IN Plum Summer 2014 | Page 20

facebook.com/johnirwinhouse The John Irwin House was the site of a busy stage coach inn over 170 years ago. Today, in Irwin’s same entrepreneurial spirit, the house is home to a variety of small businesses and shops. g Explorinetum or the Arbail Tr Penn Hebron Garden Club Barn and Summer Musical Performances 237 Jefferson Road, Penn Hills; pennhillscdc.org Enjoy a variety of free musical performances in the charming Penn Hebron Garden Club Barn, hosted by Penn Hills Community Development Corporation. Built in 1834, the barn was purchased by the garden club in 1927. Visit the website for upcoming musical performances. Sample School House 2525 Rochester Road, Cranberry Township; [email protected] The 1874 Sample School House is an original, one-room school. It’s a glimpse of when students in eight grades were taught in one room by one teacher, using slate tablets, rather than the electronic kind. Harmony Museum 218 Mercer Street, Harmony; 724.452.7341, harmonymuseum.org Discover over 250 years of important events. The museum includes more than 8 properties, featuring an 1809 main museum building, the Harmony Society Cemetery and Mennonite meetinghouse and cemetery. Learn about the Lenape Indian settlement, Murdering Town and Major George Washington. Depreciation Lands Museum 4743 S Pioneer Rd, Allison Park; 412.486.0563, depreciationlandsmuseum.org Turn back the clock to 1792 at the Depreciation Lands Museum. Re-enactors bring this time period to life as they perform their daily rituals while living in a small, colonial village. the mysterious & unusual Chessie, The Ghost Cat Mars Area History and Landmark Society, Inc.1, Brickyard Road, Mars; marshistory.org Legend has it that a cat named Chessie would accompany his owner to the Mars Railroad Station where he worked in the late 1800s. The site is now the home of the Mars Area History and Landmark Society, Inc. Over 100 years since the cat’s demise, but Chessie’s spirit is still seen around the 18 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Plum station occasionally. Find out more on a ghosthunting adventure to the old train station and see a plethora of artifacts from the late 19th century on display. “Welcome to Mt. Lebanon” Mural on the Former Dyke Auto Supply Building 427 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon; pghmurals.com/welcome-to-mtlebanon-146.cfm Flying Saucer in Mars Town Square Grand Avenue and Pittsburgh Street, Mars, 724.625.1858 View the vibrant and detailed 44 ft. wide by 14 ft. high mural that welcomes visitors to Mt. Lebanon. Painted by Ashley Hodder, it resembles a giant postcard. Thanks to the Mars Area History and Landmarks Society and other contributors, a flying saucer landed in the town square in 1988 and has never left. Sergei Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut and Mario Renco, an American astronaut, even signed the saucer at a 1989 event! Indian Springs - The Mysterious, Bowl-Shaped Spring in Evergreen Community Park 3430 Evergreen Road, Ross Park; 412.931.7055, or ross.pa.us/parks Discover a Native American couple whose love was so strong it formed a mysterious spring! Located in beautiful Evergreen Park, the spring is said to have been the miraculous answer to a lover’s prayer. The Murals by Maxo Vanka at St. Nicholas Croatian Church 24 Maryland Avenue, Millvale; 412.821.3438, stnicholascroatian.com The 22 murals of Maxo Vanka that adorn the walls of St. Nicholas Church have been described as beautiful, thought-provoking and even disturbing. Some claim to have seen a ghostly priest in the church sanctuary while the murals were being created. Listed on the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation registry, St. Nicholas is one of the first Croatian churches to be built in the U.S. it’s only natural Beechwood Farms Nature