Pennsylvania House Museum
 Constructed 1838 - 1839, with an 1850's west wing, this three-story brick, Federal-style inn and tavern, nostagically known as "The Old Pennsylvania House", served travelers on the National Road during the short lived coach and wagon era. The Pennsylvania House was the boyhood home of Dr. Isaac Funk, of Funk & Wagnalls dictionary fame, whose parents operated the inn during the 1840's.
David Snively built the Federal-style Pennsylvania House in 1839 along the newly constructed National Road. This tavern and inn was an important stopover for livestock drovers and pioneers traveling by foot, on horseback, or in Conestoga wagons during the nineteenth century westward expansion of the United States. Closed as an inn after the Civil War, it then served as a doctor's clinic, boarding house, and secondhand shop before falling into total disrepair. The Lagonda Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution saved it from demolition in 1939 and have owned and operated it as a museum since.
The Pennsylvania House has now completed a major restoration project that began in the summer of 2005, with a contribution from the Turner Foundation.
"Inn at the End of the Pike"
 In place three years before Springfield was incorporated, the Pennsylvania House was on the edge of town and at the end of the road where travelers could hardly miss its welcoming appearance. It afforded fine meals and comfortable beds within for those who wanted to and could afford respite.
The name Pennsylvania House is attributed to one of its early innkeepers, out of respect for his native state or out of a desire to attract the numerous Pennsylvanians traveling the National Road. The inn's twenty foot sign was spiked to an oak tree in the front yard near the Road. Whether it had another name is unknown, but once affixed, the "Pennsylvania House" it was, and the Pennsylvania House it remains.
Tour Information
Tours given: Saturday and Sunday: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.
Closed holidays, January and February of each year.
Group visits: to arrange for a field trip or group tour of eight or more, please call us at 937.322.7668 or use our Contact Us page.
Tour Fees: Adults - $5.00 each; Students - $2.00 each
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