GREENSBORO, Pa. -- Perhaps it is not surprising that this tiny town steeped in history is embroiled in a big controversy over its past.

The question remains unanswered: Who holds claim to the historical artifacts donated three decades ago to a community museum and center that once operated in a 104-year-old stone schoolhouse?

The Nathanael Greene Historical Foundation -- whose motto is "After all, it is our heritage that shapes our future" -- contends that the items must remain in the care of the town named for the Revolutionary War hero. After all, the foundation says, the artifacts that were donated to the museum actually were donated to the town's 295 residents.

But the Monon Center Inc., a nonprofit group that once operated the museum and community center, asserts it owns the items free and clear and can do with them what it will. In fact, it advertised an auction for July 31, the proceeds from which would create a scholarship fund for students in the Southeastern Greene School District.

Among the items put up for sale were crock pottery, for which the town was nationally known in the 1800s, as well as everything from a hotel ledger to plows, from riverboat memorabilia to Victorian dresses, from family Bibles and photographs to a schoolmaster's desk.

Not so fast, said the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office after being contacted by the historical foundation. It wants to know whether the auction would violate laws governing charitable donations -- the artifacts.

Lawyers in the office secured an injunction from Greene County Common Pleas Court, stopping the auction until they had time to research whether any of the donated items had been given to the museum with restrictions prohibiting their sale.

The controversy also involves Greensboro Council, which donated the former schoolhouse to the Monon Center for $1 in 1974 with the understanding that it be used as a museum and community center.

In 2006, about five years after the museum had ceased operation, Greensboro Council sued to stop the center from a similar auction and sale of the building.

Last summer, council filed a condemnation proceeding to reacquire the property by eminent domain because it has suffered cosmetic and structural damage from a lack of maintenance. Rather than see the building continue to deteriorate or to fall into private hands, council wants to utilize it as a community center and for borough offices.

The borough had the building appraised at $29,600 but the center had it appraised at $56,000. A court-appointed Board of Viewers will decide later this month how much the borough should pay for the property, but since the decision can be appealed, the issue is probably far from being settled.

What the Monon Center thinks about the brouhaha is anyone's guess, because no one on the board is talking.

"We're not going to argue it in the newspaper," Monon Center Board President Jim Minor said last week. "No comment.''

Such a reaction is not surprising to lifelong resident Mary Shine, president of both the historical foundation and borough council.

"We've been trying for the last two years to do something with them. They seem to think this history belongs to them.

"This is our town's history. It shouldn't go to the highest bidder."

The silence is the first thing you notice upon arriving in this picturesque town 20 miles southeast of Waynesburg. Overwhelming, smooth silence permeates the town of one-quarter square mile that's nestled along the Monongahela River, the border with Fayette County.

At the intersection of Second and Clear streets, the two-story sandstone schoolhouse is a stately example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. It is a style inspired by the work of Henry Hobson Richardson, the architect for Allegheny County's courthouse and former jail.

A small sign offering "Welcome" to the Monon Center is countered by "No Trespassing" signs and a chain-link fence blocking the arched entranceway.

Ralph Jannini emerges from his home catercorner to the schoolhouse. The sculptor, who moved from Mount Washington to Greensboro about 18 months ago, smiles.

"It's a pretty building," he says to two visitors. But there are serious problems, notes the vice president of the historical foundation.

Around the back, he points skyward to vines covering the second floor, explaining they're growing into the structure. At ground level, he points to trees that are growing out of the foundation.

He touches the sandstone blocks to show missing mortar caused by water runoff from blocked gutters. The steeple isn't plumb, he notes.

Nearby, a long and low log cabin shows much wear. Logs are disintegrating. Through a broken pane, a visitor peers inside to see some of the proposed auction items -- two barber chairs, tagged as numbers "5" and "6," and bridge decking.

Even little things are overlooked, he says, pointing to an open window on the schoolhouse's second floor.

"This is the kind of simple, non-compliance that has frustrated citizens here for a long time," he said.

"People said, '[Mr. Minor] won't talk to us. He doesn't care. We can't afford an attorney,' and I said, 'We have an attorney. He's called the attorney general.'"

The dispute must be resolved in the community's favor, he contends, because the town is trying to reinvent itself as a community of retirees and artists, a destination site for recreation and the arts, particularly based on its history as a pottery center.

Ms. Shine, who also lives near the schoolhouse, agrees.

"History is about all we have in this town," said Ms. Shine, who as a child attended school in the Monon Center building. "We don't have industry or jobs. We're trying to build tourism. History is important."