ALLISON-ANTRIM MUSEUM

Allison-Antrim Museum is housed in a home along South Ridge Avenue that was built in 1860.

Allison-Antrim Museum is a jewel in Greencastle. While it has been in existence only since 1994, it holds the history of the community since the founding days. The museum was established to preserve and display the history of the Borough of Greencastle and Antrim Township. The house was built by Alexander Irwin in 1860, and the property was called “Walnut Hill.” It was on 14 acres, which was part of Greencastle founder John Allison’s original tract that spread to Tayamentasachta. The museum purchased the home in 1998, its yard by then just one acre.

An 1860s German bank barn was discovered near Chambersburg in 2003, purchased, dismantled , moved to Greencastle, reassembled and put into operation as a storage facility and site for displays and programs. This was all accomplished by 2011, when heating and air conditioning were installed.

AAMI is under the guidance of a board of directors, and president Bonnie Shockey and husband Ken are the backbone of operations. Though volunteers, they are onsite frequently each week to handle correspondence with the public, select exhibits and inspect the property for maintenance issues.

The museum is located at 365 S. Ridge Ave. across the street from Greencastle- Antrim Middle School. It is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The museum hosts regular exhibits of local interest, from military memorablia and business advertising pieces to baseball player Nellie Fox and ladies’ hankies, as well as a monthly speakers series.

AAMI is a non-profit organization supported by membership dues and donations. It also accepts artifacts for its collections.

Notable collections include history books given by A. Isabelle Barnes, a Greencastle native, and for whom the Barnes Library is named; American cookbooks given by native Michael Schnebly; and Pennsylvania German Society books useful for research given by museum member Tom Gerhart.

Other unique items held in trust by the museum are an iron slave collar once worn by Ben, who was owned by a farmer in Kauffman’s Station; paintings by local renowned local artist Walter Washington Smith; a piano of Greencastle’s own concert singer Philip E. Baer; and a clover header from the late 1700s. The museum also houses the Pennsylvania governors’ signature collection of Dr. Thomas Brumbaugh,