Laughlintown’s 18th century inn originally provided respite and accommodations for travelers and drovers over a span of 63 years.

In its current incarnation, as a restored museum, it has welcomed tourists for 50 years.

The Ligonier Valley Historical Society, which operates the museum, celebrated the modern milestone at its recent annual dinner. The festivities will continue with a Regency ball, slated for July 16.

Details of the dance will be coming soon, according to Theresa Gay Rohall, the society’s executive director.

“We’re going to have a ball on a midsummer’s night, on a dance floor,” she said, noting the event will feature the type of country dancing familiar to fans of Jane Austen novels or the “Bridgerton” TV series.

Accompaniment will be provided by Pittsburgh’s The Wayward Companions, which specializes in 18th century music for the tavern and parlor. Brett Walker will serve as the dancing master.

In keeping with the inn’s role in the area’s transportation history, Rohall said, the society is in the process of acquiring a horse-drawn delivery wagon. The society already owns other historic vehicles, including a Conestoga wagon and an 1830s-style Concord stagecoach.

The inn first opened in 1799, two year’s after Laughlintown’s founding, in a log building constructed by early landowner Philip Freeman. After several changes in ownership, Robert and Rachel Armor took over the business in 1814 and named it Compass Inn, after an inn they’d previously operated in their hometown of Compassville, Chester County.

They expanded the building to serve the growing traffic on the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Turnpike, which was completed in 1817 and roughly followed the modern Route 30 corridor.

“Five generations of Armors lived on the property,” Rohall said. For a while, a portion of the inn was used as a general store and post office.

The property, which had been converted into apartments, was granted in 1966 to the fledgling historical society, through a gift of the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

“The society was looking for a permanent home and space for its archives when this opportunity came up,” Rohall said. “When they realized what they had, they raised additional funds from the community to turn it into a museum,” which opened in 1972.

With the help of an architect, the society restored the inn to resemble its 1830s heyday and reconstructed several outbuildings, including a cookhouse, blacksmith shop and barn.

Through the years, the society purchased two adjacent pieces of land. “That now gives us the full footprint of the original Compass Inn along Route 30,” Rohall said. “That’s a big deal for us.”

The society’s museum wasn’t the first to open its doors to the public on the property. Charlie Armor displayed his collection of antiques beginning in 1894.

“He was the first historian here,” Rohall said. “When he died, a lot of those items went to the Western Pennsylvania historical society, but some of it was able to be brought back here.”

That includes some spinning wheels. Also on display at the museum are Robert and Rachel Armor’s marriage license and Robert’s top hat and desk.

The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

During the society’s annual meeting, state Rep. Leslie Rossi (R-Unity) presented a House proclamation recognizing the museum’s 50th anniversary.

The society named new board members Michael Doucette, Diane Harshberger, Angela Moffat and Eric Wallis and honored two outgoing members for their six years of service — Jim O’Connor and George Conte, who was president for three years.

Visit www.compassinn.org for more information about the historical society and the museum.

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