Andy Close
IRVINE, Pa. – To call the Wilder Museum of Warren County History a hidden gem would be doing it a disservice.
One only needs to step foot inside the doors of the museum, which was formerly the Irvine Elementary School, and the history of Warren County is immediately brought to life. It is a living, breathing treasure that captures all aspects of the county’s past.
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“Warren County history is absolutely fantastic, and you’re not going to find all of the particular topics anywhere but here. We cover it all,” said Michelle Gray, Managing Director of the Warren County Historical Society. “You know you’ve got the lumber and the railroad and the oil and the river. It’s all here. You can see it all. The underground railroad, Kinzua Dam, and the way it’s laid out, it’s in very good order.”
When Gray says they cover it all, she really does mean it.
The museum, established in 1990 by National Forge Chairman Robert O. Wilder, has anything any history buff could possibly want, and so much more.
There’s a map room, highlighting the beginning of Warren County as it’s known today, a Seneca Nation exhibit honoring Warren County’s original inhabitants and an Oil Heritage exhibit featuring tools used in the oil industry and memorabilia that reflect the county’s rich oil history.
And that is literally just the tip of the iceberg.
“I find new things all the time when I’m walking through here and I’ve been with the organization for well over 20 years,” Gray said. “There’s just amazing things to see and something to get excited about every time you come through.’
There’s a Four Flags Exhibit (Seneca Nations, France, Great Britain, United States), a Southern Hallway that is home to one-handed clocks, bicycles, a history of breweries and more, which leads to the Agriculture Exhibit.
The museum also features an early industries alcove, furniture of Warren County, a lumber room, a military wing, an old-time doctors office, an ‘era gone by’ room, a National Forge exhibit and an East Hallway that is packed with history, including notable women in Warren County, the story of the Kinzua Dam and the Warren State Hospital and the Grandin Opera House Piano .
And they are always adding new things.
“One of the things that we have really worked on is getting increased signage,” Gray said. “We have worked really hard, our interns, our volunteers, to get signs so that you can get a lot more information about things and connect to them personally.”
There is so much history and so much to digest, that you can literally spend hours in each room and hallway. In fact, Gray said that many people come back a second and third time because there’s just no way they can take it all in with one visit.
“Some of these items certainly aren’t particular to Warren County, but they are from Warren County,” she said. “You can catch a stranger from three states away and they can come through and get that melancholy feeling the same as our community people do because they are common things, and you put a story with it and they want to tell you their story. It’s a lot of fun.”
The Wilder Museum, located at 51 Erie Ave. in Irvine, is open June 5 through Oct. 17 this season on Tuesday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s from 1-5 p.m. More information can be found at www.warrenhistory.org, and they can be reached by phone at (814) 563-7773.
NOTE: This is the first in a summer series of touring Warren County, highlighting some of the unique places to visit in our area. Places you think we should feature? Email us at [email protected]
