CRANBERRY TWP — Auction Barn, one of the oldest businesses along Route 19 in the township, is going out of business after 56 years.

Owner Hank Kessler said he sold the 5.5 acres on Brandt Drive after deciding to retire.

The business had auctions every Friday night. The weekly event typically attracted 250 to 300 people, many of whom came every week, Kessler said.

“It’s like one big family there. People meet people and become long-term friends,” Kessler said.

Kessler said his parents, William and Dorothy Kessler, started the business in 1960 after a similar auction operation in Monroeville closed.

William Kessler had been a regular customer at the Monroeville auction and decided to use his knowledge of auctions and connections to start his own business, he said.

Auction Barn had been family owned and operated ever since.

In 1960, Route 19 was only a two-lane road and there were few other businesses.

The Kesslers would travel all over Western Pennsylvania to get inventory, but as Cranberry developed, the need for auction services only increased.

“It’s a nice service for people who don’t want to have a garage sale or a tag sale and don’t have the wherewithal to know how to sell things or for how much,” Kessler said.

The future of the building and the property is unknown, but the new owner is a land development company that Kessler would not identify.

The property is still listed in Kessler’s name.