Artifacts and items of 200 years historical significance from Orange County are on display and open to the public at the Orange County Historic Museum, located at 3-4 NW Court St in the northwest corner of the Historic Paoli Square.
Presently, the Museum is now open to visitors for its 2024 Season most Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Other times are available by appointment. No admission is charged although donations are accepted to help maintain the museum and historic collection.
Maintained by the Orange County Historical Society (OCHS) since 1976, visitors will find memorabilia of the Orange County communities through the years including rare items associated with the OC Courthouse, early county artifacts, household items, antique clothing, military display, primitive farm tools and woodworking tools, history of the Dailey Rocker, church and school memorabilia, and a rare miniature English Tudor dollhouse with furnishings.
The museum is housed in what was once the private residence of Dr. J.H. Sherrod and his family, circa 1885. This was the last private residence to remain on the Courthouses Square.
Don’t miss the turn of the century school room displayed upstairs, a recreation of a typical township school at the turn of the 20
th Century is re-created upstairs at the museum, along with a period Doctor’s office.
The OCHS also maintains a small gift shop on the lower level of the Museum with a variety of historic books, publications, and keepsakes linked to Orange County.
The Thomas Elwood Lindley House, circa 1852, was built on land granted in 1812 to Jonathan Lindley (1756-1828) when he left North Carolina to settle in Orange County. Jonathan was the grandfather of Thomas Elwood Lindley (1825-1900), an influential Quaker. He served in the State Legislature at Indiana’s first Capitol in Corydon. The property remained in the Lindley Family until it was deeded to the Orange County Historical Society in 1974 by the great-great-grandson, H. Carl Thompson and Dorothy Farlow Thompson.
The house is restored to reflect the period of the mid-1850s to the 1860s when it was used as a farm home. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Included are a corner cupboard, washing machine, spinning wheel, baby crib and pump organ. The front porch step features a large semi-circle millstone from an 1800's gristmill.
The house, located just off the Hwy. 150 West on Willow Creek Rd. in Paoli is available for tours in season by appointment only. To schedule a tour, call: (812) 653 1212 or email Robert F. Henderson, President:
For more information on the OCHS, its activities or to arrange for a group tour of either the Museum and/or Lindley House please contact President Robert F. Henderson.
Orange County Museum