A Union-Civil War drum from our Military History collections. ©SMPA

The State Museum’s collection includes materials that interpret the role of Pennsylvanians in our nation’s military past, from the colonial period to the present. This collection includes weapons, uniforms and equipment of the soldier, as well as items related to the war effort used by civilians on the home front. The collection is particularly strong in the area of the Civil War and in its Pennsylvania-made Kentucky rifles.

The Industrial History collection includes tools, machinery and equipment representative of Pennsylvania’s significant trades and industries. The collection also features transportation artifacts, such as horse-drawn wagons, carriages, sleighs, and automobiles. Highlights are a Conestoga Wagon and two early Pennsylvania-made automobiles.

Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. ®2005 SMPA Terms of Use/Copyright