The museum was founded by many Civil War veterans as they started collecting their mementos from the war. Eventually they moved the collection to its present site. We have objects ranging from Meade's uniform to Jefferson Davis' smoking jacket, field medical kits, weaponry, even the head of General Meade's favorite horse, Old Baldy!

Immediately after the assassination of President Lincoln, a group of Union army, navy and marine corps officers assembled, fearing that the South would try to attack. They formed MOLLUS, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Eventually this organization became a fraternal one for veterans of the Civil War. In 1888 they founded a museum, the basis of which was the collection of objects they themselves had donated from their own experiences in battle. In 1922 they purchased the building at 1805 and the collection has been housed there ever since.