A Patriotic Family Road Trip in Pennsylvania

Independence Hall

Philadelphia, PA

Where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were both debated and signed.

Liberty Bell Center

Philadelphia, PA

The cracked bell inscribed "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land," steps from Independence Hall.

Carpenters' Hall

Philadelphia, PA

The meeting place of the First Continental Congress in 1774, still owned by the Carpenters' Company that built it.

Christ Church

Philadelphia, PA

The church where Washington, Franklin and other Founders worshipped. Benjamin Franklin is buried in its burial ground nearby.

Betsy Ross House

Philadelphia, PA

The colonial home of upholsterer Betsy Ross, who tradition holds sewed the first American flag.

Fort Pitt Museum

Pittsburgh, PA

A museum at the Point, where the French Fort Duquesne and the British Fort Pitt stood over the Forks of the Ohio.

Fort Pitt Block House

Pittsburgh, PA

A redoubt built in 1764 as part of Fort Pitt, the oldest building in Pittsburgh.

Bradford House

Washington, PA

The 1788 home of David Bradford, a leader of the Whiskey Rebellion who fled when Washington sent troops in 1794.

Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg, PA

Three days in July 1863 that decided the Civil War and inspired the greatest American speech ever given.

Brandywine Battlefield Park

Chadds Ford, PA

Site of the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the largest single-day battle of the Revolution.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Farmington, PA

The reconstructed stockade where young George Washington surrendered to the French on July 3, 1754, opening the French and Indian War.

Bushy Run Battlefield

Jeannette, PA

The site where British troops under Colonel Henry Bouquet fought their way through to relieve Fort Pitt in August 1763.

Valley Forge National Historical Park

Valley Forge, PA

Where Washington's Continental Army survived the brutal winter of 1777-78 and emerged a real fighting force.

Elfreth's Alley

Philadelphia, PA

A narrow street of 18th-century homes, among the oldest continuously inhabited residential streets in the country.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter

Avella, PA

A rock overhang with evidence of human use going back thousands of years, among the oldest such sites in North America.

Old Economy Village

Ambridge, PA

The 1820s town of the Harmony Society, a religious community that grew rich on industry along the Ohio.

Carrie Blast Furnaces

Swissvale, PA

Two blast furnaces from the Homestead Works, a National Historic Landmark and rare survivor of Pittsburgh's steel age.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site

Point Marion, PA

The country home of Albert Gallatin, Treasury Secretary to Jefferson and Madison, who paid down the national debt and financed the Louisiana Purchase.

Pennsylvania State Capitol

Harrisburg, PA

Theodore Roosevelt himself dedicated this Harrisburg capitol in 1906, calling it "the handsomest building I ever saw."

Museum of the American Revolution

Philadelphia, PA

Opened in 2017, its collection includes the tent George Washington used as his field headquarters during the war.

National Constitution Center

Philadelphia, PA

A museum devoted to the Constitution, with Signers' Hall's life-size bronze statues of the delegates.

Heinz History Center

Pittsburgh, PA

Western Pennsylvania's history museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, with sets from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum

Pittsburgh, PA

A memorial hall dedicated in 1910 to Allegheny County's Civil War veterans, now a museum of every war since.

Flight 93 National Memorial

Shanksville, PA

The field where United Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001, after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers.

Cathedral of Learning Nationality Rooms

Pittsburgh, PA

Classrooms in the University of Pittsburgh's 42-story tower, each designed by an immigrant community in its homeland's style.

Duquesne Incline

Pittsburgh, PA

A cable railway up Mount Washington opened in 1877, still running its original cars.