Jeannette, PA – Bushy Run Battlefield will officially kick off the 2025 season with Charter Day, scheduled for Sunday, March 9 from 12:00pm – 4:00pm. Charter Day is an open house celebration of Pennsylvania’s birthday celebrated yearly by sites affiliated with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Visitors to the free event will meet historical educators and reenactors from our community teaching the history of Bushy Run Battlefield and the founding of Pennsylvania by Royal Charter in 1681. Reenactors include members of the 60th Royal Americans in their familiar redcoats who will teach visitors about British rule in the colonies. Henry Bowden, a Bushy Run educator, will portray the colony’s founder, William Penn. We’ll also be joined by Leon Sam Briggs, a Tonawanda Seneca elder and educator at the Fort LeBoeuf French and Indian War Museum, who will help us understand the Native American perspective on Pennsylvania’s founding. These and other educators will present programming suitable for both families and more seasoned historians.
Members of the community will also be joining Bushy Run for Charter Day. Penn-Trafford sophomore Abby Rayman will be collecting donations for her Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fundraiser on site. Adrianne Weaver, a Bushy Run volunteer, will discuss ways to assist with environmental preservation at the battlefield. We’re excited to announce that the Bushy Run Winery will return to sell their famous wine selection at the event.
We hope that the community will turn out to celebrate a new year at Bushy Run and a celebration of our Commonwealth’s history. Free birthday cake will be available to visitors courtesy of Giant Eagle on Penny Lane Drive.
Bushy Run Battlefield preserves and interprets for citizens and visitors the site of this pivotal battle fought between British and Native Americans during the conflict known as Pontiac’s War (1763-64) and the role of this British victory in maintaining control of North America.
