Our first stop in any new city is often the local history museum. It’s a good way to get our bearings, learn what’s important to locals and discover the events that have shaped the place we’ve come to explore.
In Pittsburgh, the sprawling 6-floor Heinz History Center fills that role. It’s Pennsylvania’s largest history museum and an admission ticket is good for two days to give visitors a chance to see it all.
If you stop by before October 5, 2025, start your visit with the museum’s newest exhibit, Pittsburgh’s Hidden History, which is filled rarely and never-before-seen objects that tell stories from the city’s past.
In a preview of the exhibit, museum staff were clearly excited about being able to put on display some of their favorite objects, including rare sports memorabilia, an Alcoa aluminum mini dress by legendary fashion designer Oscar de La Renta and the getaway sleigh used in an infamous shootout with the Pittsburgh police and the Biddle brothers following a prison break in 1902. (The dramatic story spawned Hollywood film, Mrs. Soffel, starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson.)
The museum calls this exhibit “a cornucopia of curiosity” and “a magical menagerie of memories.”
Here’s a preview.
