Delmont Historical Preservation Society to host Living History Day in June

With a couple years’ preparation under their belts, members of the Delmont Historical Preservation Society are ready to host their first Living History Day on June 25.

“We want to show people everyday living skills from back then,” said Delmont Historical Society President Vicki Walters. “When Delmont was Salem Crossroads, its heyday would have been between 1800 and 1850 — the stagecoach days.”

In 1814, Thomas Wilson divided land from his father’s estate into 40 lots that were auctioned off to form Salem Crossroads. When the area was incorporated in 1833, it was called “New Salem Borough,” but the mailing address remained “Salem Crossroads” until 1871, when the town postmaster changed it to today’s “Delmont,” which means “a valley in the hills.”

And there is plenty remaining from that era, including:

• The former Central Hotel building at the corner of Greensburg and East Pittsburgh streets, which dates back to 1814 and today houses several businesses.

• A home at 29 East Pittsburgh St. which was once a tannery belonging to Robert Shields, in operation until 1870.

• Part of a flour mill, where stone walls are now surrounded by the red siding of the Delmont Agway. The original mill was built in 1842.

• The borough building on Greensburg Street, which was once the local schoolhouse.

• The “traffic dummy,” a primitive traffic light that helped control traffic at the intersection of what is now Freeport, Pittsburgh and Greensburg streets. Back then, it was the intersection of the north-south Greensburg-Kittanning Pike (modern day Route 66) and the east-west Northern Turnpike, which eventually became Route 22.

Borough residents are even recreating local history: in 2016, the Delmont Lions Club married history and technology, installing a solar cell to power the trough that once pumped fresh water for borough residents on East Pittsburgh Street.

Walters said visitors will have a chance to see all that and more.

“Alice Heasley from Trinity United Church of Christ will be conducting tours, since the church pre-dates the Civil War,” he said. “We’ll also have a quilt show going on at the church.”

At the log cabin at Shields Farm, re-enactors and artisans will be demonstrating some of the skills needed in day-to-day life during the 1800s.

“We’ll have people doing candle dipping, hide tanning, spinning and blacksmithing,” Walters said. “The folks from Fort Allen Antique Farm Equipment Association will also be bringing older farm tools, and the Derry Historical Society is bringing its Conestoga wagon.”

Food and drink vendors will be on hand, and for those looking to learn about the meals of yesteryear, a Penn State Master Gardener will discuss the colonial-era garden planted behind the cabin.

Society member Sue Hutton will also be talking with guests about creating a family tree and recording the area’s genealogy.

“We want to reach out the community and start accumulating even more local history,” Walters said.

Delmont Living History Day will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 25 at the Shields Farm cabin, 314 East Pittsburgh St.

For more, see Facebook.com/DHPSDelmont.