I have been visiting the Watson-curtze mansion for many years from when I was young till now…read more one great place to learn about loads of local history + they always have something history related when I visit there. I remember when I was younger they had a room with robots dressed as historic figures talking about all the historic battles going on like the war of 1812 I would tell anybody who hasn't been there you have to visit there lots of great history inside there

While visiting friends in Ohio we discovered Lanterman's Mill, first built in 1845 and later…read morerestored in 1985. I am a lover of hiking, waterfalls, mills, bridges, gardens, historic places and tranquil spaces. Lanterman's Mill has all of this which makes a visit here nearly perfect. --- If you follow my reviews then you know I have a particular affinity for COVERED BRIDGES. When I discovered this place while doing a Google search of things to see in the area, I did not notice any pictures of a covered bridge. So it was beyond thrilling to walk behind the mill (where it is hidden from street view) and stumble upon it. For me, this was like finding a briefcase of money as I stood in total disbelief for several minutes. Not only was it a delightful surprise, it was beautiful and well maintained to boot, which is not always the case with covered bridges. Built in 1989, the covered bridge is not historic, but was designed in the likeness of other local bridges from the 1800's that farmers used to bring their grain to the mill. There is also a gorgeous arched street bridge that provides an excellent vantage point for photos of the mill & waterfall as well as another decorative suspension bridge just a half mile away. A 2-mile loop hiking trail known as East Gorge Walk and West Gorge Trail allows for wonderful views of the river gorge and leads you to the suspension bridge from the mill. These trails connect with the West Cohasset, East Cohasset, Axtmann and Old Tree Walking Trails and can more that triple your mileage as you explore the northern end of the park. --- OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST along the connecting walking trail are several ponds, small lakes, picnic pavilions, playgrounds and even a public golf course @ Mill Creek Metro Park. There is a Riverside Garden, Quarry Garden, Nature Center, and the ruins of a historic furnace built in the 1820's which produced approximately three to four tons of iron daily. Pioneer Pavilion, built in 1821 as a mill for carding and fulling wool is a rare surviving example of early 19th Century industry. It sits within view of the furnace. Cascade Gorge Natural Pool and an area known as THE FLATS round out some of the beautiful areas of interest near Lanterman's Mill. NOTE: The Flats are a lush grassy area surrounded by a horse fence. If you follow the fence you will notice an enormous tree in its path, which causes the fence to terminate and continue on the other side of the tree. Not sure what kind of tree it is, but it certainly seems to be very, very old based on the thickness of its trunk. It is easily more than 100 years older than any tree in its vicinity. FINAL THOUGHTS The Mill is a testimony to human determination. The current mill is the third incarnation. The first mill was built of logs and operated from 1799 to 1822. In 1823 the original mill was replaced by a second mill which operated until 1843 when a flood washed it away. A grinding stone from this mill can still be seen resting in the creek bed 500 feet downstream of the Falls. Lanterman's Mill ceased operations in 1888. [source: millcreekmetroparks.org] Lanterman's Mill itself is over 5-stories tall and has a very unique feature of having the waterwheel inside the basement of the mill. All the walking trails are free, but entrance inside the working areas of the mill are currently $3 for non-resident adults and $1 for students and seniors (July 2023). A butterfly garden is on site and during our visit we were graced with many birds, a groundhog, chipmunk and the largest most unusual forest mushroom we've ever seen. It is absolutely a stunning place in the summer. I can't even begin to imagine how magical it is in the Fall season as the trees change into their best outfits. Enjoy! BTW I've been trying my hand at TikTok & made a few videos of our visit to this mill if you care to see them: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8dqN8JM/ - https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8dVsHeW/ 2023 / 10

What a fun nice stop. It's so beautiful here. I remember we brought kids here when they were little…read moreand it had not been renovated. Now it's all fixed up and worth the tour and walk. Plenty of parking and a short walk to the mill. Then you can take a stroll along the creek and take history tour of the mill. They have a nice gift shop inside too. Take a picnic and enjoy the surrounding beautiful nature.

