a great museum with great exhibits the portray the people and events that made Pittsburgh what it is today from Heinz ketchsup to Mr Rogers and everything in between. The museum is very large and spread out over 5 floors. Lots of fun and very informative place to visit!
We were staying at the Hampton Inn right in front of the museum so we took the time to go and visit. Very nice old building. We loved the Sports section and the Heinz exhibit!
This is a really great place to go to educate all ages about Pittsburgh History. The kids enjoyed...the out-of-towners enjoyed...and the Locals enjoyed as well:-)
If you're new to Pittsburgh, or a native looking to expand your knowledge of our city, the Heinz History Center is well worth a visit. There are 5 floors' worth of exhibits and a library on the 6th floor. General Admission grants you access to most of what the History Center has to offer and is well worth the price. Permanent exhibits cover the history of Pittsburgh, sports teams, and Heinz, along with the major businesses and industries of western PA. There's an exhibit for our sports teams, and a kid-friendly area as well, though we didn't get to those on our visit. Highly recommend checking out the steamboat Arabia and the glass exhibits!
The area on slavery and the mister Rogers exhibit were informative. If you like sports then you will enjoy that section otherwise it was tedious reading about Pittsburgh. Actually my kids like the fort museum much better. It was only about 1.5 hours long but they liked the topic of Indians and British. It is simple but informative
Excellent place to visit- it is located at the end of the Strip District. They have good exhibits and lots of Pittsburgh things. The sports section is good. Nice place to come when you visit here, and check for special exhibitions.
Always a good visit, got to lean a lot about the Revolutionary War in Western PA as well as Lewis and Clark's expedition. (through the Rooney's family eyes). The sports museum is a bonus with some little known facts to learn. We will be back next trip for more new information about the history of this region.
If you've never been to the Heinz History Center - to make the most of the admissions fee... plan a trip when there's a Exhibit you would like to see. They have some standard exhibits all the time, about general Americana, history of Pittsburgh (HEINZ and other business from our great region) and our sports teams. Now if you are really into history and museums, then a membership here also gets you into a list of other locations here & elsewhere. We got a membership and have seen the Vatican exhibit (and I'm not even Catholic & enjoyed), and a couple others. There are some activities for children to keep them engaged, but I haven't gone with any children so I can't judge if there are enough. One suggestion - If you are able to walk the stairs (up or down) try not to miss this (timeline) while counting the steps.This trip was during a rainy winter day. It was appreciated that they carved out a coat room, but it's not staffed (honor system); and I'm sure you could use it for strollers (if you really want to give up that convenience). Note: as far as I know, the only restrooms are located on the ground floor (6 floors of exhibits).
I'm from Pittsburgh, but moved away after college, but my husband and I go back to visit frequently. On one of our last trips I decided to show him some Pittsburgh culture by taking him to the Heinz History Center. We spent close to three hours there and barely made it through three floors of exhibits. We explored the first floor with the really cool large scale Pittsburgh items- a streetcar, an amazing stainless steel automobile by Alcoa, a genuine covered wagon, and a car from the roller coaster the racer, to name a few. We went through the Steamboat Arabia exhibit which was well laid out and very interesting. We saw one floor of Pittsburgh history from ancient times to modern day. Did you know that the area around Pittsburgh was one of the first areas settled on North America? Or that Johnny Appleseed got hist apple seeds from the Pittsburgh area? My husband kept being impressed by the plethora of cultural phenomena that got there start in the 'burgh. We also had time to go through the glass exhibit, which was beautiful informative and interesting. At that point though we ran out of time. There was so much more we wanted to see, and we will definitely go back. Make this a stop on your tour for sure!
The history center as a partner with the Smithsonian is a must see for Pittsburghers as well as out of town visitors with the time to spend most of a day there. We are members which is a great value and the center always has interesting special exhibits like Mister Rogers now. The older kids like it also.