Westmoreland Historical Society

Our Mission and History:

Founded in 1908, the Westmoreland Historical Society is an educational organization dedicated to acquiring and managing resources related to the history of Westmoreland County and using these resources to encourage a diverse audience to make connections to the past, develop an understanding of the present, and provide direction for the future.

The Westmoreland County Historical Society pursues its mission by:

Serving as stewards to an historic site, Historic Hanna's Town, the original county seat of Westmoreland and an important settlement during the American Revolution.

Conducting educational local history programs for adults, families, and schools.

Leading guided tours and field trips at Historic Hanna’s Town.

Providing educational materials via outreach to schools and teachers.

Maintaining a 5,000 volume non-circulating library of genealogical and local, county, and regional materials.

Providing research services for genealogy and county history.

Maintaining an extensive archive and curatorial collection related to the history of Westmoreland County and the region.

Maintaining an archaeological collection from Hanna’s Town of over 1 million objects.

Supporting scholarly research efforts by historians and archaeologists.

Publishing a tri-annual journal, Westmoreland History, and other occasional publications.

Administering Westmoreland Heritage, a county-wide partnership of heritage sites, educational institutions, and tourism-based businesses whose mission is to promote heritage and cultural tourism in Westmoreland County.

Presenting the annual Arthur St. Clair Preservation Award to individuals, organizations, businesses or educational institutions that have made significant and
sustainable contributions to the preservation of local history.