Compass Inn Museum, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an authentically restored stagecoach stop. It has been a landmark in Laughlintown since 1799 when Phillip Freeman built the log section of the inn. At that time, it was used primarily by wagoners and drovers, young men who “drove” animals to market.
Robert and Rachel Armor purchased the inn in 1814 and named it “Compass Inn”. The completion of the Philadelphia Pittsburgh Turnpike in 1817 brought stagecoach travel on a regular basis, so in 1820, Mr. Armor built a stone addition to accommodate his increasing business and more prosperous guests.
The Inn was used as a stagecoach stop from 1820 until 1862. By 1862, the railroads and canals were well established in Pennsylvania, and people weren’t traveling by stagecoach much anymore. So the Armors closed the inn to guests but continued to live there for seven generations until 1966 when it was sold to the Ligonier Valley Historical Society who restored it to its 1820 condition.