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Saturday 9am - 4pm Sunday 9am - 4pm

http://www.thedanielboonehomestead.org/

Daniel Boone Homestead, 400 Daniel Boone Road, Birdsboro, PA (2026)

06/15/2026

🐢Yikes!🐢 Check out this guy one of our volunteers spotted a few weeks ago just cruising along. Snapping turtles are often seen at the Homestead and a few years ago a momma turtle even decided to make her nest right in the middle of the path to the Boone House. Snapping turtles are large freshwater turtles known for their powerful jaws and aggressive behavior. There are two main species – the common snapping turtle and the alligator snapping turtle. The common snapping turtle is the only species found in Pennsylvania. Their physical characteristics include rough, spiked shells, long muscular tails, and strong beak-like jaws. Unlike most other turtles, they can’t fully retract into their shells, instead relying on their size and aggressiveness.

Common snapping turtles are omnivores, eating both animals and plants, and will eat even smaller turtles. They spend most of their lives submerged in mud with only their eyes and nostrils exposed and are more comfortable in water than on land. As with any wildlife, but especially snapping turtles, please do not approach them or attempt to pick them up. And remember, it never hurts to be aware of your surroundings when enjoying the Homestead property.

06/11/2026

🦇Did you know the Homestead is home to numerous bats?🦇 Join us for an evening program on July 17th to learn more about the bats that live at the Daniel Boone Homestead. Led by Dr. Karen Campbell, retired Albright College professor, this program will consist of a presentation inside the Wayside Lodge starting at 7:30pm followed by a walk to search for bats as dusk falls. Bat boxes are located throughout the Homestead property, and bats can often be spotted nesting and flying around the site. Bats are the only mammals able to fly and are more agile while flying than most birds.

Dr. Campbell earned her PhD from Indiana University in Vertebrate Physiology and Zoology. She has done extensive bat research at eastern Pennsylvania parks and historic sites including Valley Forge, Hopewell Furnace, and the Berks County Heritage Center. No admission is charged for this program and reservations are not required. We hope to see you on July 17th for an evening of bat fun.

06/09/2026

🪶📜Our Colonial 250th Anniversary Celebration event will be fun for the entire family, with plenty of hands-on activities to keep the kids engaged. Make sure to check out our popular quill pen writing activity, but with a new, surprise twist for the 250th. Ssshhhh . . . here’s a hint. Throughout the American Revolution, both the British and Continental armies employed the use of spycraft. While this took many forms, popular techniques included ciphers and coded letters, invisible ink, hidden letters, mask letters, intercepted letters, and black chamber operations. In the eighteenth century, invisible ink usually consisted of a mixture of ferrous sulfate and water. Secret writing was placed in between the lines of an innocent letter. The letter’s recipient would then need to treat the letter with a reagent, like heat or a chemical substance such as sodium carbonate, to reveal the letter’s hidden contents.

Spy rings on both sides utilized these techniques during the Revolution. Perhaps, one of the most well-known spy rings was the Culper Spy Ring which operated in and around New York City, the site of the British headquarters. In 1778, General Washington appointed Major Benjamin Tallmadge as director of military intelligence and charged him with creating a spy ring, providing Washington with information on British troop movements. The name came from the code names of two of the ring’s most critical informants – Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend who were known as Samuel Culper, Sr. and Samuel Culper, Jr. On June 27th, visitors will have a chance to learn more about spycraft during the Revolution and maybe even have a chance to try one of these colonial spy methods.

06/07/2026

🌳🌄Happy National Boone Day!🪨🌲
June 7th marks the day that Daniel Boone first began exploring the land that would become present-day Kentucky in 1769. National Boone Day was established by the Kentucky Historical Society to commemorate the legendary frontiersman, explorer, and folk hero and has been celebrated for more than a century. Daniel Boone’s exploration, and eventual settlement, of Kentucky is considered his greatest achievement and his continued opening of the American frontier earned him the title of America’s First Frontiersman.

While Daniel Boone is perhaps most well-known for discovering and settling Kentucky, it was of course here in Berks County where he spent the first 15 years of his life. His daring and adventurous spirit was born and nurtured in the Oley Valley of Pennsylvania where he learned to track, hunt, and trap, spending countless hours exploring nature and developing skills he would continue to rely on for the rest of life. From here, the Boones traveled to western North Carolina, and it was there that Daniel married his wife Rebecca in 1756. Boone first began exploring westward in 1769. In 1773, he attempted to lead a group of settlers through the Cumberland Gap, but his son was killed, causing them to abandon the trip. Two years later, Boone was far more successful – he blazed the Wilderness Trail, founded Fort Boonesborough, and brought his family to the fort. In 1799, Boone again moved, this time relocating to Missouri where he remained until his death in 1820.

06/06/2026

Due to staffing issues, the Visitor Center and Boone House will be closed on Sunday, June 7th. The main gate will remain open from 9am-4pm and visitors may continue to utilize the park facilities. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at the Homestead soon!

