The Bennis and Lattimer Houses

 

The Punxsutawney Area Historical and Genealogical Society has an extensive museum complex. There are many rooms full of historical artifacts from the area which include displays of:

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• Native American history and artifacts

• early settler tools and utensils

• regional lumbering history

• area coal mining and coke production history

• local railroading history

• quilts, clothing and decorative arts from Punxsutawney's "Early Days" through the "Boomtown" era to our recent past

• uniforms and artifacts documenting military, public and community service history

• radios and early televisions

• photographic documentation of the region's history

• Punxsutawney Groundhog Day history

• old photographs

• old postcards

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Our hours of operation are as follows: 

Lattimer House: Thursday and Saturday 10-4, Friday and Sunday 1-4.

Bennis House: Closed at this time.

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Exhibits in the Griffiths' Galleries of the Lattimer House include: "Punxsutawney Area Legacy of Artists & Artisans" which tells the history of the region through the eyes of past photographers, painters and illustrators, sculptors and crafters.

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Displays in the Bennis House highlight other area artists, past and present, as well as the varied ethnic background which helped form our community.

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Snyder Hill Schoolhouse

 

The Snyder Hill Schoolhouse is located on Snyder Hill just south of town. It is a restored country schoolhouse.

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The Snyder School was typical of the one- or two-room country schools used years ago. From 1886 to 1959 (73 years) the school provided education for hundreds of children, many of them living today. It was the sole means of education for most of our rural population.

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A one-room school consisted of eight grades and one teacher willing to accept hard and trying work. Usually overworked, the teacher undertook to teach as many thirty or more pupils in the eight grades. Younger children learned from older children, as in a large family.

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The Snyder Hill Schoolhouse has been restored with old desks, books and other materials that were used during the time this type of school existed. Snyder Hill Schoolhouse is surrounded by woods and rolling farm land. Your first steps inside are on hardwood floors. The only source of heat was a large pot-bellied stove that was once covered in the winter with little mittens being dried by the fire. The boys and girls each had their own separate cloakroom on either side of the main entrance. Chalk boards with the day's lessons lined the front wall behind the teacher's desk; all of this can be experienced during your visit. The school is open by appointment for individuals or tours.