GREENCASTLE, Pa. — The Fourth of July may have been two months ago, but the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary continues. The Allison-Antrim Museum will hold its monthly speaker event on Thursday, Sept. 10, and will feature a lecture from historian Doug Reed.
Early years in Greencastle
Doug Reed will be presenting a PowerPoint presentation entitled, “Settlement in America.”
He will address several questions, including who the European immigrants were who settled America from the 17th to early 20th century, particularly in the Franklin County area. Why did the immigrants leave their ancestral homelands to come to the New World? How did they choose the land that they settled upon? And finally, what is the history that fostered the log cabins, stables and barns, a subject of particular interest to Mr. Reed?
Reed has dedicated most of his life to the study of log and other types of wooden buildings, and he is an accomplished craftsman who learned to build traditional log houses and even runs his own business which builds and restores log homes.
Artifacts on display
Before or after the lecture, visitors are invited to explore the artifacts that are on display in the barn. Each of the historical pieces is one of a kind. The oldest artifact is a March 1716 document on animal skin parchment with James Logan’s signature. Logan, 20 years later, would be elected governor of Pennsylvania. Another document contains the signatures of 231 Greencastle men petitioning Cumberland County for Greencastle to become the county seat for the yet-to-be-established Franklin County.
Also on display is an exhibit that includes a 1937 model of Independence Hall made during the Works Progress Administration, which was created by President Roosevelt in 1935.
The monthly lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in the Red Barn behind the Allison-Antrim House and Museum located at 365 S. Ridge Ave. The event is free, and parking is available on South Ridge Avenue and South Allison Street. The museum’s normal hours of operation are Wednesday to Friday, 12-4 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
For more information on the museum and the monthly events, visit greencastlemuseum.org.
