The fragrance of freshly squeezed apple cider, doughnuts and popcorn along with tours of antique oil field equipment will greet people who visit the Penn Brad Oil Museum from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday for the annual fall open house at 901 South Ave. in Custer City.

The event, which is free to the public, is the final event of the season and will include discounts in the museum gift shop as well as historic movies on the Bradford Oilfield, said Isabelle Champlin, museum board member and organizer of the event.

“It’s free and open to the public so it’s kind of like our thank you to the community,” Champlin explained. “We’ll have cookies and brownies, and sloppy joes for sandwiches, and we’ll have soda pop and water” which are also free.

“There will also be free tours and demonstrations at the museum and on the rig,” she added. “This is good for families.”

Champlin said some activities, such as the operation of the apple cider press by museum member Dale Smith, are hoped to be held outside, if the weather cooperates.

“If the weather is terrible, it will all be held inside,” she said of the spacious museum.

Sam Slocum, curator of the museum which is now in its 47th year of preserving local oil history, said the event will also celebrate a good year of attendance at the facility.

“We want to say thank you for a good season,” Slocum said. “It’s been better than any, we’ve never had a season this big. As a matter of fact, last month was the biggest month (for visitors) since I’ve worked here.”

While Slocum couldn’t explain why there has been an upsurge in tourism at the museum, Champlin noted it could possibly be attributed to an increase in publicity. This has included online publicity on sites such as Uncovering PA. The author of an article on that site describes how during a visit to the museum, he learned about the Bradford Oil Field, which in the 1880s was “the first billion dollar oil field in the world.”

The author said his first stop in the facility included seeing “the smaller artifacts in the museum that included things like historic oil cans, maps, and a small working model of an oil jack.

“While touring this section, our guide discussed oil drilling in the region, the uses of oil in the late 19th-century, and how oil from Pennsylvania differs from other oil around the world,” the article stated.

As for the upcoming event, board member Joyce Cline said the open house has drawn in a number of visitors over the past three years.

“We sell it as a thank you to the volunteers and people who have supported us” as well, Cline added. “We send the invitation out to all the members and friends of the museum.”

For more information on the open house, contact the museum by email at pennbradmuseum@icloud.com or call 362-1955.