Tours
2nd Sunday of Every Month
12pm - 3pm
Register now for our annual Crooked Billet 5K Run & Health Walk on Saturday, October 19 at Warminster Community Park! Sign up on PretzelCitySports.com
19th Century American music, early European classical music, ragtime, ballads, colonial music and much more is provided in the Parlor Room of Craven Hall by members of Gracenotes and the Philadelphia Recorder Society. Stop by an Open House on the second Sunday of each month and enjoy!
Our friends at the Johnsville Centrifuge & Science Museum share our commitment to preserving the rich history of innovation and giving students a chance to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) through local artifacts and hands-on educational opportunities. Visit the John Fitch Steamboat Museum to see fascinating pieces from their collection as we team up to celebrate the role Warminster played in the first mechanical means of transportation – the steamboat – and putting man on the moon!
Craven Hall and the John Fitch Steamboat Museum is open for house tours. Please visit us on the second Sunday of every month.
We would be thrilled to have you!
Please send an email to boardofdirectors@craven-hall.org and we will get in touch about the details of your event and if Craven Hall or the John Fitch Steamboat Museum fit your needs!
Craven Hall is a stately Federal/Greek Revival home built in stages between 1790 and 1845 and serves as the headquarters of the Craven Hall Historical Society, Inc. The house is located on a ¾ acre plot at the southeast corner of Street and Newtown Roads in Warminster, PA. Craven Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
An adjacent 1920’s era carriage house/garage on the property houses the John Fitch Steamboat Museum dedicated to the inventor of the world’s first commercial steamboat in 1790.
The Craven Hall Historical Society, Inc. owns and operates Craven Hall, The John Fitch Steamboat Museum and the nearby Craven/Vansant Burying Ground. The Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to providing education programs and conducting events to highlight late 18th and early 19th century life in this history-rich area of Bucks County, PA.
John Fitch, a native of Windsor, Conn. born in 1743, was a mechanical genius whose patience and perseverance overcame incredible obstacles in conceiving, building and operating the world’s first commercial steamboat. It traveled nearly three thousand miles on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Trenton in 1790, but failed to attract the financial backing he needed to succeed.
Of course, steam travel would go on to change the course of history. Fitch’s technological breakthrough – here in our backyard – was ahead of its time!
Discover more about his fascinating life and achievements.
We are building a digital resource based on our library, which contains books, records, diaries, and more dating back to the mid-18th century.
If you are interested in learning more about our library and archives, please contact us today or stop by Craven Hall. We are open on the second Sunday of every month!