Free museum day highlights Ligonier Valley history, heritage

Ligonier Valley Free Museum Day will once again highlight the rich history and culture of the Ligonier Valley, with six sites offering free admission, new exhibits, activities and demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

“Free Museum Day is a fun way to share the Ligonier Valley’s storied history, enhanced with incredibly unique cultural sites,” said Julie Donovan, Fort Ligonier director of marketing and public relations. “The valley’s remarkable history began with the building of the Forbes Road, which later became the route for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, followed by the development of the railroad and the Lincoln Highway.

“One led to the other, and there are now four museums that each tell a part of that story,” she said.

In addition to the fort, the featured museums include Compass Inn Museum and Ligonier Valley Rail Road Museum in the Ligonier area and the Lincoln Highway Experience, farther west in Unity.

Though the Lincoln Highway Experience isn’t technically part of the Ligonier Valley, it tells a story that is important to the history and development of the area, said Kim Cady, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor.

“We’re all in the business of sharing stories, and you’re going to have to travel the Lincoln Highway to get to Ligonier, so you might as well learn about the highway you’re traveling on,” she said.

Also included in the free museum event are the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art-Ligonier Valley, south of the borough, and the Antiochian Heritage Museum, north of Ligonier in Fairfield Township.

Sites and their offerings include:

• Antiochian Heritage Museum, 140 Church Camp Trail, Fairfield: Owned and operated by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, the museum interprets Antiochian history and heritage, including western Pennsylvania, with displays of textiles, inlaid woodwork, metal crafts, jewelry, engravings, prints, religious art and a permanent exhibit on Beirut-born Saint Raphael, who served Orthodox communities throughout the United States and whose remains are interred on the site.

Visitors also can explore the site’s wooded Meditation Trail. Horse-drawn carriage rides will be available, weather permitting, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Details: 238-9565 or antiocianvillage.org

• Compass Inn Museum, 1386 Route 30 East, Laughlintown: Visitors can tour the restored 1799 stagecoach stop including an inn, cookhouse, barn and other outbuildings in the village founded in 1797 by Robert Laughlin. Free Museum Day visitors will hear live musical entertainment on period instruments and can play a game of 19th-century American cricket with historian and re-enactor Tom Melville.

Details: 724-238-6818 or compassinn.org

• Fort Ligonier, Routes 30 and 711, Ligonier: The authentically reconstructed 18th century British fort, with its outbuildings, museum and art gallery, interprets the lives of French soldiers and civilians during the French and Indian War.

Special French Garrison Weekend activities and demonstrations will be featured. Kids can play with colonial-style games and toys.

Details: 724-238-9701 or fortligonier.org

• Ligonier Valley Rail Road Museum, 3032 Idlewild Hill Lane, Ligonier Township: The museum, housed in the restored Darlington Train Station, shares stories of the Ligonier Valley Rail Road, founded by Judge Thomas Mellon in 1877 and operating until 1952.

The museum houses railroad memorabilia, videos and a wall map of the LVRR right of way, with a 1905 Bobber caboose on the grounds.

Kids can join the conductor for a trackless train ride.

Details: lvrra.org

• Lincoln Highway Experience, 3435 Route 30 East, Unity: Dedicated to the story of America’s first coast-to-coast highway, the museum houses exhibits and memorabilia related to transportation, tourism, business and other aspects of the roadway’s 100-year history.

Visitors can top off their visit with a piece of pie and beverage in the museum’s authentically restored Serro’s Diner.

Details: 724-879-4241 or lhhc.org

• Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art-Ligonier Valley, Route 711 South and Boucher Lane, Ligonier Township: The log-cabin museum is set amid flower gardens and the Donald Robinson Sculpture Garden. The gallery will host artwork in wood, glass and oils created by Paul and Mandy Sirofchuck, owners of Ligonier’s Main Exhibit Gallery, and their daughter, Clair.

Children also can collect treasures in a special scavenger hunt.

Details: 724-238-6015 or sama-art.org

Visitors will be eligible to win a $250 gift certificate to spend in the Ligonier Valley by picking up a passport at their first stop. To qualify for the drawing, have the passport stamped at a minimum of four of the six sites and turn it in at the last one visited.

Information will be available at each museum.