greene county historical society museum

As a young boy my mother would stay that I was going to send her to the poor house whenever I wanted her to buy something that she considered expensive. Whenever she would say that, I would laugh because to the best of my knowledge there was no such thing as a poor house, but I was wrong. The Greene County Historical Society Museum is housed in the main building of the former Greene County Poor House. Where the indigent of the county once worked, ate and slept, there now are room after room of historical riches.The many rooms of the former poor house contain a wealth of articles from Greene County's past. There is a music room filled with fine examples of pianos, organs, accordions and early examples of the Victrola with cylinders and shellac records. Throughout the original 19th century house are excellent examples of 19th and early 20th century furniture...beds, tables, chest of drawers, desks, etc., clothing...male suits, pants and coats, female dresses, skirts, coats, and children's clothing with many examples of shoes, hats, gloves, spats and other accessories, art work...oil paintings, prints, engravings, hair art, sculptor, etc. and a variety of other household items such as portable bathtubs, chamber pots, clocks, etc. . There is a reconstruction of an old time country store in the back room of the house filled with a variety of tins, cocks, bolts of cloth, threads, dyes, an early popcorn machine, saddles, tools, a child's coffin, etc. There are displays of crookery, indian artifacts, large bird houses, maps, uniforms and other military items from various US wars. The wealth of items on display is over whelming. One can literally spend hours carefully examining the hundreds of artifacts on display within the museum whether on a guided tour or browsing through the collection on your own. On the grounds are other buildings which, on special occasions, are open to the public. Slightly beyond the main house sits a small, quaint brick church that once belonged to the property. The fee of $5 is a very modest price to pay to explore all the wonderful historic riches contained within the Poor Farm house and grounds.