrations and prizes for every 100th customer. The Schropp Shoppe, inspired by the building’s original purpose as a dry goods store in Victorian Bethlehem, is a retail experience featuring the atmosphere of a mid-19th-century dry goods shop with a curated selection of modern goods reminiscent of the historical past. The shop’s opening is tied to the renovation of HBMS’s visitor center, which includes restored flooring, press tin ceilings, and an updated floor plan to improve guest flow.

HBMS is resuming six historic tours during the month of May: Old Bethlehem Walking Tour, Rise & Fall of Bethlehem Steel, What About the Kids: Walking Tour, Colonial Industrial Quarter Walking Tour, Apothecary Tour, and Love, Lust & Marriage Tour.

A certified guide leads the Old Bethlehem Walking Tour in period dress and shares the 275-year history of Bethlehem’s unique beginnings since 1741. The Colonial Industrial Quarter Walking Tour takes visitors to the country’s first industrial park to discover how the early Moravians established the largest concentration of crafts and trades in the American Colonies.

On the Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel Walking Tour, guests learn about Bethlehem Steel, which was once the second-largest steel producer in the country and helped build some of America’s most significant landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Chrysler Building. The 90-minute walking tour features up-close views of the former steel plant and an in-depth look at the steel-making process and the workers’ roles in our country’s history.

The Apothecary Tour allows visitors to explore the Apothecary Museum, the oldest continually operating drug store in the country, and learn how inoculations were done before vaccines and other medicines that were used between 1743 and 1952. The Love, Lust & Marriage Tour is an adults-only experience at the Gemeinhaus and Moravian Museum. During the tour, a certified guide dressed in traditional Colonial attire reveals secret details about early Moravian love, courtship, marriage and intimacy.

HBMS offers a family-friendly walking tour, What About the Kids: A Walking Tour of Bethlehem, which features activities for children ages two and up, including games and arts and crafts.

The following tours are regularly scheduled on weekends:

• Fridays
  • 1 p.m. – Old Bethlehem Walking Tour
  • 1 p.m. – Rise & Fall of Bethlehem Steel
  • 3 p.m. – Colonial Industrial Quarter Tour
• Saturdays
  • 11 a.m. – What About the Kids: Walking Tour of Bethlehem
  • 1 p.m. – Old Bethlehem Walking Tour
  • 1 p.m. – Rise & Fall of Bethlehem Steel
  • 3 p.m. – Apothecary Tour
• Sundays
  • 1 p.m. – Old Bethlehem Walking Tour
  • 1 p.m. – Rise & Fall of Bethlehem Steel
  • 3 p.m. – Love, Lust & Marriage Tour

Interested visitors can book custom or group tours on dates not on the calendar through HBMS’s website atwww.historicbethlehem.org/visit-us/group-tours.

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