The privately owned Historic Perkasie Park Camp Meeting will open its Victorian grounds and cottages once again to the public this August, as the Association celebrates its 137th year with its seventh annual Founders Day event.
The free event is from noon to 4:30 p.m., rain or shine, Aug. 3. Local residents may attend, but parking is very limited, so visitors are asked to park on Ninth Street if able to do so.
This year, a special 40-page replica souvenir booklet from 1899 will be on sale for $10, with the proceeds to benefit the family of the late Perkasie Police Chief Steve Hillias. The police have been the park’s neighbors for decades, and it is honored to support its neighbors.
Visitors can take part in a self-guided tour of the park during the event from noon until 3:30 p.m.
A special presentation, “120 Years Ago in the Park,” will be at 4 p.m., featuring rare photographs from a recently discovered “souvenir” program from 1899. The following year, a fire destroyed one-third of the park and 21 cottages. These are the only known photos before the Great Fire of 1900.
The park features 60 Victorian-era cottages, a historic outdoor auditorium, and other buildings located on 21 acres of open space within Perkasie Borough. It is a summertime community for association members who travel from as near as South Perkasie and as far as Texas, Florida and Arizona to spend time there.
Perkasie Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District; it also has been designated as a Historic Structure by Perkasie Borough. Its auditorium is on the Bucks County Heritage Conservancy list.
The park has held summertime religious services in the auditorium since 1882 and it has hosted services for nearly every religious group in the local Perkasie/Pennridge region.
This year’s event and booklet are sponsored by its long-time neighbors, Penn Community Bank.
The Founders Day event is presented by the Perkasie Park Historical Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporation that supports projects that help to educate the public about the historical significance of the park to the growth of the Pennridge community, and its prominent role in the 19th century camp-meeting movement.
For information, contact Scott Bomboy, chairman, Perkasie Park Founders Day Committee, 200 S. Ninth St., Perkasie, PA; 215-527-1016 or sbomboy@yahoo.com.
