Pennsylvania offers plenty of historic landmarks to teach us more about our Founding Fathers or how our nation developed during the Industrial Revolution, so why not explore another side of history while visiting Pennsylvania? Get ready for an incredible journey into Pennsylvanian history.
Visit the crash site of Flight 93, intended to hit the Capitol building on September 11th or tour President James Buchanan’s stately home in Wheatland.
Philadelphia City Hall
Philadelphia’s City Hall stands as an icon, reflecting Philadelphia’s aspirations of becoming one of America’s leading metropolises. Planners used French Second Empire style in designing it.
This skyscraping structure serves as the city’s executive branch, legislature and part of its judicial system. The luxurious exterior boasts 250 stone sculptures depicting iconic historical figures like William Penn.
Nan Gutterman, an architect at Vitetta and vocal supporter of City Hall, spent ten years documenting every detail of its artwork on City Hall. For instance, she noticed many figures have eyeballs and fingernails that passers-by might miss from the street.
Shanksville Memorial
Visits to this Pennsylvania landmark commemorating Flight 93’s crash site is an emotionally powerful experience, as visitors can walk along its final descent, which has been marked with images of victims.
Northeastern Pennsylvania wouldn’t be what it is today without the hardworking men and women who toiled in its coal mines, steel mills and textile factories. The Northeastern Pennsylvania Mining Memorial stands as a testament to these extraordinary people whose courage, perseverance and community spirit helped make Pennsylvania what it is today – reminding us what a remarkable nation America truly is.
Wheatland
Pennsylvania offers an abundance of historic sites for any history enthusiast to explore – be it Revolutionary War history or religious liberty – making Pennsylvania an excellent destination. Reconstructed forts to museums provide plenty of insight into our nation’s past.
Fort Necessity National Battlefield commemorates where George Washington and his Continental Army troops resided during one of their harshest winters, through a reconstructed fort.
Since 1905, this location on Oatka Creek near Hall’s Corners has been home to various businesses such as Albright-Smith Mill and Strobel Woolen Mill.
Carrie Furnaces
Carrie Furnaces were historic blast furnaces on the Monongahela River near Swissvale in Pennsylvania that produced molten iron for Homestead Steel Works across the river in Homestead. At Homestead Steel Works, this material was transformed into steel.
The Ruins are a national historic landmark and are an essential stop for anyone fascinated by Pittsburgh’s industrial heritage. Visitors can either take a guided or self-guided tour to learn about how the blast furnaces operated over time.
Rusted skeletons appear like lost industrial wonders from a bygone era. Their scale is incredible and their surrounding field exaggerates them further; these immense structures evoke the power of industrialisation.
Portage Railroad
The National Park Service has preserved ten inclines and a tunnel from the historic Portage Railroad. A visitor center, trail, film screenings, exhibits and Lemon House offer fascinating glimpses into this historic rail system that transported canal boats and cargo over the Allegheny Mountains.
In the 1830s, Hollidaysburg and Summit in Pennsylvania were linked by a railroad featuring steep wood inclines or planes made of wood planks with ropes pulled by horses then locomotive engines for transport of goods, boats, and people over mountainous terrain.
Hemp ropes up to 11 miles long were used on inclines and planes of railroads, demanding immense labor. At this site near Altoona, visitors can learn about those whose efforts made the railroad possible through information panels, photos from archives, models and models.
Fort Pitt Block House
Fort Pitt Block House at Pittsburgh’s Point State Park is the sole surviving remnant of one of the most important British military forts in 18th-century North America, constructed under Henry Bouquet in 1764 and designed as a two-story redoubt with wooden gun loopholes around its sides.
Fort Scott served a defensive purpose for only 10 years before its main structures were demolished and turned into a home by Mary Schenley (philanthropist), which later gave it to Daughters of the American Revolution who have preserved it to this day.
