Allison-Antrim Museum, Inc.

Allison-Antrim Museum, Inc. 365 South Ridge Avenue
Greencastle PA 17225
717-597-9010 Allison-Antrim Museum, Inc. The 1860 historic Irwin house was purchased in April 1998.
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was founded in June 1994 and received its 501(c)(3) non-profit status in 1997. The museum highlights the area's Scot-Irish and Pennsylvania German heritage, along with Greencastle-Antrim's rich history, from the frontier days in the early 1730s, the Revolutionary War, slavery and the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, WWI, and WWII. The Pennsylvania Department of Tourism has designated Allison-Antrim Museum an official site on the Pennsylvania Civil War Trails of History.

Did you know Antrim Township is the oldest government entity in Franklin County? Yes. It is older than Franklin County. ...
06/01/2026

Did you know Antrim Township is the oldest government entity in Franklin County? Yes. It is older than Franklin County.
~ 285 years ago, in 1741 at the May Quarter sessions of Lancaster County in 1741, Antrim Township was established.
~ Antrim Township is older than Greencastle (1782) and Franklin County.
~ The area of Antrim Township in 1741 was equal to that of today's Franklin County, minus today's Warren, Fannett, & Metal Townships.
~ From the book History of Franklin Co 1887: Antrim was named for County Antrim in Northern Ireland, from whence our Scot-Irish (Presbyterian) ancestors came - "the brave and hardy Scotch-Irish, who pushed their way to the extreme frontier settlements and in the face of appalling obstructions "hewed the dark old woods away," and gave us the smiling green fields of today.

May has two full moons! ~ The second full moon will be tonight May 31.~ Although it is "not" blue in color it is known a...
05/31/2026

May has two full moons!
~ The second full moon will be tonight May 31.
~ Although it is "not" blue in color it is known as a “blue moon.”
~ Why? Because any month that has two full moons, the second one is called a blue moon.
~ The term is tied to the calendar rather than the moon’s color.

If you lived in Greencastle or Antrim between 1800 and 1850, which of the following occupations would you have chosen?**...
05/30/2026

If you lived in Greencastle or Antrim between 1800 and 1850, which of the following occupations would you have chosen?
***This building was the Ilginfritz Woolen Mill. It is the only image of the mill that has been found.
Pre-Industrial Rev & Antebellum:
~ Occupations: Craftsmen – tailors, shoemakers, blacksmith, copper smith, clock smith, tinner, chain maker, cabinet maker, carriage makers, carriage painters, grain cradle and plow maker, saddle and harness maker, a cigar manufacturer, carpenters, plasterer, pump maker, coffee mills, an auger and gimlet shop
~ Professional Services – ministers, lawyers, doctors, one teacher
~ Enterprises & Industries – five merchants plus a tannery, brick yard, brass foundry, iron foundry, sawmill, door and sash company, livery stable, two hotels, a restaurant, and
~ the Ilginfritz Woolen Mill (in the photograph) is where wool was carded for $1.55 for 25 lbs of wool, which was then taken home by the owner and spun. The mill also wove spun wool into cloth for sale in the community.
~ The town was a marketplace for Antrim's farmers and "shopping mall" for townspeople.
~ The railroad was a boon to the merchants after service began in 1839.
~ The map shows the Ilginfritz Woolen Mill just north of the Borough Line, along the railroad. The mill was powered by Moss Spring.

Muddy Run supported four different mills along its many branches.~ The Kiesecker-Shinham Mill In the photograph was loca...
05/29/2026

Muddy Run supported four different mills along its many branches.
~ The Kiesecker-Shinham Mill In the photograph was located at the intersection of Shinham and Frank Roads.
~ A clover mill was southwest and between Brown's Mill and Rankin's Mill.
~ At Kauffman Station, George Brown built his mill, i.e. Brown's Mill, at the junction of two branches of Muddy Run.
~ After agriculture, milling was the second "industry" in our area.
~ The 1868 no-drone map shows Muddy Run highlighted in yellow.
~ When driving along the local roads, look for the Muddy Run signs. They are blue.

