Welcome to the New Holland Area Historical Society
museum open thursdays & Saturdays starting may 1st
Because of improving conditions with the coronavirus pandemic, the New Holland Area Historical Society Museum is pleased to announce that the museum is open both Thursdays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If conditions change with the pandemic we will announce revisions to the schedule on this website. Masks are optional though we encourage those individuals not fully vaccinated to wear a mask and maintain social distancing of a minimum of six feet between people.
Private Tours Available
We are continuing to schedule private tours at this time. Face masks are required along with maintaining proper physical distancing during your tour. The museum will be cleaned after each tour. If you are interested in a tour please call Don Horning @ 717.538.3079 or Wilbur Horning @ 717.575.3148.
Preserving New Holland Capital Campaign
The New Holland Area Historical Society Museum has been a part of the borough since 2005. The building that houses it dates back to the 1780’s. There was a general store in the building continuously from the 1700's until 2005 and a hardware store since the early years. The western portion of the building was a tavern and hotel until 1856, followed by a drug store from 1856 to 1913. Most people knew it as the Kauffman’s Hardware Building until it took its current form.
The Museum provides space to store and display artifacts, historical data, photos, literature and other memorabilia from the rich history of the New Holland area. The collection contains extensive materials from The New Holland Machine Company and Victor F. Weaver, Inc, as well as paintings by local artist Myrtle Trembly and many other local historically significant items.
The Historical Society has recently been presented with an opportunity to purchase the Kauffman building. While it is exciting to be able to lay a solid foundation for the future of the Museum and the work it does, there are considerable responsibilities that come with the ownership. The first is paying the mortgage and the second is the maintenance of a building well over 200 years old. Therefore, we have announced The Preserving New Holland Capital Campaign to generate enough funds to purchase the building, pay off the mortgage and do some much needed repairs to the external brickwork. Our goal is to raise $250,000 and due to 100% support from our Trustees and the generosity of other donors, we have achieved over 75% of our goal! That has given us almost enough to complete the mortgage but now we have some extensive brickwork that must be done in the near future. So...
We need your help!
If you would like to see the important work done by The Historical Society continue, please send your donations to the Preserving New Holland Capital Campaign, payable to “NHAHS,” to:
NHAHS, PO Box 464,New Holland, PA 17557
(The New Holland Area Historical Society is currently registered as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in Pennsylvania. Donations are tax deductible.)
The Preserving New Holland Capital Campaign will ultimately allow the Historical Society to focus more time and energy on providing a significant resource for the New Holland area as well as achieving the preservation of a valued historical landmark. Your donation can help us reach that goal.
Thank you for all of your support of the New Holland Area Historical Society!
new holland clarion archives
Online Copies of the Clarion Available
The Power Library site shown to the left houses digital copies of the town newspaper published from 1873 through 1950.
The papers are stored in 3 different collections based on their publication date.
The collections are shown to the left.
This link takes you to the Clarion Collection list shown to the left Individual collections are listed alphabetically, so scroll down through the list till you come to the section entitled "LancasterHistory - New Holland Clarion Newspaper"
Note
The Power Library website is not owned by or affiliated with the New Holland Area Historical Society. We do not provide any support or assistance to those wanting to utilize this resource.
Support assistance is available through the "? Help" menu found in the extreme right-hand side of the menu bar.
This resource is a real treasure trove of historical information for the New Holland area, and we hope that you enjoy your time doing some research into our history!
About Us
Current Exhibits
"The Story of Victor F. Weaver"
"The Story of Victor F. Weaver"
Visit our Current Exhibits page for a preview of the exhibits actively displayed in the museum. The most addition is an exhibit dedicated to the 125th Anniversary of the Borough of New Holland.
"The Story of Victor F. Weaver"
"The Story of Victor F. Weaver"
"The Story of Victor F. Weaver"
This book chronicles the life of Victor Weaver from the humble beginning of a Market Stand to processed poultry brands known through the Northeast. More than just a success story, the author writes about the profound impact Mr. Weaver had on employees, the town and many other organizations.
Copies of the book, hard back @ $40 and soft cover @ $20, can be purchased at the museum during regular hours, or by calling Don Horning @ 717.538.3079
"Everything Just Went Right"
"The Story of Victor F. Weaver"
"Everything Just Went Right"
Read the story of a humble Mennonite man who invented the automatic tying baler, putting New Holland on the map.
Soft cover copies of the book can be purchased for $20 at the museum during regular hours, or by calling Don Horning @ 717.538.3079
Looking for a little help from our friends
Unidentified Photos
The museum is blessed with thousands of New Holland area photos that were donated by countless supporters of our efforts to preserve our history . Many of them include some type of identification information, and others were identified my NHAHS members based on local knowledge or other photographic evidence.
But there are hundreds of interesting - and potentially historically significant - photos that we are not able to identify. The purpose of this initiative is to solicit your help in identifying these photos.
The plan is to place small batches of these pictures on the website in the Photos section, including whatever info we have for each, and providing you with a contact form where you can tell us how you can help identify these treasures. Each photo is assigned a number, and all you need to do is tell us that "photo #7 is a picture of my great grandmother Elvira's birthplace, located just east of N Railroad avenue." That's it. If you'd like to include your name that would be great.
As information is received we will update the captions for these photos, and after a reasonable amount of time (no idea what this means exactly) we'll publish the information gathered along with the contributors. Then we'll publish the next set of photos and repeat the exercise.
It's a chance for you to participate in the work of the NHAHS, and we greatly appreciate your assistance.
Thanks!
