Friendship Hill festival commemorates Whiskey Rebellion
The Friendship Hill National Historic Site is having its annual Whiskey Rebellion Festival, on Saturday and Sunday.
Hosted by the National Park Service and the Friendship Hill Association, the event will feature artisans demonstrating wood carving, garland making, blacksmithing and candle making, along with a variety of educational displays.
“The Whiskey Rebellion played a pivotal role in shaping the early American republic, with heroes and villains emerging from this chaotic protest,” said Brian Reedy, chief of interpretation and site manager of Friendship Hill National Historic Site.
Friendship Hill was the home of Albert Gallatin, a onetime U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and secretary of the treasury in the administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison,
There will also be food vendors and living history programs. Throughout the weekend, Ron Duquette will portray Gallatin, and visitors will learn about Gallatin’s return to America after serving almost seven years as America’s ambassador to France. Brian and Kate Cunning will portray President George Washington and his wife, Martha Washington. Historian Brady Crytzer will speak about the importance of the Whiskey Rebellion at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Also on Saturday, the Westmoreland Archaeological Club will display its collection in the Gallatin House.
On Sunday, historian Tom Karolewics will discuss the importance of the Whiskey Rebellion to the southwest region of Pennsylvania in his talk, “The Touch of a Feather, a History of the Western Insurrection, 1791-1794.” Park staff and volunteers in period clothing will present a program on the artillery which was brought to suppress the rebellion in Western Pennsylvania in 1794. Cannon demonstrations will take place on both days at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Friendship Hill National Historic Site is located on Route 166 between Point Marion, PA, and New Geneva. For more information, contact the National Park Service at 724-329-2501 or visit Friendship Hill National Historic Site on the web at www.nps.gov/frhi.