State Museum of Pennsylvania

Last updated
The State Museum of Pennsylvania
The State Museum of Pennsylvania.JPG
The State Museum of Pennsylvania at 300 North Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
State Museum of Pennsylvania
Former name
William Penn Memorial Museum
EstablishedMarch 28, 1905 (1905-03-28)
Location300 North St, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US
Coordinates 40°15′56″N76°53′09″W / 40.265672°N 76.885812°W / 40.265672; -76.885812
Type History museum
CollectionsPennsylvania cultural and natural history
Collection size3 million
Public transit accessN 3rd St & North St, CAT
Nearest parkingMetered parking
Website statemuseumpa.org
Association of Science-Technology Centers

The State Museum of Pennsylvania is a non-profit history museum at 300 North Street in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It is run by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to preserve and interpret the Commonwealth's history and culture. [1] It is a part of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex.

Contents


History

On March 28, 1905, Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker signed legislation establishing the museum for "the preservation of objects illustrating the flora and fauna of the state, and its mineralogy, geology, archeology, arts and history." [2] The State Museum of Pennsylvania mission statement was influenced by the many other state museums that were already established, including those in New York, Illinois, and Indiana.

Later in 1905, Pennypacker signed Act 481, giving the museum $20,000 in startup funding for its creation. On March 1, 1907, the museum staff and collection moved into the Executive Office Building. It became part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1945 and moved to its present building in 1964. It is located adjacent to the Pennsylvania State Capitol. The building is round, and the museum exhibits are on its ground, first, second, and third floors. The museum staff's offices and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission are on the fourth and fifth floors. [1]

In 2014, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [3]

Exhibits

The museum's central hall features a large statue of William Penn, who founded the Province of Pennsylvania in 1681 during the British colonial era. [4]

The museum includes a multi-media planetarium, as well as four floors of exhibits and displays covering Pennsylvania history from prehistoric times through current events. Visitation averages 315,000 people annually. Among the features are an extensive collection of artifacts and exhibitions related to the American Civil War and an extensive collection of industrial and technological innovations, including artwork, paintings, dioramas, and other audio-visuals aid in the interpretation.

There are over three million objects in the museum's collections. [1] The museum has many exhibits that showcase Pennsylvania history. The state museum divided its exhibits into three categories; permanent, changing, and online. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel W. Pennypacker</span> Governor of Pennsylvania, Union United States Army soldier

Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker was an American politician and the 23rd governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1903 to 1907. A judge assigned to Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas system prior to his election as governor, he also researched and wrote about Pennsylvania history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New-York Historical Society</span> Museum and library in New York City

The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It presents exhibitions, public programs, and research that explore the history of New York and the nation. The New-York Historical Society Museum & Library has been at its present location since 1908. The granite building was designed by York & Sawyer in a classic Roman Eclectic style. The building is a designated New York City landmark. A renovation, completed in November 2011, made the building more accessible to the public, provided space for an interactive children's museum, and facilitated access to its collections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museum of American History</span> Museum in Washington, D.C.

The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is the original Star-Spangled Banner. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution and located on the National Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Minnesota

The Minnesota State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Minnesota, in its capital city of Saint Paul. It houses the Minnesota Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, the office of the Attorney General and the office of the Governor. The building also includes a chamber for the Minnesota Supreme Court, although court activities usually take place in the neighboring Minnesota Judicial Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Georgia

The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As the primary office building of Georgia's government, the capitol houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the second floor, chambers in which the General Assembly, consisting of the Georgia State Senate and Georgia House of Representatives, meets annually from January to April. The fourth floor houses visitors' galleries overlooking the legislative chambers and a museum located near the rotunda in which a statue of Miss Freedom caps the dome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania</span> Railroad museum in Strasburg, Pennsylvania

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Arizona

The Arizona Territorial - Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, was the last home for Arizona's territorial government until Arizona became a state in 1912. Initially, all three branches of the new state government occupied the four floors of the statehouse. As the state expanded the branches relocated to adjacent buildings and additions. The 1901 portion of the capitol is now maintained as the Arizona Capitol Museum with a focus on the history and culture of Arizona. The Arizona State Library, which occupied most of the 1938 addition until July 2017, re-opened in late 2018 as a part of the Arizona Capitol Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keweenaw National Historical Park</span> U.S. national historical park in Michigan

