The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles will be celebrating 60 years of preserving Pennsylvania’s transportation heritage in 2025.
The museum plans to commemorate this anniversary throughout the year with special events and programming.
“Our popular community events will be back, including Fastnacht Day, Diner Day, Cars & Cones, and Duryea Day. We will also have several special events throughout the year celebrating the Museum’s, and the Carriage Factory and Boyertown Auto Body Works’, contributions to Boyertown’s rich history of manufacturing,” the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles stated in the release.
Founded by Paul and Erminie Hafer on Dec. 11, 1965, the 501c3 nonprofit organization preserves and displays examples of Pennsylvania’s road transportation history in the former factory buildings of the Boyertown Auto Body Works.
“Paul, at the time president of the Boyertown Auto Body Works, and Erminie had a passion for the craftsmanship and ingenuity demonstrated in the vehicles built in southeastern Pennsylvania,” according to the release.
They amassed a collection of locally built road vehicles, covering every type from bicycles to wagons, from cars to motorcycles and more.
“The Hafers especially took pride in the vehicles built right here in town.”
The museum located at 85 South Walnut St. in Boyertown displays more than 90 locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, bicycles, and motorcycles, as well as two examples of roadside architecture — a 1921 cottage-style Sunoco gas station and a 1938 Jerry O’Mahony diner.
“Paul and Erminie Hafer’s dream of saving Pennsylvania’s rich transportation history lives on.”
The Boyertown Museum has several events planned in honor of its 60th anniversary, including a special exhibit beginning in April 2025 of Duryea automobiles to commemorate Charles Duryea’s move to Reading in 1900.
Charles and his brother Frank are credited with building the first commercially available car in the United States in 1892. Charles moved to Reading, soon afterward to build his own unique automobiles, the largest collection of which is on display at the Boyertown museum, according to the release.
Events throughout the year will also celebrate the Carriage Factory and Boyertown Auto Body Works’ contributions to Boyertown’s rich history of manufacturing.
In 1872, the Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory opened on South Walnut Street to manufacture sleighs, carriages, and wagons. Though the company name changed several times, horse-drawn vehicles continued to be built on site until 1926, when the company changed owners and became the Boyertown Auto Body Works, with a new product line of custom commercial truck bodies.
Even before then, the carriage factory saw the necessity to change with the times and introduced their own truck bodies in 1914. The Boyertown Auto Body Works carried on the tradition of fine Pennsylvania-German craftsmanship with its trucks, retaining many of the carriage factory workers through to truck production.
The Body Works operated until 1990, and throughout its history built a wide range of truck bodies, from military vehicles to delivery trucks to campers and more.
The building that once housed the Body Works, and the original Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory, are part of the museum campus today and serve as the main galleries. The original museum, which opened in 1965, was located in a former factory building of the Body Works and was located at 28 Warwick St. in Boyertown.
In 2000, the museum moved to its current location at 85 South Walnut St.
The museum continuously adds to its collection of Pennsylvania-built vehicles and features changing exhibits, many of which involve loans from other institutions or individuals.
Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Contribution rates are $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and AAA members, and ages 12 and under are free. For more information, call 610-367-2090 or visit www.boyertownmuseum.org. Follow on Facebook at Boyertown.Museum and on Instagram at boyertown_museum.
Source: Berkshire mont