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 | Calendar & Events |
| Exhibits |
| Antique Firearms & Indian Artifact Show |
| Bowdish Railroad |
| Research & Genealogy |
| Membership |
| History Center Shop |
| Kids & Teachers |
| Jefferson County History Highlights |
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Our purpose is to engage people of all ages in the history of Jefferson County. We collect and care for relevant objects, images and documents, and we invite county residents and visitors to research our materials, interact with our exhibits, take part in our programs, and read our publications in order to encourage an understanding of our past and present and a vision for our future EMAIL: JCHC@alltel.net |
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Officers and Members of the Board
Links Section
Executive Director:
Ken Burkett
Curator:
Carole A. Briggs
Administrative Assistant:
Theresa Costa
President:
Diana Farley
Vice-President:
Kelly Harriger
Secretary:
Cathy Dinger
Board Member:
William Crain
Development:
Bruce Wohnsiedler
Buildings & Grounds:
Richard Beck
Bowdish Liaison:
Jon Noonan
Members:
Kathy Smith
Dorrie Altman
Board Member:
Joni Kerr
Treasurer:
Judy Brady
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Whats New At The History Center?
It's All New!
The JCHS moved into the newly preserved N. G. Edelblute Building (1855-1875) on Historic Brookville’s Main Street in March 2004, the Bicentennial Year of the founding of Jefferson County.
Today the new History Center provides research facilities, exhibits, & public programs relating to Jefferson County's history, as well as serving as the primary Visitor Center for the 15-country Lumber Heritage Region.
The History Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, Noon to 5pm, and between 2-5pm on Sunday. We are closed on Monday and most holidays. When coming a distance, we advise a phone call 814-849-0077 or Email jchc@alltel.net so that your time with us will be maximized. Parking is available in the rear and the facility is handicapped accessable.
The History Center is located 1/2 block east of the Jefferson County Courthouse. Admission to exhibits is $3 for adults and $1 for children twelve and under. There is a fee to non-members for use of the research facilities. See the Membership page for more information.
Kenneth Burkett has been appointed the new executive director of the Jefferson County History Center.
Diana Farley, president of the Jefferson County Historical Society, which oversees the operations of the History Center, announced that Mr. Burkett will assume his duties on June 1, 2008. “The Jefferson County History Center is very fortunate to have someone with Ken's experience, ambition and foresight to assume this position. Carole Briggs has done an outstanding job as the volunteer Executive Director since 1989. Finding someone to "fill her shoes" seemed like an impossible task! The board has the utmost confidence in Ken's ability to continue the implementation of the plans we have to make the Jefferson County History Center a true reflection of the wonderful history of our county.”
According to Carole Briggs, "Ken’s past experience will serve him well in his new role as executive director. His leadership and vision as board president led to the Antique Firearms and Indian Artifact Show, now a major fund raising event for the History Center. His involvement with North Fork Chapter 29, Society for PA Archaeology, resulted in last year’s award-winning exhibit, Native American Lifeways in Western Pennsylvania. I foresee many more good things happening in the future as he takes over the leadership of the organization." Briggs has served as the volunteer executive director/curator since 1989 and plans to continue as curator.
Each day between 9:00 and 12:00 kids in the “Our Pioneers” day camp will have a unique
opportunity to experience life as the first settlers did when they came over the Allegheny Mountains to Jefferson County. They will eat pioneer foods, play pioneer games, create art, watch demonstrations and in general have fun with old and new friends.
Overseeing the week will be Carole Briggs who is an experienced classroom teacher as well as our curator, art director Sara Dinger, Lyn Duncan who has demonstrated 19th century skills at an historic farm in new Jersey before moving to Punxsutawney and archaeologist Ken Burkett who led the dig at Fishbasket.
Fees for the week long camp are $50 for JCHC family members and $60 for non-members. Registration before July 1st provides at $10 discount for each category. Scholarships are also available. For more information or an application contact the JCHC
Carole Briggs, Sara Dinger and Lyn Duncan make plans for the upcoming “ Our Pioneers” Day Camp
The History Center plans more volunteer training for people with an interest in the people, places, and events of the county. Last winter archivist Valerie Metzler, Altoona, trained the first group of volunteers who have begun organizing the large collection of photographs donated by the Jeffersonian Democrat newspaper when it was sold to the McLean Company. This needs to be done before the public may use them.
