Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Cliff Street from Lackawanna Avenue
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Tel:
(570) 340-5200
The era of steam engines lives on at the Steamtown National Historic Site, near Scranton, Pennsylvania, and commemorates the history of railroading from 1850 to 1950, displays fascinating exhibits of steam locomotives and freight and passenger cars, many of which were originally part of Steamtown USA. The main financial backer of Steamtown USA, F. Nelson Blount, was killed in 1967, but his project survived and moved from Bellows Falls, Vermont, to Scranton in 1984. In 1986, Congress established the Steamtown National Historic Site, and the site officially opened in the summer of 1995.
The Steamtown National Historic Site museum offers a variety of demonstrations, tours, and excursions that show how railroads functioned in the steam era. Ranger-guided walking tours of the site cover topics as diverse as "Railroad Yards, Then and Now" and "From Here You Can Go Anywhere", and visitors have the opportunity to ride in a vintage-style train. After a visit to the site, you can find a variety of restaurants within easy walking distance, ranging from Cajun to Chinese.
To get to the Steamtown National Historic Site, take I-81 north to exit 185, then turn north onto Cedar Avenue, west onto Lackawanna Avenue, south onto Cliff Avenue and east onto Mechanic Street.