Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society is located in the David Leech house -- the oldest house in Leechburg.
Southwestern Pennsylvania
The southwestern corner of Pennsylvania is the area that was the original Washington County, formed on March 28, 1781. This is the land to the west of the Monongahela River, from the West Virginia line north and west and south of the Ohio River to the Ohio line.
Parts of the original Washington County are now Greene and portions of Beaver and Allegheny Counties. Both Pennsylvania and Virginia initially claimed this Southwestern Pennsylvania portion of the Commonwealth.
The first National Road, Route 40, came through our area, along with endless visits by the famous surveyors George Washington, Lafayette, George Rogers Clark, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and many other renowned people.
Join Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh Museums to learn more about the county's notable ancestry—and possibly your own.
Museums
One of Western Pennsylvania's leading cultural centers, the Merrick is home to a stunning collection of French, German, English, and American paintings from the 18th and 19th Century.
The A-K Valley Heritage Museum is located on the corner of Lock Street and East Seventh Avenue in Tarentum.
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.
It began decades ago, when Jim Delligatti became one of the very first franchisees of a fledgling restaurant chain. He opened Western Pennsylvania's first McDonald's restaurant and grew that single site into a hugely successful three-generation business.
Experience the culture and refinement of the Gilded Age at the Frick Art & Historical Center, located on beautifully landscaped gardens in Pittsburgh's East End.
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 reminiscent of the mid-1900s.
With a permanent collection of over 750 items, the Antiochian Heritage Museum offers visitors a fascinating glimpse into the textiles, inlaid woodwork, metal crafts, jewelry, and religious art of the Near East.
Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden was established in 1987. It is the largest biblical botanical garden in North America (1/3 acre) and the only one with an ongoing program of research and publication.
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.
Fort Mason Museum allows visitors to experience life in early twentieth-century Fayette County. It features exhibits of local industries, a turn-of-the-century physician's office, typical home life, and a hands-on early school room.
The Lawrence mansion is maintained as a house that evokes the elegant lifestyle of the Lawrences rather than a museum. It houses an excellent collection of original English and American antiques.
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.
Visions of the past come alive at the Rebecca Hadden Stone House Museum. Locally donated and shared artifacts from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century adorn the rooms, and a beautifully maintained herb and perennial garden graces the grounds.
The museum which portrays the life and career of George Westinghouse, is focused on his career, accomplishments and inventions.
Drake's Log Cabin is a one-room log cabin that shows how early settlers lived. Items from the era are on display.
Baker Mansion initially was the home of Elias Baker and his family. It now hosts the museum, the county historical society, and a library with a historical archive.
The Heinz Memorial Chapel began as a gift. Henry John Heinz, the founder of the Heinz Company established the building as a gift to his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz. After Heinz’s death, his three surviving children added to his bequest to memorialize their grandmother and honor their father.
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.
Maridon is the only museum in the Western Pennsylvania region specializing in Asian culture, including art objects from China and Japan.
Fort Roberdeau Historic Site and Natural Area includes an 1858 barn containing exhibits and a museum shop, an education center in an 1860 farmhouse, three nature trails, picnic facilities, and White Oak Hall, a large multipurpose facility.
Birthplace and childhood home of ecologist and author Rachel Carson (1907-1964), whose 1962 book Silent Spring helped to launch the environmental movement. Guided tours and classes are available.
During the 1892 labor strike, which pitted Carnegie Steel Company against the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, the Bost Building served as the union's local headquarters and as the base for American and British newspaper correspondents reporting on the event.
