The nation’s fifth-most populous state and one of the original Thirteen Colonies, Pennsylvania is a state as historical as they come.
From the Lake Erie shoreline and the hills and hollers of the southwest to the urban centers of the east, Pennsylvania has seen revolutionary thought, battlefields, and industrial events that defined the history of the United States.
Around the arrival of European colonizers, the Lenape and Susquehannock peoples were among those who inhabited what became known as Pennsylvania Colony in 1681. The Europeans violently displaced the Indigenous Americans to claim land and forge new societies.
In the 18th century, cities like Philadelphia saw the blossoming of political thought that led to the American Revolution, a conflict that spread across the state and nascent nation.
Philadelphia, of course, served as the United States’ first capital, but Pennsylvania’s history doesn’t stop there. Let’s walk together through these 13 historic towns in Pennsylvania that will take you back in time.
Table of Contents
1. Valley Forge
While this historic town in Pennsylvania is no longer inhabited, Valley Forge stands as a monument to the state’s revolutionary history. Located within Valley Forge National Historical Park, this village served as the headquarters of the Continental Army during the winter of 1778 to 1779.
Sites in this village, now recreated, include the Isaac Potts House from which George Washington led the army.
2. Philadelphia
Instead of asking what historic events in the history of the U.S. did happen in Philadelphia, ask what didn’t. Philadelphia is not just one of the most historic cities in Pennsylvania, but rather one of the most historic cities in the United States.
Philadelphia was a hub for revolutionary thought and it was there that the Founding Fathers drafted and wrote both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Iconic revolutionary landmarks include the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the First Bank of the United States.
Long before Philadelphia became the first capital of the United States, the area was inhabited by the Lenape people. Quakers from England displaced the Lenape people starting in the 1680s.
Since then, Philadelphia has seen waves of immigration from freed Black Americans, Irish, Italian, and Puerto Rican immigrants, and recently people from all corners of the world. This history of immigration shows Philadelphia’s distinct cultural identity.
3. Carlisle
As a town, Carlisle is home to several historic places in Pennsylvania. For example, the Cumberland County Courthouse features a dented column due to a cannonball fired during the Civil War Battle of Carlisle, while the Old Graveyard is one of the first public graveyards in Pennsylvania.
Perhaps Carlisle’s most historic site is the infamous Carlisle Barracks. For nearly 50 years, the barracks served as a Native American boarding school where Indigenous children were separated from their families in an attempt to eliminate their cultural identity.
The Carlisle Barracks is a sobering reminder of the violent treatment of Native Americans in United States history. Today, the barracks house the U.S. Army War College, but you can explore the history of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through Dickinson College.
4. Germantown
Only six years after the founding of Pennsylvania as a colony, the village of Germantown saw the drafting of an important, though often overlooked, document in American history, one that opposed the enslavement of African peoples.
Germantown had a significant population of Quakers, a pacifist religious organization, who in 1688 drafted the Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery. The document is considered the first public documentation of the American antislavery movement.
Germantown’s history doesn’t end there — but you’ll have to visit this historic, old town in Pennsylvania to find out more.
5. Gettysburg
Gettysburg is among the most recognizable historic places in Pennsylvania for two reasons: it was the site of both the decisive Battle of Gettysburg and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
But did you know that the Gettysburg battlefield is also known for a hill steeped in the legend of a devilish serpent? Before the battle, locals referred to a boulder-covered hill as The Devil’s Den, for a supposed devil lurking among the rocks.
When I visited Gettysburg as a child, it was The Devil’s Den that most fascinated me. But Gettysburg is a critical place to visit to learn more about the American Civil War.
6. Uniontown
On July 4, 1776 — the same day the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence — the town of Uniontown was established some 240 miles to the west. I can’t imagine the holiday spirit every July Fourth for residents of this town.
Like other historic places in Pennsylvania, Uniontown was founded by Quakers, who supported the anti-slavery movement and served as an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Later in the 19th century, Uniontown saw significant workers’ rights movements during the 1894 coal miner’s strikes.
Lastly, I can’t talk about Uniontown without mentioning that the most iconic American sandwich, the Big Mac, was invented in 1967 by a local McDonald’s franchise owner.
