Pennsylvania

Places in this region

Museum of Mourning Art

Arlington Cemetery exhibit dedicated to death and grieving

Mourning and personal response to death are unique to every person. But the Museum of Mourning Art at Arlington Cemetery categorizes the motifs that are present throughout American art dealing... »

Cultures and Civilizations , Rites and Rituals | Edited by atimian

The Barnes Foundation

Dr Barnes' $25 billion private collection of art and arboretum

Imagine wandering around an estate in the green suburbs of Lower Merion, an affluent neighborhood just outside of Philadelphia. Every inch of every wall is covered in art from floor to ceiling.... »

Unique Collections | Edited by EmilyYaMei and atimian

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

Folk art environment, gallery space, and nonprofit showcasing the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens are a folk art environment, gallery space, and nonprofit organization that showcases the work of mosaicist Isaiah Zagar located at the site of Zagar's largest public... »

Outsider Art, Strange Statues, Architectural Oddities, Eccentric Homes, Mazes, Outsider Architecture, Obscura Day Location | Edited by Nicholas Jackson

Eastern State Penitentiary

World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane

Thrust into the middle of urban Philadephia is what looks like a great castle, a massive and haunting building. However, these walls weren't built to keep Crusaders and robbers out, but to keep... »

Ghost Towns, Incredible Ruins | Edited by Dylan, wythe and 3 others

Harry's Occult Shop

Century-old shop, specializing in Occult products

Open since 1917, Harry’s Occult Shop originally began as a traditional pharmacy. However, many of the first customers that came into the shop were african american southerners, who would... »

Rites and Rituals, Commercial Curiosities, Architectural Oddities, Curious Places of Worship | Edited by Lily Landes, Dylan and 2 others

Rehmeyer's Hollow

Home - and murder site - of the witch of Rehmeyers Hollow

Known locally as the Hex House, this was once the home of Pennsylvania Dutch "Pow Wow Doctor" Nelson Rehmeyer, until he was beaten to death in it in 1928 in a scuffle over curses and spells.... »

Disaster Areas | Edited by OctopusRex, Annetta and others

America's Oldest Operating Theater

America's oldest existing surgical theater, where you can practically hear the screams

In the early 1800s, an operating theater was quite literally that—a combination of surgical operating room and stage theater, complete with an unruly audience of young doctors, nervous... »

Medical Museums | Edited by Dylan, Annetta and others

Masonic Temple of Philadelphia

Huge masonic hall in Philadelphia with lavishly themed rooms

The Masonic Temple of Philadelphia, or as it's properly known "The Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic... »

Rites and Rituals, Curious Places of Worship | Edited by ShaneStringer, Annetta and others

Charles Willson Peale's Museum

The first natural history museum in the United States

Charles Willson Peale, an American portraitist, has largely been forgotten by the annals of museum history, but his studio-cum-gallery-cum-natural history museum was one of the first museums in... »

Wonder Cabinets, Natural History, Unique Collections | Edited by M Rebekah Otto, Annetta and others

The Shrine of Saint John Neumann

The body of St. John Neumann and his collection of hundreds of relics, on display in a Philly church

Upon his canonization, Saint John Neumann was exhumed and placed on display for veneration. First they removed some bones and cut them into small pieces to be set in very small, glass-covered... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by Dylan, commanderkeen and others