Sat, May 1, 2010

Meadowcroft Opening Weekend

On the heels of last year’s successful 40th anniversary, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, in Avella, Pa., Washington County will reopen for the season this Saturday, May 1.

Throughout weekends in May, visitors will be able to explore the deepest parts of the 16,000-year-old Meadowcroft Rockshelter, the oldest site of human habitation in North America. Families and large groups can interact with trained, on-site interpreters who will explain what life was like for North America’s first inhabitants.

Alongside the Rockshelter, a National Historic Landmark, Meadowcroft also features several carefully recreated interpreted villages. The 17th century Indian Village provides visitors with a glimpse of life in Western Pennsylvania prior to the arrival of European settlers. Visitors will explore a walled village and experience hands-on activities of everyday life in a prehistoric Indian village.

Meadowcroft visitors can also stroll over a covered bridge to explore elements of everyday rural family life in the 19th century village and experience a number sights and sounds of the time , such as watching a blacksmith forge red-hot iron in his shop, or hearing the bell call you to a lesson in the one-room school house.

For more information and a complete list of events scheduled for the season, please visit www.heinzhistorycenter.org and click the “Meadowcroft” tab.