State Museum of Pennsylvania
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2 Reviews for State Museum of Pennsylvania
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"Great Museum"
The state museum in Harrisburg is really nice, although it was better when it was free :) It does get a little expensive to go with a large family. However, they do have a large children's playcenter now with lots of hand-on activities that the little ones can do. It's a great trip to take once a year.
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"Fun with the Family"
This museum strives to describe the entire history and prehistory of the state. You’ll work your way down, starting at the third floor. There you’ll begin with geology and the earth and go on through paleontology, archaeology, and the beginning of civilization. In Dino Lab you can observe a real paleontologist at work, freeing a dinosaur skeleton from the rock. Using an intercom, you can ask questions about this painstaking process. A new planetarium offers shows from the stars, like images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Going down to the second floor, you can see a series of life-size dioramas that depict the life cycle of a Native American in this area. There are also displays aboutthe Revolution and the Civil War, including a huge mural of the Battle of Gettysburg. One gallery re-creates a typical early American Main Street.
Curiosity Connection, the State Museum’s new kid-inspired exhibit for young children and families, encourages children seven and under to explore, discover, and imagine through the power of play. The adventure begins in a Magical Child’s Bedroom and continues through secret portals leading to an entire miniature world of Curiosity.
Other areas include The Living Forest, Industry and Transportation Zone, Farm Land, Construction Zone, and Art Wall. There’s even a special area for the very youngest visitors. Curiosity Connection is open Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 A.M to 3:30 P.M., Sunday noon to 3:30 P.M. Admission for adults and children is $5. Children under age one are admitted free .
On the first floor the museum displays a facsimile of its treasure, the original charter from the British crown that gave Pennsylvania to William Penn in 1681. This charter granted William Penn “rights, privileges and obligations” to Pennsylvania, as a payment of debts owed to Penn’s father by King Charles II.
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