Our Museum is a Window Into Eagles Mere’s Past
Find Something Old & Something New
This Pennsylvania museum is a window into Eagles Mere’s past. You’ll find something old and something new at every turn — the Eagles Mere Museum depicts the vast, rich history of Eagles Mere, even including a dedicated section of the museum for the historic trains.
- Begin with a view of the glacier-carved lake and study an arrowhead left behind by a Native American as he passed by centuries ago
- Learn the amazing story of the construction of a glass factory in this remote location
- Imagine how the nearby arable land was farmed
- Understand how the lake and its mild weather attracted the interest of the wealthy and health seekers
- See how the next step was the construction of hotels large and small
- Test your knowledge of bygone days
- Read about the well-known wintertime toboggan slide and imagine what it would be like to zoom across frozen Eagles Mere Lake
You’ll then understand how Eagles Mere came into its own as a resort complete with cottages, a myriad of sports activities, and churches to serve the faithful.
Explore & Discover Eagles Mere’s Rich History
Younger Museum visitors may experience a treasure hunt by asking the shopkeeper for a map. They’ll receive a prize for successfully completing the search.
The Eagles Mere Museum shop can provide a souvenir of your visit, sell you a book or provide original memorabilia from Eagles Mere’s past. Our software allows us to produce copies of photographs, postcards, and more from the Museum’s archives. Visit our Research and Reading Room – steps from the main-floor gallery entrance – to explore family trees and cottage histories. Check with one of our Museum representatives to find out more on your visit to the Eagles Mere Museum.
We hope you’ll find a visit to the museum of Eagles Mere’s history to be one of your favorite activities in North Central Pennsylvania’s Sullivan County.
Experience the Eagles Mere Railroad
After visiting the main gallery downstairs, head upstairs to see our special train exhibit.
The Eagles Mere Train Museum exhibit is a special part of Eagles Mere’s rich history. In 1892, a narrow-gauge Eagles Mere Railroad was constructed from Sonestown to Eagles Mere. Though the ride was short (8 miles) and slow (the maximum speed was 10 MPH), the railroad played an important part in the growth of Eagles Mere as a resort community by simplifying travel from the large metropolises of the East to the shores of beautiful Eagles Mere Lake.
Prior to the construction of the railroad, vacationers endured a ride in a stagecoach or horse-drawn carriage for the last leg of their trip. Today, we can be glad that such an experience is relegated to a history museum.
The railroad is gone now, but many of today’s visitors wish they could take a slow ride through the mountainous Sullivan County countryside.
Though the railroad is now part of Eagles Mere’s past, you can imagine yourself as a visitor during the early twentieth century when coal smoke wafted from a hard-working locomotive as it brought another trainload of passengers to this beautiful mountaintop.
Ahead of them lay weeks of summer sports, good food, and pleasant camaraderie. Surely, such a pleasant train trip to Eagles Mere would rank as a popular North Central Pennsylvania attraction. Today, a visit to our history museum helps us recall those days.
Our train museum, located on the second floor of the Museum is open on select dates. This Pennsylvania history museum features an On30-gauge model railroad that faithfully recreates the scenery along its route. An on-site docent will explain what the trip was like and give an overview of the railroad’s history.
Visitors of all ages will enjoy watching the train chug along, but the younger set seems to have the most fun searching for bears and deer along the track. A collection of paper artifacts, railroad hardware, and a display of early-twentieth-century “tinplate” model trains rounds out the exhibit.