Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle

About this activity

If you LOVE history, then Pennsylvania is a pretty great state to be in! One of the great historic attractions that you can explore is the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle - yes, a castle!

Here, kids can go back in time and see what life was life during the 1850s, through the rooms and alcoves that you can explore within the museum. They can see first hand what daily life was like in a pre-Industrial world. We wonder how different it might have been to what life is like today - pretty different we imagine!

Within the Mercer Museum, there are over 40,000 objects that can show you how wonderful handmade items were, before machines came along and took over.

Kids can see a number of trade and domestic items, from hand tools to horse-drawn vehicles, that have been collected and preserved to showcase this fascinating period in time. 

About a mile from the museum is the Fonthill Castle, which was built to show off tiles and prints of Henry Mercer. For those who love architecture, it's an amazing mix of Medieval, Gothic and Byzantine!

Both these historic structures have permanent exhibits that bring everyday life in the USA during the 18th and 19th centuries back to life.

At the Mercer Museum, you can walk freely to any of the 55 rooms, and explore alcoves and exhibits. 

Fonthill Castle, with it's 44 rooms, and 18 fireplaces, can be seen via guided tour. 

A fascinating history filled day out in Pennsylvania!