06/05/2026

🥔🌽🥕The Daniel Boone Homestead Associates were recently awarded a Community Garden Grant from the Pennsylvania Heartland Herb Society. This grant will allow the Associates to add more plants such as thyme, oregano, sage, and flax to our existing gardens. In the eighteenth century, flax was grown and used to make linen cloth, and a colonial family might have needed as much as 1.25-2 acres of flax to make their own clothing. In addition to more plants, plant markers and signs will also be added to identify the various plants. The gardens at the Homestead are maintained by a group of Associate volunteers as well as the Penn State Master Gardeners and include two garden plots in the Boone House Yard and our Visitor Center gardens.

Currently in the herb garden there are several types of historic herbs such as mint, lavender, tansy, and rosemary. In the second historic garden are dye plants and vegetables including corn, potatoes, flax, and carrots. Both gardens have plants which would have been grown in a typical colonial kitchen garden. The herb garden contained plants used for cooking, dyeing, keeping pests away, or for medicinal purposes. For example: lavender was placed in with the straw or hay of a mattress to help keep the bugs and mice away, and comfrey was used as a bandage for cuts and scrapes. There would have also been a garden in which vegetables were grown, such as carrots, beets, and potatoes. Historically, the kitchen garden would have been much larger than what we have today – about the size of the entire Boone House Yard.

The Herb Society is a unit of The Herb Society of America, Inc., and is dedicated to promoting the knowledge, use and delight of herbs through educational programs, research and sharing the experience of their members with the community. For more information on the Homestead gardens stop by the Visitors Center. And coming soon, a new garden brochure listing all the plants in the Homestead gardens. Next time you’re visiting the site, make sure to stop by the gardens and see what's growing.

06/03/2026

🇬🇧📜🇺🇸As part of our upcoming Colonial 250th Anniversary Celebration this month, visitors will have the opportunity to visit an eighteenth-century military encampment with living history reenactors from The First Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line. Throughout camp, reenactors will discuss the unique military history of the First Pennsylvania Regiment. See the camp come to life with demonstrations including powder horn making and camp cooking. Female camp followers will interpret the role of women during the American Revolution and the important functions they served in camp. Reenactors will also discuss the distinctive history of the Pennsylvania longrifle, inaccurately now named after Kentucky. It played a critical role in the American Revolution and was produced throughout the colony of Pennsylvania beginning in the early 1740s, first in Lancaster and eventually making its way to Exeter Township with the Boone family themselves. Pennsylvania colonists adapted the amazing German technology, which spread along America’s only pre-Revolution highway, the Great Wagon Road, into Virginia.

A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the First Pennsylvania Regiment offers historically accurate recreations of the life and times of the American Revolution soldier. Wearing the uniform of General George Washington’s Pennsylvania Rifleman of 1775-1777, members interpret life both on the battlefield and in camp. The group is based on the original unit of the same name that fought in every major campaign of the Revolution. A definite highlight of our 250th celebration, the First Pennsylvania’s military encampment is not to be missed, and we hope to see you on June 27th for this spectacular event.

06/01/2026

🚌🎒And that’s a wrap on yet another extremely successful educational program season at the Homestead. This spring, we welcomed nearly 700 school children on their field trips to the site. With a very limited, but highly dedicated and talented volunteer workforce, we were able to provide quality programming through a variety of interactive, hands-on activities and demonstrations. Children learned military commands for marching and drills, how to write with a quill pen, how to make candles, and much more, occasionally dodging raindrops along the way. Some students came prepared with a basic background knowledge of Daniel Boone, while others knew very little. But regardless of the students’ prior understanding of Boone, all students left with a greater appreciation of Boone’s life as a frontiersman as well as colonial life in early America Pennsylvania.

The success of our educational programs helps to ensure the Homestead’s future sustainability. These programs would not be possible without our volunteers, and we want to extend our sincere appreciation for their continued support. If you are interested in joining our volunteer team, we would love to have you! Send us an email at [email protected] to learn more about the many ways you can get involved and ensure that the Daniel Boone Homestead is here for generations to come.

05/28/2026

🌷🌸🪻Spring is in full swing at the Homestead and we just can’t get enough of our gorgeous peonies. These particular blooms are located right outside the Visitor Center, but you can also find peonies in the Boone House yard and down by the Craft Shop. What’s your favorite flower that you’ve seen at the Homestead?

05/26/2026

🇬🇧🐎🥁🇺🇸With a variety of demonstrations, displays, activities, presentations, and musical performances, visitors to the Colonial 250th Anniversary Celebration will never be at a loss for something to do. As guests stroll through the historic area, the sound of distant drums from up on the hill will call young visitors to take up arms and join the local army. The new “recruits” will join in a mustering activity as they are taken through authentic eighteenth-century military drills and marches. Then, visit a member of the 4th Continental Light Dragoons and try practicing your swordsmanship skills while sitting in a soldier’s saddle.

Not all troops during the Revolution fought on foot using muskets. Mounted soldiers, like the 4th Continental Light Dragoons, fought on horseback using swords. The Continental Army’s use of mounted troops was minimal compared to the British, due to a shortage of horses, saddlery, and money. Learn more about the different types of troops who fought during the American Revolution on June 27th and don’t miss a visit to the Bertolet Log House where young visitors can enjoy these interactive, historic activities.

Daniel Boone Homestead

06/15/2026

06/11/2026

06/09/2026

06/07/2026

06/06/2026

06/05/2026

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05/28/2026

05/26/2026

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