In 1951, Donald E. Lauver (minister, later bishop) called together some men who had accumulated valuable historical items to discuss the importance of preserving their collections. Donald E. Lauver, J. Lloyd Gingrich, Noah L. Zimmerman and J. Roy Graybill met and organized the Juniata District Mennonite Historical Society on September 22, 1951,

    The Society was enlarged in 1963 to include a delegate from each Mennonite congregation in the Juniata District as a representative of their home church. In more recent years, the board has chosen to include representatives from other Anabaptist groups in the area.   

    Donald's Lauver's vision included a building since the collections were housed in places that were not conducive for preservation. The site for the Center was chosen on the basis of its central location in the Juniata District, its scenic view of the early settlers' homesteads and the center of the first while man's settlement in the area. The Center was constructed to preserve the accumulated historical matierials from area churches and the surrounding communtiy. It was intended to make these collections accessible to the public, to serve the community and those from other areas who have an interest in history.

    A dedication service was held on July 8, 1978 at the site of the newly constructed Juniata Mennonite Historical Center on a hill overlooking the beautiful Juniata Valley. The building adjoins the historic Shelley's (Brick) Mennonite Church along Rt 35, about 1 mile west of Richfield Pennsylvania. The nearby cemetery with about 350 graves is listed on Find-A-Grave website.

    Noah L. Zimmerman's keen interest in history and genealogy made him well suited for the role of director where he served faithfully for nearly twenty-five years until his illness in 2003. He was much loved and is remembered as a man of faith and a walking encyclopedia. He was reclaimed by his Maker on January 20, 2004 at eighty years of age.

The most current director was Mary Alice (Graybill) Charlton of Richfield, Pennsylvania who passed away on February 10, 2022 at her residence.. She was the wife of the late Daniel Charlton, our former co-director. The search continues for a new director.

The assistant director is Betty Ann Landis of Liverpool, Pennsylvania, She was the wife of the late Marvin Landis. She has six children, two granddaughters chosen by love, seventeen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She has resided at Liverpool since 1965 and is a  member of the Word of Hope Mennonite Church (Mid-Atlantic Fellowship).

  Janice Burkholder currently serves as archivist. She is the wife of Eugene Burkholder. They own the farm where Fort Pomfret is located. They have five sons, one daughter and 25 grandchildren. They are members of the Cocolamus Mennonite Church (Hope Mennonite Fellowship)
Lillian Weaver was employed in 2021 as an assistant. She is the wife of Donald Weaver and is a member of the Lost Creek Mennonite Church (Lancaster Mennonite Conference) where their son was recently installed as pastor.
Sarah Beth Spade is employed as the editor for the Echoes. She is married to Kenneth Spade and has 2 daughters and 2 living sons. Her son Charlie (43) passed away in August 2024,leaving a wife and five children. She is an active member of St. Peters UCC Church, Millerstown, PA

    The collection of historical materials continues to grow steadily. We currently have more than one thousand names in our surname files. Some of the more common names are Auker, Basom, Benner, Brubaker, Ferster, Graybill, Gingrich, Kauffman, Kurtz, Snyder, Shaffer, Shellenberger, Shelley, Shirk, Swartz, Wert, Winey and Zimmerman.

    We have indexed almost 55,000 obituaries and 7500 photographs in our collection. We have accumulated about one hundred family Bibles with family records. We also have a valuable collection of old German Bibles and songbooks. The oldest book in our collection is the 1540 Froschauer Bible. Our collection grew to the bursting point!

    Noah Zimmerman and others contributed funds from their estates. Generous donors blessed us with contributions to be used for an expansion. So in 2013 we majorly remodeled the existing historical building and added a 38x38 addition. We moved into the newly remodeled and expanded building in October 2013. An open house and dedication was held on May 17, 2014 at the adjoining Brick Mennonite Church.

    We appreciate donations to help with the ongoing operating expenses of archival materials. Come visit us soon!