Serving our communities for 49 YEARS. The Depreciation Lands Museum is comprised of five components: displays of period artifacts and antiques, a research and lending library, a hands-on living museum with demonstrators and docents, a historic cemetery, and a serene park with picnic benches.
“A Village Where History is Real Life”
Created by Hampton Township in 1973, the museum seeks to preserve and interpret the early years of European settlement in the Depreciation Lands. In 1783, the state of Pennsylvania set aside 720,000 acres of land in western Pennsylvania to compensate its Revolutionary War soldiers for their services, since the dollar had depreciated drastically during the war. Known as The Depreciation Lands, the area included all of the North Hills of Pittsburgh, and further, to a line 4 1/2 miles north of the present city of Butler, thereby, encompassing parts of Allegheny, Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Armstrong Counties. The Museum's peaceful wooded grounds transport the visitor into an earlier time, with costumed demonstrators every Sunday afternoon during the season, April - November. The site includes the Pine Creek Covenanter Church, built in 1837, and the associated cemetery, a library, the Armstrong log house, built in 1803, an herb garden, a replica school, ( circa 1885) , working blacksmith shop, beehive bake oven, replica Native American wigwam, wagon house which houses a Kramer Freight wagon and displays, the mercantile, and the Deacon’s Tavern. Dedicated volunteers and docents offer a variety of family oriented activities through out the year. All proceeds support the maintenance and improvement of the buildings and grounds. Be sure to check our weekly hours and the calendar of special events. There are special group activities for school, scout, and adult groups. The living History Museum is located in Western Pennsylvania,just north of Pittsburgh, at 4743 S Pioneer Rd, in Allison Park, PA.
