Sitting in the middle of Wall Street diagonally across from the New York Stock Exchange is an old customs house on the site where George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. The building was completed in 1842 in classical revival style by one of the first architecture firms in the city, Read more
Ubiquitous tenement buildings are a staple in New York popular culture. The red brick buildings with a fire escape hanging off the outside wall are featured on the silver screen and in music videos across decades. The Tenement Museum is inside an 1880s tenement that it bought in 2011 with Read more
In 1860, the North had virtually unlimited credit, over 80% of deposits, and the bulk of industrial power while the south was poor and relied on slavery. Americans have instituted slavery for 240 years, more than half of the country’s existence. The Civil War began at Fort Sumpter in Charleston, Read more
The museum near the Hershey chocolate factory is a combined bus and car museum. I like how it arranged cars by period in scenes from the decade such as in a drive-in theatre, a used car lot, or a gas station. The Tucker exhibit with original 1948 cars, items from Read more
The museum in state capital Harrisburg is one of the few state museums in the northeast that aren’t free. It’s just across the street from the Pennsylvania State Capitol so hold on to your ticket in case you need to come back after a capitol tour. I recommend starting from Read more
This is America’s first Amish museum established in 1956. It’s east of Lancaster deep in Pennsylvania’s Amish country. The region also has Quaker and Mennonite families. There are now 43,000 Amish people in Lancaster County, out of 370,000 in the world. Over 40% of the state’s revenue comes from dairy Read more
Many Swiss and Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania staying in the heartland and planting native wheat and corn for sustenance in the 17th century. They escaped religious persecution in Europe for their Anabaptist beliefs. Pennsylvania became known for thrifty farmers, German beer, and accurate clocks. By the 18th century, there were Read more
Milton Hershey opened his first business selling confectionary, fruits and nuts in Philadelphia when he was 18, coinciding with the 1876 Centennial Exposition. However, he didn’t see success and went bankrupt in 1882 after his father joined his business and then left him to pay the bills. He finally got Read more
Right in the state capitol complex in Charleston is a cultural centre with a museum underground. It’s a noisy museum with audio playing in every gallery interpreting state history. The audio overlaps in the corridors. It’s also a very southern museum. European invaders who duped the natives out of their Read more
All car museums are laid out the same way, I’ve been to enough of them to know. There’s always a big entranceway with a two-tiered display of a couple of dozen cars angled toward the visitor. The whole thing started when the depression-era bootleggers needed to run from the law. Read more