Go back over a hundred years and take a new look at a period in Pittsburgh’s history often characterized by the extremes of late 19th-century America: fabulous wealth and grinding poverty.
Southwestern Pennsylvania
The southwestern corner of Pennsylvania is the area that was the original Washington County, formed on March 28, 1781. This is the land to the west of the Monongahela River, from the West Virginia line north and west and south of the Ohio River to the Ohio line.
Parts of the original Washington County are now Greene and portions of Beaver and Allegheny Counties. Both Pennsylvania and Virginia initially claimed this Southwestern Pennsylvania portion of the Commonwealth.
The first National Road, Route 40, came through our area, along with endless visits by the famous surveyors George Washington, Lafayette, George Rogers Clark, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and many other renowned people.
Join Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh Museums to learn more about the county's notable ancestry—and possibly your own.
Museums
The mission of the West Overton Museums is to illustrate the history of West Overton Village, its distillery, coal and coke heritage, and the birthplace of Henry Clay Frick.
Victorian Vandergrift Museum is located in the Old Sherman School, 184 Sherman Avenue in Vandergrift, which is currently undergoing massive renovations for our use.
The Museum, built in the 1850s, was a typical Greene County farmhouse made of locally fired brick. In the late 1800s, several wings were added, and it became the Poor Farm to house the county's indigents. They planted crops and raised farm animals that fed them.
ArtWorks Connellsville, located next to the Connellsville Canteen, is home to over 85 local and regional artists. It is the only art gallery and learning center of its kind in the area.
Zelienople Historical Society acquired the Passavant house in 1975, and today this historic building serves as a museum, the Lester Mohr Library, and the headquarters office for the society.
Come to Fort Ligonier and journey back two centuries to a place where the flag of His Majesty King George still flies! Relive the stirring days of young Colonel George Washington and General John Forbes and the encounters of the British and Americans against the French and Indians.
The Cal Lynch art studio and gallery building is located next to my home in the beautiful mountains above Confluence. Cal Lynch is a nationally recognized artist with paintings accepted in over a hundred juried shows around the country.
The Buhl House is the second historical house museum of the Zelienople Historical Society, located on South Main Street near Passavant House. Built in 1805, it is the oldest building in Zelienople, where Christian Buhl and his wife raised their eleven children.
The Fort Pitt Museum, located at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, showcases the strategic importance of the "Forks of the Ohio" during the French and Indian War and the early development of Pittsburgh.
Coal & Coke Heritage Center is focused on the coal and coke industries Connellsville Coke Region in the roughly hundred year span of 1870-1970 the captains of the sector whose vision, determination, tactics and resources were responsible for the emergence of industrial behemoths and the amass
Built in 1828 as a summer residence for Butler's only U.S. Senator, Walter Lowrie, this is the last remaining house of its type in the Butler area. A listing on the National Register of Historic Places honored its historical and architectural significance.
Founded in 1849, Waynesburg University (college) has a rich historical tradition. The University is proud to share its history and local history in the Paul R. Stewart Museum, located in the basement of Miller Hall on the main campus.
The Connellsville Canteen is a recreated "Business and Occupation". A train Station that commemorates the women who served the troops on trains passing through during World War II.
Red School House is the first public school in Butler, built in 1838 due to the Public School Act of 1836. It was used as a classroom until 1874, when a larger facility was built.
The Photo Antiquities Museum of Photographic History boasts an extensive collection of photographs, primarily dating from the 1840s to the 1950s. Photographs from the archives are now being cataloged and digitized into a computer indexing system.
G Squared Gallery is a decorative shop and gallery located in Ligonier. Nicely nestled into the corner between Citizens Bank and The Creamery, you can’t miss its vibrant storefront decor and festive window.
The original cabin, built by the Cooper family in 1810, was used as a county homestead. It was enlarged after the Civil War, and family descendants remained in it until 1963. In 1976, Cooper Cabin was deeded to the Butler County Historical Society.
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Military History Museum stand as a tribute to Pennsylvania's servicemen and servicewomen whose bravery has safeguarded the freedoms we enjoy.
McCarl Industrial & Agricultural Museum of Beaver County offers displays that demonstrate the history and development of manufacturing in the County. A forge demonstrates some of the basics of manufacturing.
David Bradford was a successful lawyer, businessman, and Deputy Attorney General of Washington County, Pennsylvania, when his house was completed in 1788. David Bradford and his family lived in this house from 1788 to 1794. By 1794, he had become a prominent figure in the "Whiskey Rebellion".
Dedicated to education, research, and conservation, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium participates in 25 Species Survival Plans and proudly exhibits 32 threatened or endangered species. Its expansive, naturalistic habitats offer immersive encounters with wildlife from around the globe:
Built in 1802, Greersburg Academy is the oldest public building in Beaver County and the oldest advanced education institution North of the Ohio River.
On a chilly, sunny Monday morning in late October 2008, a crowd gathered on the corner of 6th and McKean in the community of Donora, Pennsylvania.