Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission

Museum Collection

Our online collection tells the story of Pennsylvania by highlighting the history of the commonwealth's diverse objects.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) preserves Pennsylvania's most treasured objects at its historic sites and museums. These artifacts celebrate the commonwealth's social, cultural, natural, and economic diversity.

Explore the collections

You can explore Pennsylvania’s online collection of historical objects, archaeological artifacts, and natural history specimens. For historical documents and records, see the Pennsylvania State Archives’ online catalog.

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Search by keyword or use the advanced search to find artifacts by date, maker, materials, place of origin, and collection.

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Browse collections

View collections preserved by a variety of PHMC historic sites and museums.

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Featured artifacts

Edwin Drake's top hat

This black top hat made its most famous appearance in a photo taken in 1866 of Col. Edwin L. Drake and Peter Wilson standing in front of the engine house and derrick of the Drake Well.

Portable cut-off saw rig

The rig, preserved by the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, is designed to saw-to-length timber poles, limbs, fence posts, ties, and slabs that were no more than 6 to 8 inches in diameter.

Heisler Locomotive Works No. 4

This Heisler Locomotive, preserved by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, is one of only 35 Heisler products known to survive today.

Edwin Drake's top hat
Portable cut-off saw rig
Heisler Locomotive Works No. 4

Questions

For questions about PHMC’s museum collections, contact ra-phmccollections@pa.gov.