Allison-Antrim Museum, Inc.

10/15/2026

Where's it at and what was its original purpose?
~ What: It was a round cornered, brick building with a metal hip roof and metal shutters.
~ Why: In 1875, fire destroyed almost all the J B Crowell Company's wooden buildings, for the "second" time.
~ What buildings burned: The buildings included the foundry, the saw mill, the office and storage buildings. Rebuilding began right away while the company worked under temporary housing.
~ Christian Hoover's Brick Yard was across the street (on the northeast corner of South Washington Street and Leitersburg Road) and "all of the buildings were constructed of brick."
~ This time a fireproof, round cornered brick building with metal roof and metal shutters was built to store the valuable foundry moulds, patterns, and designs.
~ And the building was constructed on the other side (west side) of the alley (S Cedar Lane), away from the main buildings, "just in case" there was a third fire.
~ This building still stands along Cedar Lane next to Premier HVAC. The little brick building was converted into apartments in 2004.
***Click the first image for more history.

10/14/2026

Have you ever seen a glass plate negative?
***Click the image.
~ All the black around the edge is from improper storage of the glass plate over the centuries.
~ In the mid to late 1800's cameras used treated plates of glass from which photographs were made.
~ As decades passed, some glass negatives became corroded due to chemicals used or improper storage conditions.
~ G. Fred Ziegler I, Civil War veteran, began taking photographs with a glass plate negative camera.
~ The view is looking west from the east side of the square.

10/13/2026

Tomatoes? In Antrim?
~ Agri-business is still the number one industry in PA.
~ Have you ever wondered where the tomatoes may come from in your next bottle of ketchup or tomato sauce?
~ How about Antrim Township.
~ How about Rabbit Road North. Yep!
~ For the past several weeks, acres and acres of tomatoes have been harvested.
~ Traditionally, we in Franklin County are use to corn, wheat, or soybeans.
~ So, if you've seen some ripe tomatoes along the side of the road (and we have) or if you've seen one of these trailers going through town, now you know from where your ketchup is coming. 😉

10/12/2026

Before B Street
~ For an inside look behind the doors of the McLaughlin Hotel (aka Antrim House, John Allison Public House, B Street 104) in downtown Greencastle on December 2, 1957.
~ The Palomino Room with neon sign and galloping horse was a destination point in Franklin County with the entrance on the corner of the building.
~ Although there was a bar and lounge, the hotel complex also had a Tavern, with the entrance on N Washington St.
~ The Rotary Club was meeting December 2 and the tables were all set and ready. The Rotary banner was hanging at today's ADA entrance.
~ Playing at the State Theater (now Gem's Ale House) was "The Jeanne Eagles Story" with Kim Novak and Jeff Chandler.
~ Route 16/Baltimore St East was torn up for resurfacing, with detour signs, appropriately located. See less

10/11/2026

Did you know Worleytown had a saw and grist mill "and" just north another saw and grist mill?
~ The grist mill John Worley owned and operated was built sometime before 1796 along a tributary of the Conococheague Creek in the Worleytown area.
~ John Worley married Harriet Kennedy (born c. 1807) & 3rd generation Kennedy.
~ Harriet's grandfather was John Kennedy, Presbyterian Scot-Irish & 1st generation Kennedy, to settle "just west of Conococheague Creek, in1731. Cornplanter the Inidan chief being his nearest neighbor. He (John Kennedy) owned 700 acres, patent dated 1739. in the Conococheague Settlement." From The History of Franklin County PA 1887, pages 716 & 717.
~ Thank you to Kim Devor and her mother for the following information: On the back of her picture of Worley Mill it says: "In 1917 Minnich Mill in Worleytown, was owned & operated by Scott Myers family, having purchased the water powered grain saw & c***r mill from Harmon Minnich. Pictured: Scott Myers w/dog Shep, Leila & Martha (in front), Edna, wife Lillie Mae Myers, hired man Harry Stoner, Alton standing in grain door, Lewis on horse." Edna was my grandmother. She was born in 1903 so would have been 14-15 years old in the photo. Mom said she thought Otha was a brother to Scott Myers?

10/10/2026

Weekend trip.
~ Have you visited Stony Batter?
~ The first image is taken from one of four or so story boards at the President James Buchanan State Park, Cove Gap.
~ The park is the place of Buchanan's birth and is known as Stony Batter. The route marked was used regularly by white men as a pack trail from Waynesboro to McConnellsburg.
~ Curiously, today's Route 16 takes what must be an easier route south and west over the mountain, than the pack trail, as indicated by the dotted line.
***Click the map for more information.

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

Around Town: 74 Years ago in 1952, the Cumberland Valley Railroad Passenger Service at the Jefferson St Highline Station ended.
~ Several extant artifacts of CVRR are part of Allison-Antrim Museum's collections - a wooden, folding passenger chair from the station; on loan - the clock which hung in the railroad station, by which everyone set their time pieces; a CVRR adze used to hew railroad ties; and an 1837, 50 cent CVRR bank note.
~ The Greencastle station played a vital role in the war efforts during WWI & WWII.
~ But by 1952 passenger service, in general, on the Cumberland Valley Railroad had ended.
~ Although Greencastle's Jefferson Street highline station was boarded up by 1957, it was still possible, into the early '60s, to "hop" a train to destinations north and south.
~ In 1960, the building was purchased, through community efforts, and came under the ownership of the Jerome R. King Playground Association.
~ At this point, it became the headquarters for the Greencastle Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
~ In 1980, the ownership of the train station building was transferred to a new non-profit - Greencastle-Antrim Organized Youth Foundation.
~ In February 1981, the GAOYF, through a bidding process, became the owners of the land from Penn Central Corp for $20,600.

10/08/2026

This presentation was given on October 8 at 7 pm in the Museum's Barn at 365 South Ridge Avenue.
***Parking is on South Ridge Avenue and South Allison Street.
~ The Monthly Speaker is Ross Hetrick, aka Thaddeus Stevens.
~ Hetrick will be in first-person as Thaddeus Stevens, the 17 1/2 President.
~ Stevens was the most powerful congressman during and after the Civil War and a champion of freedom and equality.
~ Hetrick will cover how Thaddeus Stevens played a pivotal role in American history and his relationship with Presidents James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson.
~ There is no entry fee, but donations are greatly accepted.
~ We'll see you this evening.

10/07/2026

Greencastle-Antrim Toll Houses on the Waynesburg, Greencastle, & Mercersburg Turnpike Road.
~ In 1908 this driver with one horse and a carriage would have been charged 7 cents to pass the pike into town, going west.
~ This photograph appeared in the Echo Pilot in June 1997. The house literally sits on the edge of the sidewalk and was one of the toll houses along the Waynesburg, Greencastle, & Mercersburg Turnpike Road in the late 1800s. It was on the outskirts of Greencastle at that time.
~ Prior to this toll house, the toll house was located in the middle of the 200 block of East Baltimore Street, just east of Allison Street, as indicated on the 1868 map. It juts into the street.
~ West of town, the toll house was located just east of the Conococheague Creek, on the south side of the WG&M Turnpike Road.
~ Be sure to notice the "pikes," i.e. - turn. pike.