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Visit Pennsylvania's Historic Places
More than 1,000 museums and hundreds of historical sites tell of the Commonwealth’s rich, storied, and important past. Gettysburg and Philadelphia are best known, but the entire state is rich with historic preservation—as well as the kind of living history you can only find in a place that treasures its streetscapes and architecture. Pennsylvania boasts 30 National Park Service parks, trails, and landmarks.
And when you’re finished touring, great antique shops and local merchants offer unique, historic, and local merchandise. There are more than 130 farmers and artisans markets in Pennsylvania.
So when you get off the highway in Pennsylvania, you can truly take a trip to Unique!
History & Heritage Blog
Preserving American History: Valley Forge National Park
10/21/2019 - 1:06amIn December of 1777, a massive group of rebel soldiers began a grueling affair just 20 miles from Philadelphia. Troops arrived in the thousands to Valley Forge for the 3rd Winter Encampment of the Continental Army and the gathering was tremendous; hundreds of log huts were built, making the location one of the biggest cities in the colonies. Dis...
Read MoreListen to the Tower of Voices at the Flight 93 National Memorial
10/20/2019 - 11:12pmLocated on the ridge above the Memorial Plaza at the crash site, the Visitor Center Complex hosts the exhibit area, Learning Center, Allee and Western Overlook trailheads, and Flight Path Walkway and Overlook. The Memorial Plaza nearby is a one-mile drive from the Visitor Center Complex; the two walking trails can also be used to visit the Memor...
Read MoreCelebrate the Star Spangled Banner with a visit to Independence Square
10/20/2019 - 11:11pmInspired by the sight of the American flag still waving in the early morning air following the relentless British assault on Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, the poem that would later be known as the Star Spangled Banner actually did not become our official national anthem until 1931. Before that, we didn’t have a national anthem a...
Read MoreTerrifying Tourism: Explore Philly’s Eastern State Penitentiary
10/20/2019 - 11:10pmOpened nearly two hundred years ago, the world’s most expensive prison is now one of the scariest themed attractions around. The stone gothic structure, originally designed in Benjamin Franklin’s home and built with soaring 30-foot high fortress walls, was built with the intention to terrify those that entered its boundaries. Its dark past alone...
Read MoreDiscover 16,000 Years of History at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter
10/20/2019 - 11:10pmTravel back 16,000 years to western Pennsylvania this spring with a visit to the Meadowcroft Rockshelter. Sixty years ago, a Washington County, PA farmer struck something a little more valuable than gold: a soon-to-be major archaeological site that would yield over two million artifacts from the oldest site of human habitation ever discovered on...
Read MoreSteel Away to Pittsburgh for a look at Industrial Heritage
10/20/2019 - 9:07pmFounded on March 18, 1816, the City of Pittsburgh is celebrating its 201st birthday. The city forged its history at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. In the early 1800s, the city garnered a reputation for its dramatic industrial development, boasting glass factories, breweries, iron mills and a steam engine factory. E...
Read MoreFebruary in Philadelphia: Visit The National Constitution Center
10/20/2019 - 9:02pmSpend February in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center, where America’s most treasured document is celebrated, shared, and discussed with all kinds of people. It is here that the coastal colonies of North America finally changed the course of history, making the daring decision to take their ruling into their own hands. Nicknamed the...
Read MoreHistoric Ghost Walks and Haunts
09/15/2019 - 3:01pmTrick or treat yourself to one of Pennsylvania’s haunted attractions and historic ghost tours this October. Whether you genuinely enjoy being scared out of your wits or you just like learning about an area’s history, Pennsylvania’s storied past is the perfect setting for a supernatural experience that will send a chill up your spine. F...
Read MoreSteamtown Railfest
08/30/2019 - 10:37amLocated on a working railroad yard in Scranton, Steamtown USA is one of the country’s most unique National Historic Sites and one of the few that dedicates itself to the story of industrialization in the United States. The museum at Steamtown’s 40-acre site details the history and technology of locomotives in America and Pennsylvania,...
Read MorePittsburgh’s Best Distillery and the Whiskey Rebellion Trail
07/27/2019 - 12:00pmIn 1791, the federal government imposed its first tax on a domestic product: all distilled spirits. But American whiskey was by far the country’s most popular distilled beverage so what became known as “the whiskey tax” rapidly sparked civil disobedience, violence, tax evasion, and intimidation tactics throughout the western states and the front...
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