Boyertown Museum celebrates 60 years of preserving Pennsylvania’s transportation heritage

The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is celebrating 60 years of preserving Pennsylvania’s transportation heritage in 2025.

Visit the Museum on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. for Rockin’ Around the Museum — a festive celebration commemorating the Museum’s 60th anniversary. The Peppermint Stick Candy Store & Ice Cream Parlor will provide a hot chocolate bar and food will be provided by Bowtied Catering by Big Phil’s.

As part of the celebration, the museum will unveil one of its newest acquisitions that is a secret. In addition, visitors will have full access to the museum’s historic collection. Docents will be on hand to answer questions about the vehicles and provide insight into the rare machines on display.

There will be blacksmithing demonstrations in the original Jeremiah Swinehart Carriage Factory, which is part of the museum’s galleries and is open to the public daily.

The cost to attend is $25 for members and $30 for non-members.

The museum was founded by Paul and Erminie Hafer and opened on Dec. 11, 1965. 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. They amassed a collection of locally built road vehicles,  from bicycles to wagons, from cars to motorcycles and more.

The Hafers especially took pride in the vehicles built in Boyertown. 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 the 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 its 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 was located in a former factory building at 28 Warwick St. In 2000, the museum moved to its current location at 85 S. Walnut St.

The museum keeps adding to its collection of Pennsylvania-built vehicles and features changing exhibits, many of which involve loans from other institutions or individuals. Paul and Erminie Hafer’s dream of saving Pennsylvania’s rich transportation history lives on. More than 90 locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, bicycles and motorcycles are on display, as well as two examples of roadside architecture — a 1921 cottage-style Sunoco gas station and a 1938 Jerry O’Mahony diner.

The museum 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 get in free. For more information, call 610-367-2090 or visit www.boyertownmuseum.org.