MERCERSBURG, PA - If you visit Mercersburg, you can't leave without swinging by the Conococheague Institute.
Located off of Bain Road, it's a bit out of the way, but it's that obscurity, away from the bustle of city life, that takes you back to the 18th century.
"History is simply about the way people lived, today, everyday we create history, it's just our history. What we represent is their history," says Museum Educator Cynthia Lawrence-Fink.
There are two houses on the property in Mercersburg, one is a log house built in 1752, filled with artifacts from that time period.
"We've been very careful in collecting things, and we've been given some wonderful loans of things, so that we can share them with everyone," says Lawrence-Fink.
You can also find the Negley House, built by the Negley Family in the 1800s as a retirement home.
"They were ordinary people, living ordinary lives, in extraordinary times," says Lawrence-Fink.
Extraordinary is one way to describe it. Each family had a constant threat of Indian attacks, with many people taken hostage or killed.
"Think of the emotional stress of living through the French and Indian War, but our families did live, and they survived, and they prospered, and they grew. And that's how we got here," says Lawrence-Fink.
The Conococheague Institute serves as a museum and library, and you can schedule a tour any time of the year.
