It was the murder that made people in Grove City start locking their doors.

The brutality of the 1964 murder of a 78-year-old former music teacher who lived with her 80-year-old paralyzed sister was like something out of today's headlines. And the murder remains unsolved.

Margaret McCoy, a retired organist of 31 years from East Main Presbyterian Church, was found tied up with a clothesline in the basement of her home on South Center Street. The alleged murder weapon, a hammer, lay nearby. A jar of coins from the second floor was missing.

Her sister, Alice, who had had a stroke and was partially paralyzed, was found sitting on the first floor inside the house. Potatoes were cooking on the stove when a neighbor came to check on the sisters and found Margaret's body in the basement, according to news reports at the time.

The news reports speculated that the motive was robbery, since the sisters were known to keep money in the house, even hiding cash in toilet paper rolls.

"It was never solved. There were a lot of rumors -- that her sister rose up and killed her -- but there was no way. She couldn't speak. She needed complete assistance. That wasn't possible," said Dr. Thomas Armour of Grove City, president of Grove City Area Historical Society.

"I think the thing that happened was that someone came into the house in the morning, broke into the house. Then someone tied her up, took her to the basement and beat her skull in."

Recently, photo albums and other genealogical materials were donated to the society by Anna Johns of Grove City, the sisters' former cleaning lady who helped with Alice. The items will be on display during the museum opening from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at 111 College Avenue, the former Traveler's Hotel, an almost-century-old landmark in the borough's downtown.

"It isn't just things, objects or documents. It's stories about the people, like Margaret McCoy," said Dr. Armour. "And it's not only the stories about them. It's the people of the community that's important. Without people you don't accomplish anything. What is so easily lost is the stories."

That is why the society was established in 1999 soon after the borough's bicentennial. "It (the bicentennial) was kind of a stimulus. A book had been written which documented some of the history of the borough. The society has about 325 members. There's a lot of enthusiasm for it, which is why there's so many members," he said. "They (the borough) passed on money left over from the bicentennial to the (newly-formed) historical society, about $25,000 which went to organizing the organization, among other things."

Some of those other things include the recent renovation and inside expansion of Traveler's Hotel, with support from the borough and the community.

"It is downtown, and has rooms downstairs. It just lends itself to a facility, but will take a lot of renovation. It was in really bad shape," Dr. Armour said. "Friday (today) is when we're opening the facility this year. It has been closed since December. Each year we close in December and open in the spring. We're also having our fourth annual dinner Saturday, when those attending (more than 100) will get to see what we've done. They'll get to see the expanded exhibit area during a wine and cheese-tasting party before the dinner."

Besides an expanded exhibit, there is also a continuing "unfolding of exhibits," Dr. Armour explained, describing historical items related to Grove City scouting, hospitals, medical care, and aluminum hand-wrought items.

He explained that Mrs. Johns had the items she donated about the McCoy sisters in her attic and didn't know what to do with them.

"She decided to donate it to the historical society. We're really hoping that more people will become aware of this organization. Then they will donate things and the stories will be remembered," Dr. Armour said.

"You can go to a cemetery and see a tombstone that says (a name) with the years 1908-1998. Well, what happened in between? What'd that person do during his lifetime? Those are the things we are trying to connect -- objects and documents with people. We rely on the people of the community to come forward with this information," he said.

For more information, call (724) 458-1798.

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