PHOTO PROVIDED Pictured above is the Clinton County Historical Society’s Heisey Museum on Water Street in Lock Haven. This black-and-white photograph is not dated, but was taken before the brick on the structure was painted. Built 1850, the former farmhouse was turned into a house museum in 1962.

In October of 1921 a group of Clinton County citizens proposed an organization with a mission that still holds true today. The original mission reads: “The purposes for which (the Clinton County Historical Society) is organized are literary, scientific, and historical, for the collection and maintenance of a library, a museum and especially for the collection and preservation of relics and records connected with the history of Clinton County and its vicinity.”

The 90 charter members included recognizable family names, many of them prominent leaders of the community. At the time, the collection was kept at the Ross Library or in private homes. Today, the Clinton County Historical Society (CCHS) maintains five historic properties and a far-reaching range of photos, papers, artifacts and stories of the past. The Society’s collections are a resource for Keystone Central School District and Lock Haven University students, as well as for inquiries from near and far.

The Historical Society runs entirely on volunteers who handle everything from inventory, research, minor maintenance, yard work and cleaning, to display set-up and events. They need and welcome volunteers!

Built in 1830 as a Federal Style farmhouse, the Historical Society’s Heisey House Museum at 362 East Water Street, Lock Haven, was remodeled in 1865 into the Victorian Gothic Revival style it is today. Highlights include the period kitchen with the implements of early kitchens, reflecting the house’s role as a tavern in the canal boat days. Other rooms are furnished in Victorian style and give a glimpse of 19th century life. Artwork from Annie Snyder and Vivian McLain, early local artists, is on display. The Ice House contains memorabilia from the ice cutting, lumbering, farming and canal eras. The Heisey House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation.

The Poorman Gallery next door to the Heisey was built in 1847 for the Great Island Presbyterian Church and then served as the First Lutheran Evangelical Church from 1872 until 1974. After a stint as a County office, it is now a major display area for the Historical Society’s historical artifacts. Artwork, a Native American room, as well as revolving displays bring the past to life.

The Allison Township School at Barton and Third Streets in Lock Haven, a one-room school house that was in use until the mid-1950s, now houses many artifacts of 19th and early 20th century fire companies, marching bands, schools, and local dairies, a tobacco tin collection, the original Mill Hall post office and an early telephone exchange.

The CCHS also owns the Castanea Railroad Station along Logan Avenue in Castanea, situated at the trailhead of the new Bald Eagle Valley Trail. The former train station is home to the Clinton Central Model Railroad Club with its railroad museum, extensive layout and free open house dates during the winter. Also on the property is a refurbished 1940 caboose, now an Airbnb rental; a boxcar; and a “water tank” replica that serves as a 24/7 information kiosk for visitors to the Bald Eagle Valley Trail, offering both history of County transportation as well as informational brochures for events and sights in Clinton County.

The Farrandsville Furnace, one of the first hot blast furnaces in North America, was built by a Welsh engineer, English stone masons and Scots and Welsh iron workers during the Industrial Revolution of the early 1800s. The furnace has a long history associated with fire brick and nail production. The structure is on both the list of endangered historical places in Pennsylvania and the National Register of Historic Places.

The Clinton County Historical Society is funded in part by the Clinton County Commissioners, the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, the City of Lock Haven, and through grants, donations and individual and business memberships.

“The Historical Society is here to serve the community as it has done for the past 100 years,” says CCHS president Bonnie Hannis. “We encourage people to visit our historic sites and continue to support this community asset!”