Julius Sturgis was a baker in Lititz in the mid-1800s, making bread at a building on East Main Street. In 1861 he began making pretzels as a business, and his shop is recognized as the first commercial pretzel bakery in the United States.
The pretzel story
The family has long told a story about how Sturgis got his recipe. In it, a traveler passing through town was given a meal and, in thanks, shared a recipe for hard pretzels. Whether or not it happened that way, pretzels soon became the business’s main product.
Pretzels were a natural fit for Lancaster County, with its German-speaking population and strong baking traditions.
The bakery today
The original bakery building, at 219 East Main St., still operates as the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery. Visitors can take a tour, see the old brick ovens and try twisting a pretzel themselves. The shop sells hard and soft pretzels.
Sturgis descendants went on to run their own pretzel businesses in Pennsylvania, and Lancaster and Berks counties became the center of American pretzel making.
For many visitors, a stop at the bakery is part of a day in downtown Lititz, along with the chocolate shops and Lititz Springs Park.