lmths

The Lower Macungie Township Historical Society is welcoming traffic to the new Hamilton Crossings project – that is, foot traffic.

Society members hope visitors and shoppers will take a few minutes to learn more about local history while enjoying a stroll on the 2.5 mile, 8-foot wide walking and biking path that meanders through gathering areas and around the shopping center’s parking lot.

The path provides a major contribution to the township’s walkability program and extends to township walking trails to Shepherd Hills and beyond.

During the initial planning of the Hamilton Crossings project, developer Tim Harrison and his colleagues met with board members of the LMTHS to discuss an access road that would encroach on the property surrounding the historic Bortz log house, located along Hamilton Boulevard in Wescosville Park.

The mutually beneficial solution, paid for by the Goldenberg Group, resulted in a new access road into the park, landscaping, grading, and a new path on the log house property, along with 10 interpretive signboards telling the story of the history of the township.

LMTHS board members spent the last year developing and refining the text and selecting appropriate images to succinctly teach about local heritage.

One of the signboards, which stands on the site of an old iron mine, is reflective of the mining history of the township. Public art installations are also planned at the new shopping center, scheduled to open Nov. 18.