Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery

Julius Sturgis opened this bakery in Lititz, Pennsylvania in 1861, and it is recognized today as America's first commercial pretzel bakery. The Sturgis name has stayed attached to pretzel-making ever since, and the family is credited as the country's oldest pretzel-baking lineage, a claim the business has built its identity around for more than a century and a half.

The bakery no longer operates as a working pretzel factory; it now functions primarily as a historic site open to visitors, with retail hours six days a week and reduced Sunday hours. What draws people through the door is the chance to watch bakers "twisting old-fashioned soft pretzels by hand," using the same methods and some of the same ovens as the original operation. Visitors can also try the twist themselves with a playdough mixture during hands-on lessons, and groups of twenty or more can book dedicated tours.

Beyond the pretzels, the shop sells a range of shapes, sizes and souvenir packaging tied to the site's history. For a business built on a single, repetitive hand movement — dough rolled, looped and twisted into shape — the draw is less about novelty than continuity: a 165-year-old process still performed the way it was first done on the same Lititz street.