I’ve visited many great private collection museums throughout PA. And, while some have been larger, few have been as impressive as the collection at the Greenberg Cadillac Museum in Brookville, PA.
The Greenberg Cadillac Museum is the collection of Dr. Steven Greenberg, a retired eye surgeon. He and his wife, Dr. Deena Greenberg, have been driving and collecting Cadillac for decades, first in their hometown of Detroit, as well as in their adopted hometown of Brookville, the seat of Jefferson County, PA.
Over the years, Greenberg’s collection grew quite large and became well-known around the country, which allowed him to acquire some of his most rare and unusual pieces. Greenberg also worked to restore the cars to their original condition, and you are sure to be impressed by the quality of the pieces here.
Greenberg has been quoted in the past as saying that his goal is to have a car from every year of Cadillac’s production, and he’s certainly well on his way.
For many years, this collection wasn’t open to the public. However, in the summer of 2021, the Greenberg Cadillac Museum opened for the first time in partnership with the Jefferson County Historical Society. All donations collected from visitors are donated to the historical society, which helps to preserve the history of western PA, including their museum downtown and the fabulous Scripture Rock Heritage Park.
The Greenberg Cadillac Museum is located just south of downtown Brookville in the buildings of a historic Cadillac dealership, the perfect setting for the country’s largest collection of Cadillacs. It’s worth noting, however, that the museum is only open one weekend a month between May and October, so you’ll want to plan your visit carefully to see this incredible collection. (See the operating dates for this year at the bottom of this article.)
I was fortunate enough to be passing through the area during their open weekend in October 2022, and I was excited to have a chance to check out the collection. And, even though I’m not a huge “car guy” I still found the museum to be quite incredible and very interesting to explore.
Four of the dealership’s former buildings are open for visitors. Two of these buildings are filled with dozens of antique Cadillacs, while the other two serve as workshops for restoring cars and additional display space for smaller items.
Entry to the museum is through the upper level of the old showroom. In this large, open room, you’ll find dozens of Cadillacs from the 1970s and newer. Even though I tend to prefer older cars simply because of their history, I still enjoyed walking through this room and seeing how the models changed over the years.
Each car has a sign with it that offers a bit of history on that model and, occasionally, on that particular car. However, a lot of the signs were on the windshield, which made them a bit difficult to read if someone else was looking at them.
A few of the cars that stood out to me in this space included a Mary Kay pink Cadillac, an Indy 500 pace car from 1973, and a New York Times limousine with a television in the back.
On the walls, you’ll find a large number of Cadillac posters and other advertisements from throughout the years, which are really neat to look at while exploring the space. Definitely make sure to save a few minutes to check them out.
The second car showroom features the oldest Cadillacs in the collection, dating from 1905 through 1970. These are more of the type of cars you’d expect to see in an antique car museum, and there are a lot of great pieces to see here.
There were around three dozen cars in this space and, as in the first space, it was really neat to see how the cars changed over the years, especially in the earliest days of the company and automobiles in general. The signs on each car help to add a lot of great information to this space and really help highlight the history of Cadillac.
The other two buildings at the museum are primarily dedicated to restoring vintage Cadillacs, though there are some historic items on the walls. I really enjoyed stepping into the shop building and talking to the volunteers there, who helped me to understand more about what goes into restoring these beautiful cars.
Overall, even as someone who isn’t a huge fan of automobiles, I really enjoyed the Greenberg Cadillac Museum. Not only was it great to see such a large and impressive collection, but I really enjoyed seeing how the cars changed throughout the years.
The signage here is also really good, and if you are super into cars, you could spend hours reading the information and enjoying each of the vehicles on display.
Really, the only negative here is that the hours are limited to one weekend a month (and only three hours on each open day). That means that you’ll almost certainly have to plan ahead to visit this museum.
For those that do want to visit, in 2024, the Greenberg Cadillac Museum will be open only on the following dates, all of which are Saturdays and Sundays: May 18-19, June 22-23, July 20-21, August 17-18, September 21-22, and October 19-20. The museum is open from 1-4 pm on each day of operation.
Looking for more things to do nearby? Check out Gobbler’s Knob, the best things to do in Cook Forest State Park, and Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub.
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