7. Ohiopyle
At first glance, the tiny town of Ohiopyle may seem more famous for its waterfalls and hiking paths than its history. But the foggy, forested hills around Ohiopyle are home to two historic buildings by architect Frank Lloyd Wright — Fallingwater and Kentucky Knob.
In addition to its architectural history, Ohiopyle is also a 15-minute drive from Fort Necessity National Battlefield. This site commemorates the defeat of forces led by George Washington in 1754 during the French and Indian War.
8. Pittsburgh
If you want to learn about the industrial history of the United States, look no further than Pittsburgh. This city, built at a point of land where three rivers meet, has been a point of trade and commerce for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples.
Pittsburgh as we know it originated around the British Fort Pitt, whose remains can be visited where the three rivers meet Point State Park. Pittsburgh’s story as a historic city in Pennsylvania goes back to the American Revolution, when Fort Pitt was an important base of operations.
However, the city’s history is most known for its role in the labor union movement during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The city’s booming steel industry saw violent conflict between exploited workers and uber-rich industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick.
9. Erie
The shores of Lake Erie where Erie now sits were long inhabited people Indigenous people of the same name. The power of the Erie people waned as they clashed with the nearby Iroquois Confederacy over the fur trade in the 1700s.
Halfway through the century, French settlers constructed a fort on a small peninsula of land that would later become the city of Erie, a lakeport significant among the old towns in Pennsylvania.
Erie further developed as a port city during the War of 1812 between the U.S., Indigenous peoples, and Britain. The city constructed a great naval fleet to win the critical Battle of Lake Erie, the history of which today you can explore at sites like Perry Lighthouse and the Erie Maritime Museum.
10. Amish Village
Pennsylvania is known for the Dutch Country, where descendants of German immigrants have established a diverse cultural enclave. Some of these descendants are Amish, or practitioners of a Christian denomination who practice traditional, self-sufficient lifestyles.
You can experience the feel of historic towns in Pennsylvania Dutch Country at the Amish Village near Lancaster. Based around a farmhouse built in 1840, the Amish Village gives you a glimpse into the unique lifestyles the Amish promote.
As the Amish Village has connections with businesses from neighboring Amish communities, you can purchase locally-produced Pennsvylania souvenirs and products like furniture, quilts, and food.
11. Bedford
Nestled in the Allegheny Mountain Range, Bedford is a small mountain town in Pennsylvania. From a stately resort in Bedford, a town historically known for its medicinal mineral springs, President James Buchanan sent the first Transatlantic cable message to Queen Victoria of England in 1858.
The presidential history of Bedford doesn’t stop there. Some 60 years earlier, current President George Washington used the town as headquarters during the Whiskey Rebellion. He saw the conflict, sparked by taxes, as a threat to the U.S. Constitution.
In the sizeable Bedford Historic District, you can walk the path of these presidents and many other local historical figures.
12. Ligonier
Like several old towns in Pennsylvania, Ligonier began as a fort.
In this case, Fort Ligonier was a British fortification built in 1758 during the French and Indian War. Ligonier has preserved the fort, which you can visit alongside its world-class (and rather underrated) museum about the conflicts in North America in the 18th century.
Throughout the next century, Ligonier became an important town on turnpikes and railroads between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
But history isn’t always politics, industry, or war — in Ligonier, you can visit Idlewild Park, the historic amusement park founded in 1878 that is one of the nation’s oldest.
13. Lititz
A town of brick facades and charming streets, Lititz was incorporated as a town in 1756.
But its history begins over a decade earlier, when Moravian immigrants founded Linden Hall, the nation’s oldest all-girls boarding school, in 1746. For a century, only Moravians were allowed to live there, but the town hosted wounded soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
Lititz is also famous for its li-twists — the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery opened in 1861 as the nation’s first pretzel baker. To this day it’s still in operation, so swing by Lititz and don’t miss out on the beloved twisted, salty snack.
Conclusion
There is so much to learn about the history of the United States in Pennsylvania, from its early days and the boom of the Industrial Revolution to random curiosities that have had big ripples in U.S. culture.
With these 13 historic towns in Pennsylvania, you’ll get a good glimpse into this state and its richness. Have you explored Pennsylvania’s history? Tell us about some other towns and historical places in Pennsylvania down below.
