Visiting Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles

The early twentieth century was the wild west of the automotive industry. By 1910, more than 500 companies had registered as automobile manufacturers across the country. Pennsylvania was home to numerous carmakers in those early days, with much of the industry centered around its steel-producing towns like Reading.

Not far from Reading is Boyertown, a small village among the farm fields well north of Philadelphia. It once was home to Boyertown Auto Body Works, a firm that started out like so many early carmakers as a carriage builder in the late 1800s. As the business evolved it eventually produced car bodies for numerous builders, but also heavy trucks and commercial vehicles. The firm even built RVs at one point before closing its doors for good in 1990.

The former Boyertown Auto Body Works building now houses the Boytertown Museum of Historic Vehicles. Unlike many other museums, this one is dedicated largely to the earliest days of the automobile. In particular, it tells the stories of those companies in the more immediate area that contributed to the boom.

What the Boyertown Museum does really well is connect the dots from horse-drawn carriages to horseless carriages and Brass Era automobiles. A number of early examples include an 1827 Conestoga wagon and a nineteen-century royal Bavarian coach, as well as snow sleighs.

One notable exhibit highlights the efforts of Charles Duryea and his Duryea Power Company which built Brass Era performance cars. Others include a look at the pioneering Pennsylvania Turnpike system, completed before the Eisenhower Interstate program started. Displays dedicated to local coachbuilding companies includes the nearby Fleetwood Auto Body Company as well as the Philadelphia area’s Derham Body Company.

The museum also examines the automobile’s effect on roadside architecture. A reconstructed 1921 Sun Oil Company service station occupies a corner of the museum. Next to it sits a 1930s “kit” diner that was once a family diner in nearby Reading. A third exhibit on roadside tourist cabins is in the works.

Of course, you can’t overlook the vehicles on display that were once build in the building itself. The Boyertown Auto Body Works built a number of commercial vehicles on the very site of today’s museum. But even before the automobile took over, the building was home to the Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory. One of the signature exhibits is the blacksmith shop, where volunteers regularly demonstrate the skills on a working shop.

The Boyertown Auto Museum of Historic Vehicles is open to the public daily except for holidays. For more information or to plan a visit, check out boyertownmuseum.org.