~ The village known as Brown's Mill was established on a 1,000-acre tract of land from the Penn family, acquired in 1734...
05/28/2026

~ The village known as Brown's Mill was established on a 1,000-acre tract of land from the Penn family, acquired in 1734 by Thomas Brown (father of George).
~ In 1772 George Brown built a stone gristmill.
~ The remaining stone section can be seen the lower right corner of the photograph.
~ The power came from the flow of two branches of Muddy Run.
~ It was in operation until it burned down in August1929.
~ The mill was not reconstructed because electricity was beginning to become the power source for all milling industries.

Very few 18th century grist mills are still in existence.~ Mills were one of the earliest businesses in Antrim Township ...
05/27/2026

Very few 18th century grist mills are still in existence.
~ Mills were one of the earliest businesses in Antrim Township when the first white men settled here in the 1730s.
~ Rankin's grist mill was about one mile northwest of town, on the north side of Williamson Road.
~ A Hurst frame and four cog gears are seen in this rare photograph from inside Rankin's Mill.
~ The frame held the gears and burhstone together.
~ There were four levels in Rankin's Mill - water level & three more that included the gabled roof area.
~ Muddy Run powered the waterwheel, which turned the gears, and eventually the buhrstone.
~ Have you visited an old grist mill?

The rest of this week, the focus will be on Antrim's Mills.~ Mills were one of the earliest industries in Antrim Townshi...
05/26/2026

The rest of this week, the focus will be on Antrim's Mills.
~ Mills were one of the earliest industries in Antrim Township
~ Antrim Mill, a lesser-known grist mill, was located just off today's Rt 16 at Grant Shook Rd.
~ It was powered by water from Dam One & Dam Two (uphill east of the mill). The water source was McCauley Spring
~ The mill was still operating in 1910, according to bills of sale for flour and corn meal issued by merchant & miller L E Gonso, at Antrim Mill in 1910.
~ This is the only known extant photograph of Antrim Mill.
~ On the map just west of the grist mill on the 1868 map is a bone mill.
~ Cedar Hill Cemetery was established in 1870.

***Thank you*** to all the men and women who currently serve and the Veterans who have served our country!***May 25 is t...
05/25/2026

***Thank you*** to all the men and women who currently serve and the Veterans who have served our country!
***May 25 is the 163rd anniversary “observance” of Decoration Day, later to be known as Memorial Day.
~ On May 23, 1863, our little town and township came together and decked the streets with Union flags and wreaths of evergreen and May flowers, to welcome home its native sons of the 126th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
~ Just weeks before (April 30 to May 6, 1863) these men had been on the battlefield at Chancellorsville.
~ It would be another five years until the first Remembrance Day was officially celebrated May 30, 1868, to remember the Civil War soldiers who lost their lives.
~ The images of the veterans were taken May 30, 1889, looking west, from Greencastle's square.
***Click Daniel Butterfield's photograph for his story of writing Taps.
~ Link for the playing of Tapshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WChTqYlDjtI

Did you know Worleytown had a saw and grist mill "and" just north was another saw and grist mill?***The map is the south...
05/24/2026

Did you know Worleytown had a saw and grist mill "and" just north was another saw and grist mill?
***The map is the southwest portion of the 1868 Antrim Township map which at that time did not go any further west than the Conococheague Creek.
~ Coseytown is in the lower left.
~ From Coseytown, follow the roads up toward Worleytown. At the long eastward bend in the Conococheague, a S & G Mill (Saw & Grist Mill) is marked.
~ 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 the Conococheague Creek, in1731. Cornplanter the Indian 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.
***Click on the Mill photograph for more information on the ownership of the mill through the decades.

~Do you remember going to the State Line Drive-in Theater on a Saturday evening when they showed family-friendly movies?...
05/23/2026

~Do you remember going to the State Line Drive-in Theater on a Saturday evening when they showed family-friendly movies?
~ It opened in the mid-1950s & was the '50's version of an IMAX-size screen.
~ Pull in to a spot, open a window & hang the speaker box.
~ Theater snacks (popcorn, drinks, candy) were available at the concession window.
~ The State Line Theater closed 48 years ago in 1978.
~ The property is currently owned by JLG.

Address

365 S Ridge Avenue
Greencastle, PA
17225

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 1pm
Wednesday 11am - 1pm
Thursday 12pm - 4pm
Friday 12pm - 4pm
Saturday 11am - 1pm

Telephone

+17175979010

Website

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