Hopewell Furnace Commemorates National Park Week with Civilian Conservation Corps Encampment

Hopewell FurnaceSubmitted Image

ELVERSON, PA —  Hopewell Furnace is inviting the public to join in commemorating the beginning of National Park Week with a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) encampment on site Saturday and Sunday April 22nd – 23rd.  Programming on Saturday, April 22nd will be from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with programming Sunday, April 23rd running from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  All programming is free to the public.

Reenactors in CCC attire will offer programs and demonstrations throughout the day that highlight the role the CCC played in restoring Hopewell Furnace as well as the organization’s impact on the entire country during the Great Depression.  Activities will include mock CCC enlistment procedures, woodcutting and branding demonstrations, Park Ranger lead programming, and activities related to National Junior Ranger Day on Saturday, April 22nd.

Hopewell Furnace was established as a National Historic Site on August 3, 1938 and preserves the late 18th and early 19th century setting of an iron-making community, including the charcoal-fueled furnace, and its natural and cultural resources.  The CCC’s presence through the second half of the 1930s marked the beginning of restoration and public visitation to Hopewell Furnace.

The park’s facilities are currently open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Hopewell Furnace is located at 2 Mark Bird Lane, Elverson, PA 19520 about five miles south of Birdsboro, PA, off Route 345.  Admission to the park is free.  For more information, visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/hofu.

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