In 1972, under the leadership of Mrs. Constance Mellon Burrell and Mrs. Louise “Corky” Barnhart, Compass Inn Museum opened to the public. Since then the site has expanded to include an authentically reconstructed and functioning cookhouse and blacksmith shop, both located on their original sites, a carpenter shop, and a barn that houses an 1830 style stagecoach, a Conestoga wagon, and a Studebaker wagon. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ligonier Valley Historical Society is proud and pleased to say Compass Inn Museum is of historical significance for the region, the state, and the nation.

In addition to operating the Compass Inn Museum, the Ligonier Valley Historical Society maintains local abandoned historic cemeteries where veterans of the Revolutionary and Civil wars are buried, and it preserves Laurel Hill Iron Furnace located in New Florence that dates back to 1848, which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Along with these properties, the Historical Society has established a record and document archive room, which houses historic papers, photographs and other physical artifacts that record and demonstrate the Ligonier Valley’s history and there is a historical library and oral history collection in its Hall House headquarters building.

For more information on operating hours, admission rates and visiting guidelines please visit https://www.compassinn.org/ or call 724.238.6818.