It’s here – 2025. The beginning of the second quarter of the 21st century. Where has the time gone? To many of us, it likely seems like it was just yesterday we were celebrating the birth of the New Millenium. Here in Greene County, Pennsylvania, not one, but two organizations will celebrate special anniversaries in the year 2025!
Cornerstone Genealogical Society, one of the best genealogical reference libraries in the region, if not the country, celebrates their 50th anniversary in September. As part of their 50th year celebrations, sometime in September (date to be determined, so follow them on Facebook for information) they will host a major Open House event showcasing their collection of documents and books containing a wealth of family and local history information from Greene County and the surrounding region.
Also, according to David Cressey, president of the Society, one of the goals they are working towards with their 50th year coming up is getting editions of the Waynesburg Republican newspaper, dating back to 1870, scanned and digitized so they can be available on newspapers.com and in their library. This will be a major accomplishment, and when completed, will open up a world of new information to a new generation of researchers.
Not only will Cornerstone Genealogical Society be celebrating their 50th anniversary as an organization, the Greene County Historical Society will celebrate 100 years as an organization preserving artifacts relating to Greene County History. The Greene County Historical Society’s celebrations will start in April with a revamped Opening Day. In lieu of a simple one-day event, the GCHS will have a two day fair the last weekend in April, with re-enactors from the French and Indian War Period through the American Civil War. This event will be less focused on vendors and will have many demonstrators, hands-on activities, and lots of historical education. Perhaps even a little whiskey to commemorate the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s!
Also, in October, when the Historical Society officially turns a century old, the GCHS will kick off the month with the Annual Harvest Festival. The 2025 event will be the society’s 54th Harvest Festival, all of which were held at the old Greene County home, the present location of the GCHS Museum. There will be other events happening at the GCHS in October, perhaps some Haunted History Tours and maybe a Murder Mystery/Escape Room event. There is still a lot of planning to be done, so give the Greene County Historical Society Museum a follow on Facebook as well!
It’s exciting that in the same year, two historical organizations with such close ties will celebrate historic anniversaries. It’s looking like 2025 is going to be quite an exciting year!