The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (HSWP) is a cultural organization in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

History

After several attempts during the early and mid-century to establish a historical society, an organization called Old Residents of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania was formed on January 10, 1859. Five years later the group changed its name to Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Now the region's oldest cultural organization, HSWP does business as and operates both the

Senator John Heinz History Center The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsylvania, it i ...

and the

Meadowcroft Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an archaeological site located near Avella in Jefferson Township, Pennsylvania. The site is a rock shelter in a bluff overlooking Cross Creek (a tributary of the Ohio River), and contains evidence that the area may ha ...

History Center

The History Center opened in 1996 in Pittsburgh's Strip District and receives funding from various private, foundation and governmental sources as well as public sources including the

Allegheny Regional Asset District The Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD) is a special purpose unit of local government in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Its physical boundaries are the same as those of Allegheny County, and include the City of Pittsburgh. History The distr ...

. The Detre Library and Archives on the sixth floor are free and open to the public to use. The History Center includes the Library & Archives, which preserves hundreds of thousands of books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, atlases, newspapers, films and recordings documenting over 250 years of life in the region; and the

Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsy ...

, a museum-within-a-museum documenting Pittsburgh's extensive sports legacy. Historical societies in Pennsylvania {{US-hist-stub