Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery

Pose with a giant pretzel outside the landmark bakery. Millie Cruz (Used With Permission)

The exterior of the 1784 building. bemkes (Atlas Obscura User)

Some of the antique items visitors encounter during a bakery tour. Adam Cooperstein (Used With Permission)

Twist a pretzel, get a certificate. Adam Fagen (Used With Permission)

The plaque makes it official. Amber Rien / CC BY-SA 4.0

Pretzel stencils for uniformity. Adam Cooperstein (Used With Permission)

Times, and pretzel-making technology, have changed. Adam Cooperstein (Used With Permission)

jyackabonis (Atlas Obscura User)

Diorama Planetpinto (Atlas Obscura User)

Plaque Planetpinto (Atlas Obscura User)

Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery blimpcaptain (Atlas Obscura User)

At the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, bread is historic, salted, and loopy. The establishment is the first commercial pretzel bakery in the United States. And it just so happens that the Sturgis family is the oldest pretzel baking family in the country, as well. In 1861, German immigrant Julius Sturgis was a spry 26 when he purchased a stone house at 219 E. Main Street in the little town of Lititz. The building, which dates to 1784, soon became both the Sturgis family home and their bakery. There, Julius twisted the first pretzels in the country. His recipe is apparently timeless—it’s still used today. The Sturgis family still runs its namesake bakery. Beyond buying twisted bread (in both soft and hard versions), visitors can take a guided tour of the bakery and its antique machinery, then learn how to sculpt the perfect pretzel with a hands-on activity.