Food & Drink
Hometown Heritage – Hammond’s
Many may remember the year 1931 as the year that the US faced the Great Depression. For the Hammond family, it was a year of rebirth.
When it comes to great signature foods, Lancaster County has plenty of delicious goodness to go around. Many of us grew up with, or discovered, food favorites that have informed our childhood and will draw us back in search of the tastes that we’ve come to crave. Welcome to your Hometown Heritage.
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Living on the same street on the West End, William Lichty and his grandfather, William Hammond, started a pretzel business out of conjoined garages. The recipe used was based on Hammond’s recipe from his pretzel making days in the late 1800’s.
This recipe married with the technique used by Hammond’s is reminiscent to that of recipes and techniques used by European Monks who baked pretiola, or pretzel, for children as a reward for their reverence. To this day, Hammond’s holds true to the centuries-old standards of excellence with their high-quality ingredients and hand rolled products.
Heralding the title of oldest family operated, hand-made pretzel bakery in America, Hammond’s is running today under the 5th generation purview of William Hammond’s great-great grandchildren, Brian Nicklaus and Karen Achtermann. Their commitment to the Lancaster community and their family heritage is prevalent in every bite of their hand-rolled pretzels.
If you find yourself on the West End, meander on over to West End Avenue to find the same garage where Hammond’s started, with a few expansions, of course. You’ll be greeted by smiling faces and busy hands that are rolling the day’s fresh batch of goods. Take home bags or tins of their crunchy, tasty snacks including: handmade pretzels, seasoned pretzel pieces, dessert pretzels (chocolate covered—yum!) mustards, cheeses, and more!
As a Lancaster staple since 1931, Hammond’s looks forward to providing you with the best Pennsylvania Dutch-style hard pretzels for many years to come.
