Leechburg, PA 15656-1167
The Museum is traditionally closed during January unless special arrangements are made.
Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society is located in the David Leech house -- the oldest house in Leechburg.
In 1827, David Leech, a trained civil engineer from Mercer County, came to the small village known as "Friendship." In October 1827, David Leech bought a tract of land from Matthew Shields. The land had previously been called White Plains and was deeded to a Native American man named White Maddock in 1783.
Leech secured the contract to construct the big dam lock for the new canal. He also bought a lot of land, some of it from Chief White Mattock, the fifth owner of this parcel. Leech, wisely envisioning future growth in the small community, later bought more land from Joseph Hunter.
During the canal building, the village was virtually a construction camp. Hundreds of immigrant workers—many Irish—were employed on the big navigation project. Some settled here and in Freeport.
Canal laborers were paid 50 cents daily plus board. However, eggs cost six cents a dozen; whole chickens sold for six cents each.)
Mr. Leech laid off a town of "117 in-lots with convenient streets and alleys", adjoining the Pennsylvania Canal. He constructed four houses in the 1830s. In September of 1849, Mr. Leech gave the house to his newlywed son. The house remained the property of the Leech family until 1974, when it was purchased by Dr. Courtney C. Bischoff, who undertook extensive exterior restorations and interior redecoration.
The Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society purchased David Leech's historic home in August 1991. The David Leech House now serves as a museum and home to an ever-growing collection of Leechburg memorabilia. The Leechburg Area Museum is located at 118 First St. (the corner of Main and First Streets) and is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m.
The mission of the Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society is to preserve the records and artifacts of the Leechburg Area, provide an understanding of its historical evolution, and create an atmosphere for historical education.
Related
The County’s third Courthouse, built in 1856, is an elegant structure with a large portico, stone columns, and a highly ornamented dome. The former jail is a gothic-style structure attached to the Courthouse.
Consistent with its mission statement, the Freeport Area Historical Society purchased the Valley Mills and adjacent property in 1998. The purpose is to rehabilitate the building into an operational mill, creating an atmosphere similar to that of the mid-1900s.
On April 22, 1976, the Marshall House became the first building in Armstrong County to be added to the Pennsylvania Inventory of Historic Places. In May 1976, it was also placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The building was erected in 1909 as the Apollo headquarters for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. It housed the first public library in Apollo and Armstrong County. The building is now the home of the Apollo Area Historical Society and its museum.
Drake's Log Cabin is a one-room log cabin that shows how early settlers lived. Items from the era are on display.
St. Stephen's Old Stone Church is a Protestant Episcopal Church located near the remains of the Bradys Bend Iron Company furnaces. In 1867, the company's trustees granted a parcel of land to each of six religious groups upon receiving $1.00.