History museum · Harrisburg, Dauphin County
State Museum of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's story from dinosaurs to the industrial age, told beside the Capitol, with Peter Rothermel's enormous painting of Pickett's Charge and a planetarium.
What you will find
- Museum or exhibits
- Observatory
Make a day of it
Nearby
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Pennsylvania State Capitol
A grand 1906 capitol under a dome modeled on St. Peter's in Rome, its interior rich with Moravian tile floors, murals, stained glass and marble, shown on guided tours.
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Susquehanna Art Museum
Harrisburg's art museum, with changing exhibitions of regional and contemporary art in Midtown, a few blocks from the river.
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Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts
Hands-on science galleries, a giant-screen cinema and a performing-arts theater under one roof in downtown Harrisburg.
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National Civil War Museum
Set in Reservoir Park, this museum tells the whole story of the Civil War, from its causes to its aftermath, through artifacts, letters and dioramas that give both Union and Confederate perspectives.
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Fort Hunter Mansion and Park
A Federal-style stone mansion on the site of a French and Indian War fort, set in riverside parkland along the Susquehanna with traces of the Pennsylvania Canal and a rebuilt covered bridge.
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Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area
Outsized trees of many species shade the slopes of Blue Mountain here, alive with warblers in spring, while a hillside meadow fills with butterfly weed and butterflies in midsummer.
