Once a closed religious town for 100 years, Lititz, Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania Dutch country is now a favorite day trip vacation destination.
The town of Lititz in the heart of the rolling Pennsylvania Dutch hills of eastern Pennsylvania grew from a gift of 491 acres of farmland to the Moravian Church in 1756. The Moravians, followers of a mainline Protestant denomination half a millennium old, laid out streets and home lots on the land and named the new village in honor of a Bohemian castle. For one hundred years only members of the Moravian Church were permitted to live in Lititz, practicing the Moravian beliefs in serving those in need.
After the Moravians opened the town to outsiders, it did not take long for homesteaders to discover this pretty town. One of the first was General John Augustus Sutter, founder of Sacramento and on whose land the California Gold Rush began. General Sutter retired to Lititz in 1871 where he built a home on Main Street for $10,000. He and Mrs. Sutter spent another $3,000 to furnish the home. Today, visitors are still discovering Lititz.
A day in Lititz begins at the head of East Main Street in Lititz Springs Park. The Lititz Moravian Church first landscaped the park in the 1700s and for over 200 years maintained the park for public use. Turned over to the community of Lititz in 1956, the park has been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects for its beauty.
The centerpiece of Lititz Springs Park is the Memorial Fountain. The water display began life as the Roebuck Public Fountain, a three-basin fountain designed and funded by Dr. Peter J. Roebuck in 1895. Dr. Roebuck dedicated the fountain as a memorial to the Grand Army of the Republic, with whom he served in the Civil War. The fountain was smashed by a cattle truck in the 1930s but has been resurrected as a further honor to the veterans of World Wars I and II.
Next to Lititz Springs Park is the Candy Americana Museum in the Wilbur Chocolate Company. Wilbur began making candies in Philadelphia in 1865. In 1972, a one-room candy museum opened in the factory to display the personal collection of chocolate memorabilia assembled by Penny Buzzard, wife of the company president at the time. Over 500 colorful wood and metal containers from confectioners past and present illuminate America's rich candy history in this sweet museum. Antique molds, wooden boxes, tins and trays of famous-brand manufacturers are on display. Other exhibits show unusual creative designs pioneered by confectionery craftsman. All phases of the candy industry are featured: manufacturing, processing, packaging and advertising.
An early 1900s candy kitchen is re-created, with antique production equipment used to produce hand-crafted confections. The story of the cocoa bean is related through a film and exhibits. A highlight is the rare collection of over 200 porcelain chocolate pots dating back nearly 300 years. Most were used in Europe where chocolate is still a popular drink. You can see hand-dipped Wilbur candies being made through an observation window and purchase bags of Wilbur nibs from the store on your way out.
A walking tour of historic Lititz encompasses a two-block stroll down East Main Street. Here is the Lititz Museum, housed in a 1792 restored home of Johannes Muller, a town tanner and dyer. Several other buildings date back to the 18th century, including Linden Hall Castle from 1767. Founded in 1746, Linden Hall is the oldest girls' resident school in the United States. The exterior of General Sutter's house was restored in 1980.
The distinctive Moravian Church was built in 1787. Prior to its construction, services were held in the Gemeinhaus directly to the left. it was built in 1762 and is now the Parsonage. Behind these buildings, in the Church cemetery, is the grave of General John Sutter.
Across the street is the Sturgis Pretzel House, where Julius Sturgis opened the first commercial pretzel bakery in the United States in 1861. Today, the original 'soft pretzel' is still handmade and baked in 200-year old ovens. You can even learn to twist your own soft pretzel and earn an Official Pretzel Twister's Diploma. Sturgis pretzel lore maintains that the recipe for pretzels was passed on by a tramp who was returning a kindness of room and board granted him in Lititz. After a day in Lititz, it is easy to believe that inclination.
