The historic Hopewell Furnace site recently revealed the following information on their apple picking program!
Beginning Saturday, Sept. 4, and continuing into October, the apple orchard at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site will be open Wednesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for apple picking.
To pick apples, stop by the park’s visitor center and obtain a list of apple varieties and orchard map. Picking poles and buckets will be provided.
Apples cost $1 per pound regardless of variety. The proceeds of apple sales go toward maintaining the orchard.
According to Superintendent Edie Shean-Hammond, this will be the 24th year that the National Park Service has invited the public to harvest apples from the park’s trees and this year’s crop is expected to be one of the best in recent years.
Hopewell’s orchard is nearly as old as the iron furnace itself. Mentioned in contemporary accounts as early as 1782, apple trees were planted, pruned and harvested yearly. The orchard was replenished with new trees throughout the 19th Century and provided valuable food for furnace community residents, both man and beast.
The present orchard includes more than 30 varieties of apples, many of which are historic types that may have been found at Hopewell when the furnace was active. Early varieties such as Gravenstein and Summer Rambo were introduced from Europe by early settlers.
Other varieties such as Jonathan, Stayman, and Pennsylvania’s own Smokehouse were “discovered” in America and became favorites during the 19th century. Some are hard to find today since they are no longer raised by modern commercial orchards. Also, Hopewell’s apples are allowed to grow and ripen without the use of applied herbicides or pesticides, allowing them a historic look and taste.
Hopewell Furnace is one of the most complete examples of a late 18th and early 19th century iron-making community. Park visitors can walk its pathways of history, exploring structures such as the Cast House, Ironmaster’s Mansion, Blacksmith Shop and Barn.
Livestock at the park includes a horse, chickens, and sheep reminiscent of the types that were used to support the work force when the furnace was an active business and community.
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site preserves and interprets and early American industrial landscape from natural resource extraction to enlightened conservation. The site is surrounded by the 73,000-acre Hopewell Big Woods, the largest forest in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Showcasing an iron plantation and its surrounding countryside, all of the park’s facilities are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day through Sept. 11. After that date, the park’s facilities will be fully open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday including Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Veterans’ Day. It is closed on other federal holidays. On Mondays and Tuesdays, when the visitor center and historic buildings are closed, the grounds, trails and restrooms remain open.
Hopewell Furnace is located five miles south of Birdsboro, off of Route 345. Entrance to the park is free for all ages.
For more information stop by the park’s visitor center, call 610-582-8773, visit the park’s website at: www.nps.gov/hofu, or contact us by e-mail at [email protected]. Visitors with specific needs may contact the park for assistance in advance of their visits.
Also, to note, on Sat., Sept. 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hopewell will host a Harvest Time festival where they will cook up apple butter and fun. Everyone is invited to participate in their “pick-your-own” apple sales, watch the farm animals, hear a little historic gossip, and help stir the apple butter.
