The Fort Pitt Museum, located in historic Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh, is a two-floor, 12,000-square-foot museum that tells the story of Western Pennsylvania's pivotal role during the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and as the birthplace of Pittsburgh. The Fort Pitt Museum offers both guided and self-guided tours, as well as programming for school groups and educators.
First opened in 1969 in a reconstructed bastion, the Fort Pitt Museum provides visitors with a rich understanding of the world-changing events that occurred at this location. Through interactive exhibitions, life-like historical figures, and recently added artifacts, visitors will learn the important role that this region played in shaping the United States.
The Museum, administered by the Heinz History Center, offers two permanent exhibits. The first covers the daily life of the 18th century residents of the upper-Ohio River Valley and features a diorama, fur trader's cabin, a replica cannon, and soldier's barracks. The second exhibit, Fort Pitt: Keystone of the Frontier, includes two audio-visual presentations on the French and Indian War as well as the American Revolution, dioramas of the various iterations of forts that occupied the Point, and numerous artifacts that deal with 18th century diplomacy, war, and trade.
The museum also offers living history events on summer weekends that demonstrate the proper way to load and fire a musket, 18th century music played by the museum's own fife and drum corps, and the firing of a British Light six-pounder cannon. Finally, also located at the museum is the original blockhouse or redoubt that was built in 1764. It is thought that this is the oldest surviving building is all of Western Pennsylvania.