Walking through a two acre garden, a six and a half acre farm, a summer kitchen and an apple orchard all in colonial attire, community members experienced Bethlehem’s history and heritage at the Apple Days Festival.
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites hosted the 12th annual festival on Sept. 20-21 at the historic Burnside Plantation, on the North Side.
The Burnside Plantation, originally constructed in 1748, was built and owned by James and Mary Burnside and operated as a farm. According to the Historic Bethlehem website, the Moravian use of the word plantation stems from a German word meaning “plantings.”
Mark Demko, the development and communications coordinator for Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, said the festival was first created about 12 years ago to introduce people to the historic gem that is the farm and fundraise for Historic Bethlehem.
He said the Historic Bethlehem organization is a nonprofit that works to preserve and protect 18th and 19th-century buildings and sites in the historic district and Colonial Industrial Quarter.
The site of the Apple Days Festival is hidden by a railroad, Monocacy Creek and surrounded by Moravian University buildings.
“ If you’ve never been there, you don’t even realize,” Demko said. “You go over the railroad tracks one way or another, there’s a driveway there and then there’s this beautiful historic gem right amid all the development.”
The Burnside Plantation was a large part of Bethlehem’s economy when it was in use, and it was one of the first private residences.
Beth Beatty, ‘84, the special events manager for Historic Bethlehem Museum & Sites, said in the past, the plantation supplied most of the city.
Demko said the Moravian community that founded Bethlehem in 1741 built up craft trades and industries within the city. He said their production capabilities were noticed by the American Patriots, and they were employed to make products and supplies for the American Revolutionary War.
“ There’s so many different aspects of Bethlehem’s history that are worth exploring,” Demko said. “Even if you live in the Lehigh Valley, there are still things that you can discover and learn about every day.”
Beatty, who’s involved in the planning process for Apple Days, said she helped coordinate the live band for the festival stage, historical demonstrators and vendors. The festival partners with local family-owned businesses for all the dessert offerings, including apple pastries, apple cider and apple ice cream.
There are also education and entertainment programs in the barn space, which Beatty said are referred to as “edutainment.”
Beatty said the “edutainment” activities are learning opportunities for visitors, and they typically include a demonstration of blacksmith and tinsmith work, a candle activity and guided tours of the historic buildings.
She also said last year they started the artifact challenge, a matching game with unusual 18th-century items. This year the activities included family hour, where a Moravian Academy reading specialist read and acted out a story that matched the apple theme of the festival.
“ No matter what your interests may be, whether it’s family focused programming or really looking further into the city’s history, there’s an opportunity to do it here,” Demko said. “That’s one of the things that makes Bethlehem so special. There’s a variety of opportunities to come, learn, explore and have fun.”
The festival also had craft activities like painting pumpkins, and animals, including bunnies, ponies, goats and pigs.
Beatty said the proceeds for Apple Days go back to the community, supporting the preservation and educational efforts of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.
Monica Hershberger, an associate professor in Lehigh’s music department, attended the festival with her mom and son.
“ One of the things I’ve been interested in since moving here to be on the faculty at Lehigh is just learning about the long history of Bethlehem,” Hershberger said.
Beatty said when she was a Lehigh student in the 1980s, she gave nighttime tours of Bethlehem during the Christmas season for the Bethlehem historic organization that has since been replaced by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.
Years later, she still returns to her college town to work for the organization.
“Despite the fact that I’ve had a kind of long circuitous career, here I am back in the community where I was a student, working for the organization, which has ultimately assumed the role for the historic programming in the community, which is a really neat full circle moment for me,” Beatty said.
Editor’s Note: There were no slaves listed in James Burnside’s will. More information about the history of the Burnside Plantation can be found at this website.
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