Our History

The Mercer County Historical Society was founded in 1946 and chartered in 1947 to preserve and protect the past of Mercer County. In 1953, Henrietta “Goodie” Magoffin donated her historic family home on South Pitt Street in Mercer to the Society for use as its headquarters. As the Society expanded, an adjoining building was constructed in 1985. Today, these two buildings, the Magoffin House and the Anderson House, form the core of MCHS, with our museum spaces, office, research and genealogy library, and storage spaces all located there. Additional facilities were added to MCHS over the years, including the Beringer-Caldwell One-Room School (1960), the Indian Graveyard (1963), the Helen Black Miller Memorial Chapel (1973), the Tommy McLain Print Shop (1973), the Raisch Log Cabin (1979), and the Rural Life Museum at Munnell Run Farm (2005). We continue to be a thriving organization, offering opportunities to all individuals through our museums and other historic sites and our wide variety of programs, activities, and publications. We encourage you to get to know our organization through this website and to visit us in person whenever possible.