Misplaced Pages

#26973

33-517: The Heinz History Center is a 275,000-square-foot (25,500 m) educational institution "that engages and inspires a diverse audience with links to the past, understanding in the present, and guidance for the future by preserving regional history and presenting the American experience with a Western Pennsylvania connection." In 2024, the Heinz History Center was named the best history museum in

66-402: A National Historical Park may include more than one National Historic Landmark and contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed or registered. Prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of

99-809: A living museum, with re-enactors recreating rural life in the 19th century Upper Ohio Valley. Since 2010, the History Center has operated the Fort Pitt Museum , a two-floor, 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m) museum located at Point State Park . The museum tells the story of Western Pennsylvania’s pivotal role during the French and Indian War , the American Revolution , and as the birthplace of Pittsburgh. 40°26′48″N 79°59′32″W  /  40.4466°N 79.9922°W  / 40.4466; -79.9922 Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania

132-522: A museum" captures the Pittsburgh region's evolution and influence as a sports leader over more than a century, from amateur to pro and across the spectrum of sports. The Sports Museum captures tales of Pittsburgh sports through hundreds of artifacts, more than 70 hands-on interactive exhibits, and 20 audio-visual programs. Select artifacts include Franco Harris ' " Immaculate Reception " cleats; Mario Lemieux 's hockey skates; Satchel Paige 's baseball glove;

165-474: Is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encompassing the western half of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie , Altoona , and Johnstown are its other metropolitan centers. As of the 2010 census, Western Pennsylvania's total population is nearly 4 million. Although

198-709: Is an exhibit in its own right. The History Center features the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Detre Library & Archives, and six floors of permanent and changing exhibitions that tell the story of Western Pennsylvania. The History Center features permanent exhibitions including: Located in the Smithsonian wing of the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum spans 20,000 square feet (1,900 m) of exhibit space over two floors. The "museum within

231-465: Is an extensive scholarly resource documenting 250 years of life in Western Pennsylvania. The collection includes books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, atlases, newspapers, films, recordings, and other memorabilia. The History Center also operates Meadowcroft Rockshelter , a world-renowned archaeological site south of Pittsburgh near Washington County 's Avella community. The Rockshelter

264-503: Is named for John Heinz , a former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania who died in a 1991 plane crash. The century-old Chautauqua Lake Ice Company building was renovated and adapted by the Pittsburgh office of the architecture firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson , who did the design and oversaw construction. The interior was designed to show off the building's features, as well as create spaces for exhibits and support space. The museum building

297-512: Is reinforced by the state supreme court holding sessions in Pittsburgh, in addition to Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Since at least the early twentieth century, scholarly books such as Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania , published by the University of Pittsburgh Press (1938), formally define the region as the twenty-six counties west of the Appalachian Divide , a meridian from

330-540: Is the oldest site of human habitation in North America, with evidence of humans living there for nearly 19,000 years. The site was named a National Historic Landmark in 2005. The site also includes a recreated 16th century Monongahela Indian Village and 1770s Frontier Trading Post. Adjacent to the Rockshelter is a historic village featuring 19th century structures relocated to the site. The History Center operates this as

363-550: The Allegheny National Forest , and is the heart of Pennsylvania's oil and gas economy. Western Pennsylvania is home to more than two dozen institutions of higher learning, including those listed below. (Seminaries are not listed) Western Pennsylvania is distinctive from the rest of the state by several important and complex factors: Pittsburgh boasts three major league sports teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers of

SECTION 10

#1732852006027

396-807: The Allegheny River , which flows southward from the New York border, and the Monongahela River , which flows northward from West Virginia . Both rivers meet in Downtown Pittsburgh and join to form the Ohio River , which from that point flows an additional 981 miles (1,579 km) southwest to the Mississippi River . The juncture of the Allegheny and Monongahela was historically regarded as strategic and

429-641: The Appalachian Mountains enter Pennsylvania from the south. To the west and north of this point lies the Allegheny Plateau , a dissected plateau so eroded that it appears to be an interminable series of high hills and steep valleys. The peaks in the area are among the lowest in the East Coast highlands, but what they lack in height they make up in wide extent of land covered, which forms a vast formidable barrier for mile upon mile to overland travel from

462-635: The Frontier League , an MLB partner league. National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark ( NHL ) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks. A National Historic Landmark District sometimes called

495-844: The Historic American Buildings Survey amassed information about culturally and architecturally significant properties in a program known as the Historic Sites Survey. Most of the designations made under this legislation became National Historic Sites , although the first designation, made December 20, 1935, was for a National Memorial , the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis , Missouri. The first National Historic Site designation

528-1069: The National Football League , the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball , and the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League . Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Panthers is an NCAA Division I college team. Erie and Johnstown both have junior ice hockey teams as well. The Erie Otters play in the Ontario Hockey League and the Johnstown Tomahawks play in the North American Hockey League . There's also an independent pro baseball team in Washington. The Washington Wild Things play in

561-606: The United States Congress . In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act , which authorized the interior secretary authority to formally record and organize historic properties, and to designate properties as having "national historical significance", and gave the National Park Service authority to administer historically significant federally owned properties. Over the following decades, surveys such as

