Sturgis Pretzel House
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The Sturgis Pretzel House of Lititz, Pennsylvania is the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the US. As well as still remaining active in producing pretzels for commercial sale, it has come to be a tourist attraction.
[edit] History of the building
1784, Er Bauet Von Peterkreiter built a gracious stone home at 219 East Main Street, Lititz, Pennsylvania. The stones were actually dug from the streets in the town. The sturdy house was a fortress, warding off Native American attacks, and muskets were fired from its cellar windows. The house was as beautiful as it was practical. Carved wooden panels lined the staircase, and the heavy wooden doors swung on iron strap hinges. Fireplaces were scattered throughout the house and towered above the random plank pegged floors. In 1861, Julius Sturgis began baking pretzels at this very location.
[edit] From bread to pretzels
Common folklore is that a Hobo hopped from a railroad train about a half block from the stone building and followed his nose to the bread bakery. He was looking for a job and something to eat. Sturgis couldn’t offer the man a job, but he extended his hospitality and invited the hobo to sit down at the family dinner table. In exchange for the kindness, the Hobo gave Julius a pretzel recipe. Most likely, this tale is apocryphal.
What is known for certain is that Julius Sturgis began a bread baking apprenticeship at the age of fifteen. He experimented with pretzel baking and developed techniques for drying and packing hard pretzels. In 1861, eleven years after he baked his first pretzel, Julius stopped making bread and opened the first commercial pretzel bakery in America.
The property is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, commercial pretzel machines extrude hard pretzels instead of hand twisting them. The bakery installed their first commercial pretzel machine in 1971. Soft pretzels are still hand twisted, baked, and sold locally.
As a homage to the local Pennsylvania Dutch community, the bakery produces a novelty pretzel shaped like a horse and buggy.
Tourists visiting the Sturgis Pretzel House are given the opportunity to learn how to twist pretzels.
