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.

Beautiful museum with great art and an inspiring atmosphere…read more We attended on a free Friday night and saw their Spring exhibit. A lot to offer and it was filled with people enjoying the opportunity to visit. Wine and cheese served with crackers and custom sugar cookies. Enjoy the photos!

Great museum. Parking and finding entrance is a little hard to figure out from being out of town…read more They have details on their site but I still had some trouble. Definitely worth a visit if you're not sure.

This stately mansion is perched atop a hill overlooking the northwestern PA city of Meadville. It…read morewas built in 1843, and is presently owned by the Crawford County Historical Society which offers tours and other elaborate and unique events. It's a desirable destination for those who enjoy being engulfed in the past. It was referred to as the "Mount Vernon of Meadville" in the town's local newspaper in 1938.

Can't believe I am the first to review this place. If you are in the area, drop by and walk the…read moregrounds. They have tours of the main house Wednesday through Sunday starting at noon. Takes about an hour and a half. It's free but they ask for donations. Look it up online. To much local history to go into here but the place is fabulous inside.

Entry is $5 for anyone. The exhibits are fascinating! I enjoyed everything! If you are a Warren…read morecounty resident it is a must see!!

The Wilder Museum is one of the very best little local types of museums I've ever seen. It has over…read more3,000 exhibits, most of local interest but others that would score international interest such as the Joseph DeFrees antique gun collection. It's no ordinary collection. The guns of this collection are striking examples of the exceptionally rare and ultimate works of gunsmithing and metal engraving. Besides the 1963 Mercedes favorite car of National Forge owner Robert Wilder, there are all sorts of examples of the works and products of national forge. Then there are Indian artifacts and histories covering nearly 8,000 years of the county bordering Seneca Indian Nation. There is a good history of Seneca Chief Cornplanter along with the monument dedicated to his memory. With so many significant things you should at least plan upon a 3 hour visit as the war or military not only takes some time but contains exhibits that are real eye openers as to the history of the many military engagements depicted. I found the antique medical area, much of which I remember to be downright frightening. It's unbelievable how primitive our medical sciences were only as far back as the 40's and 50's. Overall it's a great museum, well worth seeing and a Yelp Five Stars with me.

The Erie Maritime Museum was a fun activity and am glad we checked it out. We were lucky to catch…read morethe last tour of the day for the US Brig Niagara which was definitely the highlight for me. It's impressive to see such a historic ship up close and learn about the sails and pulley system . Inside the main museum, be sure to set aside time for the theater video, which provides great context, and don't miss the upstairs exhibits--they're well worth exploring. The museum does a great job showcasing maritime history, and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

The Flagship Niagara League is a nonprofit that operates the Erie Maritime Museum and the U.S. Brig…read moreNiagara ship. The Erie Maritime Museum opened in 1998, and it is currently located inside the former generator station of the Pennsylvania Electric Company (PENELEC). The museum has exhibits for the War of 1812 and the Battle of Lake Erie as well as for the USS Michigan/Wolverine. The U.S. Brig Niagara warship is a replica of the one that Oliver Hazard Perry sailed during the Battle of Lake Erie against the British in 1813. In advance of my visit, I purchased tickets for my husband and me through the website. The cost was $85 per person to sail on the U.S. Brig Niagara and to tour the museum. (Customers may choose to tour only the museum for $10 or less, depending on age.) We had to sign online waivers. On the day of our sailing, we arrived early to tour the museum. We saw items such as maps of Lake Erie, diving helmets, swords, tools for shipbuilding, a cannon, ropes with different types of knots, etcetera. We also watched a short movie about the Battle of Lake Erie. The employees in the gift shop did not talk to us much, but other employees elsewhere in the museum helped us to find the meeting spot for the sailing. On the ship, we sailed for two hours from the bay and into the lake, and then we turned around to return to shore. The employees were training students to pull ropes to reposition the sails. The customers were allowed to help a little if we wanted, such as pulling ropes when told to do so, but we obviously were not allowed to climb up high to the sails. Employees inserted gunpowder into a cannon and shot it loudly into the lake. Tip: The temperature on the water is colder than the temperature on the land, so be sure to dress warmly enough. During my sailing, the temperature on land was in the 50s and on water was in the 40s. My husband and I felt cold in our hoodies and jackets, and so did the other customers.

$5 for adults $3 for students…read more Nice stop for 15-20 minutes if you're nearby. We parked on the street and put a couple quarters in the meter.

The Johnson-Shaw was the reason I was stopping in Meadville. Outside of Yelp, I'm a bit of a…read morestereoscopy-geek, so I was there to do some research. The museum is run by older volunteers who are very nice, and passionate about the company and city. It's in an old building, with very high ceilings and inadequate heat. (They are closed in winter.) I was there in April, shortly after they'd opened for the season, and it was still bitterly cold. They offered me a space heater as I worked in the library, but I was paranoid about fire risk with such a cool collection and declined to use it, opting to wear my coat instead. And did I mention I already had a cold? Don't do as I did. That was stupid. They wouldn't offer you a space heater that they felt was a fire risk. I suspect that they don't have air condition in summer, although I don't actually know. The museum is one big room that seeks to tell the history of the Keystone View Company, which was based in Meadville. They do so with mannequins set up to demonstrate different aspects of production and stereoscopic use, as well as stereoscopic pictures (original cards and blow ups). You read in books that Keystone was started with pictures of the French Creek flood, but I'd never seen those pictures before I came to the Johnson-Shaw. If memory serves, admission is about $5. Since I work in museums and don't often have to pay admission, it felt a little steep to me - but I was happy to pay it to support their mission. And, really, I'm just out of touch with what museum admissions look like these days, because $5 isn't so bad! If you're interested in stereoscopic pictures or the history of Meadville, a pop in to the Johnson-Shaw is worth your time. If you're really interested in stereo, make sure you allow time to look around their library, because they have some great stuff there, too.

ok, you came to evans city to visit the cemetery anyway, so all good…read more but... don't come here looking for the museum - it's no longer in evans city. they're now located inside the monroeville mall, filiming locaton for 1978's dawn of the dead. also, 3 separate auntie anne's pretzels. lol

I've ordered from the online store. It's been two weeks and no status updates. They will not return…read moreemails, phone calls, or Facebook messages. Really poor customer service. Suck a disappointment

We took a quick (2 hour) road trip to Salamanca to see this smallish collection of Seneca art and…read morehistory. It was well lit, clean, and interesting. Nice staff person.

Amazing experience and would love to return . Found the experience valuable and educationalread more

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 !

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!