594-819: The 50 states. New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states: Virginia , California , Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, the latter of which has the most NHLs of all 50 states. There are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia . Some NHLs are in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states . There are 15 in Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and other U.S. commonwealths and territories ; five in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia ; and one in Morocco . Over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. Approximately half of

627-522: The Commonwealth does not designate Western Pennsylvania as an official region, since colonial times it has retained a distinct identity not only because of its geographical distance from Philadelphia , the beginning of Pennsylvania settlement, but also and especially because of its topographical separation from the east by virtue of the Appalachian Mountains , which characterize much of the western region. The strong cultural identity of Western Pennsylvania

660-634: The National Historic Landmarks are privately owned . The National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks . A friends' group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect and promote National Historic Landmarks. If not already listed on

693-608: The National Register, or as an NHL) often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the listing procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9, 1960, 92 places, properties, or districts were announced as eligible to be designated NHLs by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton . Agreements of owners or responsible parties were subsequently obtained, but all 92 have since been considered listed on that 1960 date. The origins of

SECTION 20

#1732852006027

726-527: The United States by readers of USA Today as part of their annual Readers' Choice poll. In 1879, a club called Old Residents of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania was founded. In 1884, leaders changed the organization's name to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (HSWP); it has been operating continuously since then and is the Pittsburgh region's oldest cultural organization. HSWP began

759-485: The United States secretary of the interior because they are: More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States. There are NHLs in all 50 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C. Three states ( Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , and New York ) account for nearly 25 percent of the nation's NHLs. Three cities within these states, Philadelphia , Boston , and New York City , respectively, all separately have more NHLs than 40 of

792-461: The coast. The city of Erie is the business center and cultural hub of Northwestern Pennsylvania. The compiled population of the region was estimated to be 938,516 in 2015. Although the only county with population growth was Butler , the deficit for all other counties was within 3%. The region also includes the Erie-Meadville, PA Combined Statistical Area . Northwestern Pennsylvania is home to

825-578: The first National Historic Landmark was a simple cedar post, placed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their 1804 outbound trek to the Pacific in commemoration of the death from natural causes of Sergeant Charles Floyd . The cedar plank was later replaced by a 100 ft (30 m) marble obelisk. The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa , was officially designated on June 30, 1960. NHLs are designated by

858-554: The gateway to the interior of the continent from the east. At various times this juncture has been called the Forks of the Ohio, Fort Duquesne , Fort Pitt , the Golden Triangle, and today, at its apex, Point State Park . Incredibly, after several decades of border war and 150 years of high-rent city-center urbanization, the original 1764 blockhouse from Fort Pitt still stands here and is one of

891-566: The north at McKean County down and along its eastern border and ending in the south at Bedford County . In alphabetical order those counties are: Long recognized as a powerhouse of American industry, Western Pennsylvania is a large geophysical and socio-economic entity. It encompasses that portion of the state to the west of the Appalachian divide and included within the Mississippi drainage system of rivers. The largest rivers in this area are

924-713: The oldest buildings in the region. Other notable rivers are the Youghiogheny River , flowing north from West Virginia and western Maryland to join the Monongahela just upriver of Pittsburgh, and which was the early route of penetration into Western Pennsylvania, the Kiskiminetas River , French Creek , a major passageway between Lake Erie and the Allegheny River for the Indians and early French explorers and traders, and

957-469: The pitching rubber from the 1960 World Series; Billy Conn 's boxing gloves and light heavyweight champion belt; Arnold Palmer 's sweater and golf bag; Chip Ganassi 's 2000 Indy 500-winning race car; the "Ultimate Steelers Fan's Car;" the Homestead women swimmers Olympic medals from the 1920s and 1930s; and hundreds of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cards . The History Center's Detre Library & Archives

990-509: The renovated historic warehouse were completed in Pittsburgh's Strip District . The Society celebrated the opening of the new museum by hosting an inaugural gala there on April 26, 1996, for 900 guests. In 2004, the Smithsonian wing was completed, adding a gallery for changing exhibitions from the Smithsonian Institution , a Special Collections Gallery, an Education Center, and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. The History Center

1023-584: The small Oil Creek in Crawford and Venango counties, where slicks gave an indication of petroleum reserves and in whose watershed the first oil well in the United States was drilled. The highest point in Pennsylvania, Mount Davis , reaches 3,213 feet (979 m), and is located near the southern border of the state in Somerset County, approximately 100 miles (160 km) east of the southwestern corner, where

Heinz History Center - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-574: The tradition of interpreting public history in 1911, organizing the centennial of steamboat navigation in Pittsburgh. In 1955, it led the organization of the city's bicentennial celebration. During its early years, HSWP leaders held meetings in homes and churches, but in 1893, were granted space for the organization's archives at the new Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood. By 1914, HSWP had its own building on Bigelow Boulevard. It operated there until 1996, when its expanded quarters in

1089-716: Was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17, 1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the survey data gathered under this legislation, and the National Historic Landmark program began to take more formal shape. When the National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966, the National Historic Landmark program was encompassed within it, and rules and procedures for inclusion and designation were formalized. Because listings (either on

#26973