Metzler will return July 8th and 28th to train in organizing and will return on August 6th to provide training in their digitalization. While some may think this complicated, it is not. The first step is simply to match the photographs to the newspapers they were in and copy the names, places, event, and date on the back. Pairs of people find this fun and not difficult.
When identification is done, the information will be entered into the History Centers computer database. Again, a process that is not difficult. Following the training, volunteers decide when they wish to work on the project.
Funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, these free workshops will begin at 10 am at the History Center, include lunch, and end by 3 pm.
Volunteers are encouraged to contact the History Center now so they can receive information directly by Emailing jchc@alltel.net, phoning 849-0077, or stopping in, 172-176 Main Street. 
Western Pennsylvania Gunbuilder Recreates History for the Benefit of the Jefferson County Historical
Did you ever dream about owning an original, full-stock Pennsylvania longrifle, but didn’t feel like investing an arm and a leg for it? Thanks to the Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) and regional master gunbuilder Ron Luckenbill of Emporium, PA, you just might be able to make that dream come true for as little as $5.00.
In an effort to create awareness about its upcoming 3rd annual Antique Firearms and Indian Artifacts Show exhibit, the JCHS has once again commissioned Mr. Luckenbill, a retired Pennsylvania State Policeman who now builds longrifles for a living, to create a reproduction of an early-1800s hunting rifle built by local gunsmith John Sherry, Sr., who lived and worked in Clarion County. The original rifle, upon which the reproduction is based, appears on pages 161–163 in Longrifles of Pennsylvania: Clarion, Jefferson and Elk Counties, a comprehensive book about regional gunsmiths. The result is a very accurate reproduction that captures the graceful lines and excellent balance of the original. Mr. Luckenbill also created the rifle for last year’s raffle drawing, a reproduction of a percussion target rifle built by Brookville-area gunsmith Solomon Heriger.
The drawing for this unique rifle will be held at the Jefferson County Historical Society’s 3rd Annual Antique Firearms & Indian Artifacts Show, which will be held August 16th, 2007, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. This show will feature antique firearms and accouterments up until 1898, and there will be a combination of exhibitors and vendors on hand with gun and accessories for sale. In addition to the gun show, the Historical Society has teamed up with the North Fork Chapter #29, Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, which will be putting on a show in the same building. The Indian Artifacts exhibit will feature both prehistoric and historic artifact displays, flint-knapping, artifact identification and an open atlatl competition. An atlatl, for those who aren’t familiar with the term, is a spear-throwing device—such as a thong or shaft—that is used to propel a spear with much more force than can be generated by arm-throwing alone. The competition will be held in a field adjacent to the exhibit buildings.
The finished reproduction rifle, as well as a custom inlaid tomahawk that will be the runner-up prize, now sits in the window of the Jefferson County History Center at 172-176 Main Street in Brookville, and raffle tickets can be purchased at the History Center during regular hours, or by contacting a JCHS board member. If you have any questions about raffle tickets, please call the History Center at 814-849-0077 or email the staff at jchc@alltel.net. Tickets are $5.00 apiece, five for $20, or ten for $40 (that’s a 20% discount for bulk purchases).
If you’re a regional business and would like to sell raffle tickets for the History Center, please contact Executive Director Ken Burkett at kenburkett@comcast.net or Vice President Kelly Harriger at harriger@gmail.com for a special commission arrangement that will involve discounted tickets for business owners and their employees. A limited number of these arrangements will be made, so please contact the Society as quickly as possible.
The 3rd Annual Antique Firearms & Indian Artifacts Show, which opens at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning of August 16th at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, will run until 4:00 p.m. The raffle drawing for the longrifle, tomahawk and book will be held about a half hour before closing time. Admission for the event is $5.00, with children under 16 allowed in for free.
If you would like to be an exhibitor or vendor at the show, have questions about the show, or would just like more information about purchasing raffle tickets for the rifle, please contact the Jefferson County Historical Society in Brookville at 814-849-0077 or via email at jchc@alltel.net.
Ken Burkett, the new Executive Director of the Jefferson County History Center, holds the reproduction rifle and an inlaid tomahawk, both built by Ron Luckenbill of Emporium, PA. The rifle is the grand prize, and the tomahawk is the second prize. Third prize is an autographed copy of Longrifles of Pennsylvania: Jefferson, Clarion and Elk Counties.