Keweenaw National Historical Park is a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Established in 1992, the park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a federal-local cooperative park made up of two primary units, the Calumet Unit and the Quincy Unit, and almost two dozen cooperating "Heritage Sites" located on federal, state, and privately owned land in and around the Keweenaw Peninsula. The National Park Service owns approximately 1,700 acres (690 ha) in the Calumet and Quincy Units. Units are located in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg. The building was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative Renaissance themes throughout. The capitol houses the legislative chambers for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Harrisburg chambers for the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. It is also the main building of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State Museum</span>

The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906, is a statewide system of National Historic Landmarks and modern structures across Louisiana, housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic events and cultural diversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan State Capitol</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of Michigan

The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the state capital of Lansing which lies in Ingham County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of Vancouver</span> Civic museum in British Columbia, Canada

The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) is a civic history museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada and the oldest museum in Vancouver. The museum was founded in 1894 and went through a number of iterations before being rebranded as the Museum of Vancouver in 2009. It creates Vancouver-focused exhibitions and programs that encourage conversations about what was, is, and can be Vancouver. It shares an entrance and foyer with the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre but the MOV is much larger and occupies the vast majority of the space in the building complex where both organisations sit as well as separate collections storage facilities in another building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas State Library and Archives Commission</span> Texas archival agency

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) refers to the state government agency in the state of Texas that supports the reading, learning, and historical preservation needs of Texas and its people. The agency is charged with preserving the archival record of Texas, supporting research, and making primary resources available to the public; assisting public, academic, and school libraries across the state in meeting the needs of their communities and students; helping public agencies maintain their public records; and supporting the reading needs of thousands of Texans with disabilities preventing them from reading a standard book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center</span>

The United States Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, is the U.S. Army's primary historical research facility. Formed in 1999 and reorganized in 2013, the center consists of the Military History Institute (MHI), the Army Heritage Museum (AHM), the Historical Services Division (HSD), Visitor and Education Services (VES), the U.S. Army War College Library, and Collections Management (CM). The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center is part of the United States Army War College, but has its own 56-acre (230,000 m2) campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina Museum of History</span> History museum in Raleigh, NC

The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana Historical Society</span> State historical society in Indiana, United States

The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) is one of the United States' oldest and largest historical societies. It describes itself as "Indiana's Storyteller".

The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center is a not-for-profit historical library, archive, and museum located in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. Its mission is to "protect, preserve and interpret books, manuscripts and artifacts of the Schwenkfelders and the people of southeastern Pennsylvania in general and the Perkiomen Valley in particular."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kansas Museum of History</span> State historical museum in Topeka, Kansas

The Kansas Museum of History is the state historical museum in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It presents Kansas history from the prehistoric to modern eras in 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of exhibits. The galleries feature a train, full-sized tipi in the Southern Cheyenne style, a 1950s diner, and many other large features. Major topics covered in the main gallery include Native American tribal history, westward movement on the Oregon and Santa Fe trails, early settlers, the Bleeding Kansas and Civil War eras, and Populism at the turn of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zane Grey Museum</span> Historic house in Pennsylvania, United States

The Zane Grey Museum in Lackawaxen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, is a former residence of the author Zane Grey and is now maintained as a museum and operated by the National Park Service (NPS). It is located on the upper Delaware River and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It contains many photographs, artworks, books, furnishings, and other objects of interest associated with Grey and his family.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Silverman, Sharon (2005). The State Museum of Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Trail of History Guide. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books. ISBN   0-8117-3214-2.
  2. Smith, Eric (2005). "The State Museum of Pennsylvania: A Centennial History, 1905–2005" (PDF). Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  3. "NRHP list of weekly actions, 7/28/14 through 8/1/14". National Park Service . Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Exhibits". The State Museum of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 July 2023.