Attendance and temperatures were high July 4 during the George Taylor House’s Independence Day celebration. The Bachmann Players, from Easton, performed a reenactment of the reading of the Declaration of Independence to a Pennsylvania gathering of colonists. The rhetoric was fiery.

The large crowd gathered on the grounds at Lehigh and Poplar streets to experience the moment 250 years ago when the Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 colonial patriots hoping to shed the tyranny of King George III. The number of participants dressed in 18th-century uniforms and garb rendered authenticity to the performance.

Taylor was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His Catasauqua home is a National Historic Landmark.

Charles Adami, the reenactor simulating Thomas Paine, the author of the pamphlet “Common Sense” that was distributed throughout the colonies, transmitted a high-impact speech with his incendiary rhetoric that had attendees breaking out into shouts and clapping in support for the revolution.

Near high noon, there was a small parade of colonial reenactors with muskets and flags, followed by other marchers clothed in period dress. Chris Black played the role of colonialist Robert Levers, the Revolutionary patriot who brought the Declaration of Independence to Easton to be read July 8, 1776.

The excited crowd in Catasauqua was fired up for the impending revolution when a Red Coat actor began to shout several times, “Long live the king.” He was treated to shouts, angry heckling and boos from the 21st-century patriots in attendance.

After Black read the Declaration, the crowd was buzzing with excitement. Candace Maxwell-Kern and her children Darcy and Emersyn sang the national anthem to resounding applause. The Catasauqua American Legion Post 215 honor guard solemnly fired a gun salute in celebration of the 250th anniversary.

The Liberty Garden had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially recognize the effort to rehabilitate the vegetable garden patch at the George Taylor House. State Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, and state Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-133rd, assisted with the ribbon cutting. Miller and McNeill both made remarks after the Declaration ceremony concluded.

Jason Kern, George Taylor House Board leader, said he was delighted with the large turnout that appeared to understand the importance and significance of the 250th anniversary.

Robin and Joseph Marchionni, of Nazareth, staffed a setup providing Liberty Tea or Protest Tea, terms used in the colonies to decrease, if not to eliminate, the consumption of tea sold by British companies.

In an interesting contrast, Patrick Lynch, of Rockaway, N.J., was fully dressing in an Army uniform from early World War II. Beside Lynch was Larry Berger, of Bethlehem, who was dressed in a Civil War Marine uniform used when the Marine was on a ship. Berger noted the Marine uniform was different for Marines fighting on land.

Attendees at the George Taylor House got to travel back in time to gain some insight to the nation’s experiences in 1776 in search of freedom from Britain, while also appreciating the current grounds supported by a group of volunteers with passion and dedication to preserve local and national history.