The Schuylkill River Heritage Area's Heritage Towns & Tours initiative aims to assist communities along the Schuylkill River Trail in attracting trail users to downtowns, restaurants, shops, historic sites and other attractions. Ultimately the program strives to increase visitors to Schuylkill River Heritage Area towns and to improve the economy of municipalities that participate.
In order to facilitate this process, the Heritage Area has created a Heritage Towns & Tours Toolkit to guide interested communities and economic development agencies to plan in the following areas:
- Building successful public and private partnerships at local and regional levels.
- Promoting community revitalization and the improvement of local economies through heritage preservation and tourism.
- Defining a community’s distinct heritage preservation and tourism program to achieve short-term and long-term heritage-related goals and objectives.
- Initiating a sustainable long-term process for heritage tourism.
While the toolkit was developed with Schuylkill River Trail communities in mind, it is easily adaptable for any community.
Learn more about the program:
 Heritage Towns & Tours Presentation
Schuylkill River Heritage Towns & Tours Program Executive Summary
The complete toolkit is available on DVD. You can purchase one for $5 online (click here), or by calling the Schuylkill River Heritage Area at 484-945-0200.
About Our Grant Program
The Schuylkill River Heritage Area awarded grants in December to five communities to implement the Heritage Towns & Tours Program. Those communities—Pottstown, Phoenixville, Hamburg, Pottsville and East Falls—have already begun using the toolkit. To read more about the grant program click on the links below. At present, no future grant rounds are contemplated.
Schuylkill River Heritage Towns & Tours Grant Announcement
Schuylkill River Heritage Towns & Tours 2011 Grant Awards
About the Trail’s Economic Potential
According to a 2009 Schuylkill River Trail user survey conducted by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the trail, which currently has 56 completed miles, attracted over 800,000 visits and generated $7.3 million in direct economic impact in 2008. This economic impact is expected to grow as the trail grows. When complete, the Schuylkill River Trail will stretch an estimated 130 miles from Philadelphia to Pottsville. For more information on the Schuylkill River Trail visit our trail website at www.schuylkillrivertrail.com.
While all trails have the potential to revitalize the communities they pass through, longer trails have an advantage because they are more likely to attract tourists from outside the region. Studies show that people who come from out of town will spend four times as much as local users. Those who stay overnight will spend even more.
The Heritage Towns & Tours program is made possible by a grant from the William Penn Foundation. The William Penn Foundation, founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region through efforts that foster rich cultural expression, strengthen children’s futures, and deepen connections to nature and community. In partnership with others, the Foundation works to advance a vital, just and caring community. Learn more about the Foundation online at www.williampennfoundation.org
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