PHILIPSBURG – Due to restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the planned events for the 200th anniversary of Philipsburg’s Old Mud Church will not be taking place over the summer of 2020.
But this doesn’t mean the old church has been forgotten. A number of on-line celebrations will be hosted on the new Web site of the Philipsburg Historical Foundation, soon to be announced.
There are also numerous commemorative items for sale online through Vaux Electronics of Philipsburg.
These include a new cutout of the church made by The Cat’s Meow Village of Wooster, Ohio, plus Mud Church mugs, glasses and T-shirts. Please go to www.rockinv.com, and follow the fundraiser link.
The Mud Church and the John Henry Simler House, Philipsburg’s two premier historic sites, will be open on a limited basis from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Sundays, beginning on July 5.
Only small groups will be permitted, five persons or fewer, with masks and social distancing required, contact information from each visitor and sanitizing after each tour.
Please note that some visitors could tour the Mud Church cemetery or the Pennsylvania German gardens behind the Simler House, while others are inside for tours.
For tours at other times, please call 814-342-4842 or 814-321-8583 or 814-577-1994.
Unfortunately, the Philipsburg Historical Museum and Reading Room must remain closed for the duration of the pandemic.
For genealogical or research questions, please call the above numbers. Hopefully, the museum will be able to get through these parlous times, and reopen in 2021.