Oley Valley Heritage Association

The OVHA Archive Committee has chosen approximately 400 photos to be included in our forthcoming book. We are still interested in old photographs in the topic areas listed below so that we may add them to our archive. Please consider sharing your old photos with us. They will be returned.

To contact us about photos you may have click on the mailbox below or e-mail us at OleyValleyHA@aol.com.

PEOPLE: Individual portraits, groups at parades, engaged in activities such as a family reunion, hobos, & lodge activities

BUILDINGS (INTERIOR & EXTERIOR): Houses, barns, outhouses, churches, schools, class pictures & activities, banks, general stores, farm buildings, cider presses, blacksmith shops/blacksmithing, carriage and/or wagon shops, hotels, fire houses, covered bridges/stone arch bridges, & post offices

FARMING ACTIVITIES: Butchering, plowing, planting, harvesting, corn husking, haystacks, rail fences, wells and/or digging them, barn raising, ice cutting, milking, milk cans & milk truck, gardening, & canning

MILLS/SAWMILLS/LIMEKILNS: Lumbering, lime burning, & charcoal making

SPORTING EVENTS: Baseball, horse races, foxhunts, fishing/hunting/camping, ice skating/sledding, & swimming

BANDS/PICINICS/CHURCH ACTIVITIES: Hoe downs, minstrel shows, concerts, & plays

VEHICLES: Buggies, wagons, cars, huckster wagons, old gas or steam engines, motorcycles, trolleys, hearses, & fire trucks

CRAFTS & CRAFT MAKING: Baskets, pottery, quilting & rug making, caning, tinsmithing, stenciling, & furniture making

WARS: Civil War, Spanish American, World War I, World War II (action, leisure, portraits), discharge papers & letters, parades & homecomings, & war prisoners

COMMUNITIES: Alsace Manor, Five Points, Griesmersville, Limekiln, Lobachsville, Pikeville, Pleasantville, Pricetown, Oley, Spangsville, & Yellow House

AUCTIONS

CARNIVALS/FAIRS/GYPSIES

SCOUTING (GIRLS & BOYS)/4-H/OTHER YOUTH ACTIVITIES

OLD RECEIPTS/LETTERS/LEDGER BOOKS/ADVERTISEMENTS

MISCELLANEOUS SITES: Sacred oak, Tree-in-the-Middle-of-the-Road, trout hatchery, & swinging bridge

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at the Oley Valley Community Fair. We look forward to seeing many of you at this year's fair.

The photo above is from our 2008 Oley Fair display which was themed around early life in the Oley Valley.

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The Heritage Association has several items that can be purchased. A complete list of the products available and price list can be obtained by writing to one of the addresses listed below.

Memberships in the Heritage Association are welcomed too. The cost for an individual membership is $5.00 and a family membership is $10.00. Memberships can be obtained by writing to our regular mail address or at our Heritage Association meetings.

We welcome comments and ideas that we could use in developing the Heritage Association. Please send all ideas to our e-mail address (mailbox below) or send them to us by regular mail to:

Oley Valley Heritage Association Post Office Box 401 Oley, Pennsylvania 19547

Interesting dates in Oley history...

July 19, 1743: Johannes Schneider died at Limekiln; buried in family graveyard--oldest inscribed tombstone in Oley

May 22, 1804: A fearful & destructive whirlwind swept through Oley & Rockland Townships

April 5, 1862: Oley Turnpike Company incorporated

May 9, 1907: First commencement exercises held at Oley High School with two graduates--Helen Bertolet & Camille Stahr participating

November 4, 1925: Stockholders of the Oley Turnpike Company were paid off at $25.00 per share

July 21, 1932: Last run of the Oley Valley trolley from Boyertown to Reading

October 2, 1947: First Oley Valley Community Fair opened

March 1983: Oley Township was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first time such a designation has ever been given to an entire township. Oley's 15,000 acres comprise one of the largest historic districts in the nation

November 15, 1985: Huguenot Oak tree known as "Tree-in-the-Middle-of-the-Road" was removed from site along Oak Lane, where it had stood for over 200 years

June 2, 1991: "Tree-in-the-Middle-of-the-Road" plaque dedicated during Oley Valley Heritage Association open house tour