New Meadowcroft season gets underway
The 2026 season at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village outside Avella kicked off Saturday.
This year’s season will include mainstays like vintage baseball, an atlatl competition and more. Meadowcroft is the oldest known site of human habitation in North America and a National Historic Landmark.
Meadowcroft’s 2026 program schedule includes:
– An atlatl competition, on June 20, will have members of the World Atlatl Association showing off their skills with the atlatl, a spear-thrower used by prehistoric hunters. Beginners are also welcome to try out an atlatl.
– Also on June 20, Dr. Diane Landers, an archaeologist who was part of the original excavation team at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, will lead a behind-the-scenes tour of it. Advance registration is required. Another tour with Landers is planned for Aug. 9.
– Visitors can celebrate America’s 250th birthday at Meadowcroft on July 4 with historical demonstrations and period games.
– Vintage “Base Ball” Day is set for Aug 22. The Somerset Frosty Sons of Thunder and the Addison Mountain Stars will be paying a visit to Meadowcroft to play baseball using 1860s rules.
– Meadowcroft’s Pine Bank Covered Bridge will be part of the annual Covered Bridge Festival Sept. 19-20.
– In cooperation with the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, Penn State University, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and others, Meadowcroft will be the host venue for a day of educational woodland walks to highlight Pennsylvania’s forest and wildlife resources Oct. 4.
– The annual Taffy Pull and Fall Celebration will be Nov. 21. Limited space is available and advance reservations are recommended.
For information about Meadowcroft and events there, go to heinzhistorycenter.org and select Meadowcroft in the drop-down menu.