Incredibly knowledgeable staff. A true hidden gem for the weary traveler looking for an amazing…read moreplace to tick off of any bucket list. You should plan for at least 90 minutes. With 25 years under their belt, this is one of the greatest private museums around. Any true historian will love this find.

This is a wonderful museum tucked away off the Main Street in Conneaut Lake, PA. Not far from…read moreFireman's Beach. They have lots of interesting displays, and lots of things to read and look at. To do it justice, you might need to make several trips. They also have a "boat room," which houses the famous (infamous) boat called "Liberty II. It's really cool to see. This place is great, and very highly recommended... Cheers!!

Free and fun This…read morewas our first stop for exploring Erie. Highly recommend since they have a little visitor center area with maps and things to do in the area. Plus a fun nature center. The center highlights ship wrecks in Lake Erie, history, animal ecosystem, art and nature play. They also have a kids play area. Don't forget to climb the tower to oversee several stories above. The volunteers here were great. We learned about rocks in the area. Plus she gave us the hint about the volunteer boat tours.

This place is really great! It's a free nature museum offering video, hands-on play for kids, and…read moresome interesting history of the whole Lake Erie and local PA areas. Thanks to Tom Ridge for your enthusiasm and dedication to environmental education! Thanks to Erie for making this vision come alive! The location is perfect for exploring more of the local scenery, too! If nature is only part of your interest - it's really close to Waldemere amusement park. Unlike Six Flags or the sorts, you can purchase rides one by one and avoid the expensive all-day pass style park system. If camping, fishing, volleyball, or swimming float your boat - check out the shore along Lake Erie on Presque Isle (just keep driving a bit past TREC) and spend the day on the beach!

I stopped at the Hagen History Center on my way through Erie since I wanted to check out the Frank…read moreLloyd Wright office that they have on exhibit. The Hagen is located in a couple of buildings near Gannon University. Fairly recently the Hagen acquired the FLW office that he used in San Fransico near the end of his career; the Hagen built a special building to house the office along with other exhibits. While the FLW office has been on display other places, at the Hagen you are actually able to go into the office and look around, which is a real treat. To start the Hagen has a number of displays before you enter the office giving information on Frank Lloyd Wright, his designs and even identifies the buildings in the region that you can tour. The office itself is relatively small, just a compact reception area, 3 workstations and a small office that Wright used to meet with clients. The office has the feeling of being a Wright design, clean lines, natural materials, and innovation. An interesting element of the installation is that the Hagen has placed photos of what the office looked out to in the windows so you get an idea of how it looked in San Francisco. The Wright office is less spectacular than most Wright designs, it had to fit into a commercial building and was more of a satellite office for work in California. It is a nice visit if you are in the area or are a Wright completist. I did check out some of the Erie history exhibits on the second floor of the building, they seemed to be well presented and a nice look at various elements of Erie history. I was happy I stopped and checked out the Wright office at the Hagen, but it is not worth a special trip and there are much better examples of Wright buildings in the Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York that I would recommend you tour. This might be a great start if you are taking a trip through Erie to see Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob or doing the Buffalo Wright tour.

OH what fun ! stumbled upon this place right next to the Erie Art Museum - the place i never got…read moreinto beyond the front door( -see my other reviews ) The historical Society is on the top floor and looks a bit like a cluttered library stuffed full of books and, well, stuff ! The people inside saw me browsing and quickly came to ask if they could help and explained their hours etc they were very nice to me ! the Cashier's House is also in this building and even though it was in the middle of "moving within the building" they let me tour on my own anyways LOL it is a three story house and i accidentally went to the third floor unattended to have a look around no one seemed bothered by that even tho sightseers were supposedly not to go there the elevator took me right up there so...why not look around LOL ! ? not that security is lax cause there appeared to be cameras all about and on each floor - i wonder if anyone noticed me ? LOL LOTS of fun artifacts in the Cashier's House Victorian stuff to make is appear like a lived in home of that time period .... beside that there is a small Maritime museum of shipwrecks and an interesting but small room of Telephone history in Erie LOL LOTS of stuff in there it seemed well organised lots of old phones and phone books switchboards and wires and cables and insulators what a delight ! all in all a great visit for me even if i was the only one there for a good hour and oh yes .... the front desk guy let me in for free cause they were renovating the Cashier's House - i bet i never get THAT price again ! LOL !

