Frankford Civil War Museum looking for a new home
The Grand Army of the Republic Museum & Library, which has been in Frankford for 60 years, is searching for a new location.
By Jack Tomczuk - Northeast Times
September 20, 2019
For more than 60 years, an 18th-century building on Griscom Street in Frankford has housed a treasure trove of Civil War artifacts and documents.
The Grand Army of the Republic Museum & Library’s collection includes the head of Union Gen. George Meade’s horse “Old Baldy,” a strip of a pillowcase with Abraham Lincoln’s blood on it and handcuffs belonging to his assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
In a matter of months, all of that — including a 7,000-volume Civil War library — could be moving somewhere else.
The GAR museum’s board of directors recently decided to find a new home, and the John Ruan House, one of the neighborhood’s most historic buildings, is up for sale.
News of the GAR museum’s intention to move was first reported by the Frankford Gazette.
Joe Perry, the museum’s president, said the board is definitely looking at staying in the city and would like to remain in Northeast Philly. They’re looking for a place with more visibility and traffic, he said.
“What we’re attempting to find is a place that has visibility. It has a lower cost of maintaining over the years,” Perry said. “It doesn’t have to be historical or old. It could be in a shopping mall. As long it’s visible and we get volunteers from the people who come there.”
Perry hopes to complete the move within six months, if possible.
The reasons for leaving the Ruan House, 4278 Griscom St., are manifold, people involved… Click here to read complete article