Welcome to the Cynthiana Harrison County Museum!
The Cynthiana Harrison County Museum first opened its doors in July 1994. Housed in the historic Rohs Movie Theatre on S. Walnut St., the museum is a step back in time, displaying nearly 4000 artifacts showcasing the community’s Military, Education, and Agricultural Histories. Rooms are also devoted to items from childhood, daily life, local industry, and the town’s churches, police, and fire departments.
Our museum exists to preserve, display, maintain, and share artifacts of historical significance. It provides a “snapshot” into the past. The Cynthiana Harrison County Trust Inc. established the museum to provide a place where the tangible history of this small-town Kentucky community could reside.
The HarriCyn Jr. History Club
The HarriCyn Junior History Club meets the 2nd Saturday of each month from 9AM-10AM at the Museum. The Club is open to kids super interested in local history who want to get together and learn, explore, and have fun! For more info or to get signed up, just hit the button below.
Museum Hours
Friday & Saturday 10am - 4pm
or by Appointment - Call 859-234-7179
124 South Walnut Street Cynthiana, Kentucky
4000 Sq. Ft. of Display Space Showcasing Over 4000 Artifacts!
This is a Mortician's "Cooling Table" and was used by undertakers for preparing bodies for burial. It was also used by field doctors during the Civil War for emergency amputations. The 'bed of the table is perforated with holes for the drainage of body fluids.
Our Museum's tool section is filled with hand hewn tools and implements used by local farmers, machinists, carpenters, and those of other professions. Come see how the tools from the past were made and used.
One of the Museum's prized artifacts are the more than 100 letters sent by Harrison county resident William Jones to his wife Mary while he was fighting for the Union during the Civil War. The hand written letters dated from 1864 have been transcribed into a binder and are available for reading. The letters discuss everything from his episodes on the battlefield to the loss of friends, and the love for his wife. A real treasure.
New Acquisitions
The museum is always receiving new artifacts. Here are a few recent acquisitions and newly displayed items.
This early 1900s parlor pump organ, made by the Carpenter Company, belonged to Lilly and Eugene Fryman. Once a centerpiece of home entertainment, it brought music and joy to family gatherings in a time before radios and record players.
This desk belonged to Cynthiana Jailer Elwood Forsythe and was used during the early to mid-1900s. Accompanying it are a jailer’s logbook documenting arrests and crimes from the 1920s to 1940s, and a 1940s jailer’s manual.
James Nicholas and his wife, Polly Nicholas, buried their first two children, Mary (1829) and William (1831). In 1834 the entire family packed up and moved to Illinois. The headstones, over the years were toppled over. The land was farmed and the headstones fell into more disarray. Eventually, the headstones were discarded onto a rock pile and the gravesites forgotten. After the decision to demolish the "Handy House" the stones were brought to us for preservation and display.
This early 1900s parlor pump organ, made by the Carpenter Company, belonged to Lilly and Eugene Fryman. Once a centerpiece of home entertainment, it brought music and joy to family gatherings in a time before radios and record players.