BF and I did research before coming here so we knew what to expect. They give very limited tours…read moreand the areas are not all restored or furnished as such. Knowing this, I took a day off on a Friday to come to their 1pm tour. No one else was there so it ended up being a private tour for my BF and me. Our docent Elaine was a straight G for showing us all the areas (and more!), giving us colorful background, really emphasizing the significance of the place and her passion to maintain and preserve. While it's true that the entire upstairs have been converted to offices, Christmas displays and bridal suites, the first floor, and some extras (library, dinning room, sunroom, German pub room) were all still intact and interesting to tour. The staff was very welcoming and it genuinely was interesting to learn about Alliance, the engineering company and the descendants. The admission cost is $10 per person cash and I thought it was worthwhile for the hour+ tour. The grounds had an echo chamber that greatly amused us! Recommend stopping by here and checking out the cute antique shops in downtown Alliance! I had a wonderful day trip here.

This place really does look cool from the outside, but the self-guided tour of the inside fell…read moreshort. We were there for the holiday weekend tour and it was really crowded with not great crowd-management and not really much information about the home or the family. There was a brief hand-out with some basic information about each room, but really nothing really sparked my attention or jumped out here. I am still not sure what the family did or aware of any specific hidden gems in the mansion or anything significant about the architecture. The most interesting little detail were the trolls and owls carved into the molding upstairs in the library. I don't know, but maybe if we came back on a day that wasn't packed to the brim with people I would have felt more engaged? Or maybe more time to talk to the docents? For ten bucks per adult, I don't really think it was worth it. There were significant repairs needed and the house has not fully been restored. There are far more detailed and interesting tours of historic homes in the northeast Ohio area to visit. Either way, now we can say we've been and my son DID get to visit Santa Claus with virtually zero wait to do so. That's a win.

Been going here for 50 years . All the garbage has been cleaned up . Railing has been fixed , it's…read moretruly a beautiful place . It won't be long though when the view is gone , you can only see a very little bit of the river now because the trees are getting too tall . It needs cut all the way to the dirt road below like the old days when the whole river could be seen . Nice trails below , watch for snakes .

I saw this on the Uncovered Pennsylvania facebook page as a place to see…read more It is a lovely drive through rolling hills and fields. When I arrived, mid September, the air was crisp, cool and the leaves just giving a hint of changing. There are several park signs explaining the rivers and scenery. I'm glad I stopped.

The Christmas Memories display is wonderful- very nostalgic!!…read moreAnd the house is beautiful!!

This home is just beautiful during Christmastime. I was there during a week day, which was great…read morebecause it wasn't too busy. One of the docents told me that it is so packed that people can barely move through sometimes on the weekends. That said, I might suggest offering a slight discount rate for coming on a weekday. Even a couple bucks cheaper as an incentive to get people to come when it's less busy. I love the history and I love the thought and time that was put into each of the displays. Very interesting history and I know that I barely scratched the surface learning about this prominent Youngstown family. Loved the mid-century modern displays too. I'm sure it's appealing to my generation and older, because all of it is very familiar. Everyone who works here is very friendly. The gift shop sells some really cool vintage things and it is worth a look. I was excited to see that it was next to the Wick House, which is (or at least it was 30 years ago) a women's dorm where my friend once lived, so it was nostalgic to see that building. I hadn't realized it would be right next door. I believe that family was on the Titanic if my memory serves me correctly. Anyhow- do try to come during Christmastime to visit the Arns Museum. It's a great piece of local history.

This is such a gem in Cambridge Springs, PA. There is so much history and interesting things to…read morelearn about this wonderful, small town! Stop in and check it out!

I have been to this museum/historical society a few times in the past, but yesterday I stopped in…read moreto locate specific information on a bell that is on display at the grounds of the former Riverside Inn. The woman working at the museum, was able to provide information about the bell, and told me where it was from. This place is a hidden gem. Be sure to stop on your next visit to Cambridge Springs during business hours, which are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 10-4.