When the Rittenhouse family settled along the banks of a fast moving stream near the early settlement at Germantown in 1690, they could scarcely have imagined that their legacy as the first paper makers in British North America would endure for 325 years. This year we celebrate the arrival of the Rittenhouse family and the important contributions the family made to the development of colonial America as suppliers of locally produced paper for books, maps and documents. After a seemingly endless winter of ice and cold, spring has come to the village and everything is in bloom. We will be opening for tours starting June 6th and from then until the end of September you can tour our 1707 Rittenhouse Homestead (pictured here) and ca. 1725 Bake House – both of which have been carefully preserved as they would have looked in the early 18th century. Our 25 acre village is teeming with wildlife! Stroll along our village lane and spend a quiet moment or two beside the Paper Mill Run. As Executive Director and village resident, I will be reporting on daily life at RittenhouseTown, for, although we are in so many ways still part of the 18th century there is always something new!