The Historical Society Of Dauphin County

The Historical Society of Dauphin County was founded in 1869 when it acquired a room in the County's 1860 Courthouse to exhibit some of its collections. Later it moved to the Kelker Mansion on Front Street in Harrisburg. Members of the Kelker Family left their home and collections to the Society for use as a museum, and the Society was housed in this splendid home until Dauphin County acquired the property as a site for the new Courthouse, erected about 1941. The heirs of Simon Cameron then bequeathed their property at 219 South Front Street to the Society for use as a museum the same year. In 1987, the Stable building behind the Mansion was converted to house the Society's Office, Library and Archives.