We visited the museum as the Flood Museum was, ironically, closed due to water damage. The change in itinerary ended up being a good thing as the Center was surprisingly informative, interactive as we toured the Center as a particular immigrant, and the staff were super helpful! Barb guided us through the flood exhibit on the third floor & recommended other places in town to visit & eat at. We also hope to bring our grandkids back to visit the children's area. read more

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This is well worth visiting if you're in the Johnstown area, or even coming out from Pittsburgh if you're looking for a good children's experience. It embraces the town's heritage while keeping it fun for the kids. Sadly, most of the negative reviews on here are out of date and don't really apply anymore. We became members and took our kid here every day for the last three days and he never tired of it! He loved all the interactive experiences and toys, but especially going up through the coal mine and slide. He loved the kitchen area and the DJ booth. The other kids there seemed to all be really enjoying themselves there, too. We have been to about a dozen kids' discovery centers in two different countries in the past two years and this is one of the better ones, if not the best. The employees do an excellent job keeping the place clean and tidy, and are friendly, too. Previous old reviews seemed to complain that several things were broken or worn out, but that wasn't the case now. read more

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With a three year lapse between my initial review and this update, things have changed. Not for the better. On the initial visit I have to say that everything looked so much brighter and well taken care of, this time around you can see the wear and tear; also nothing is really lasting well. The size and amount of exhibits have drastically shrunk. There is still five floors, but there is really nothing to look at past the third floor. The main draw here for adults is the immigration exhibit. Sad thing is that it hasn't fared well over time. Noticeable everywhere you look here, from drab carpeting, to a missing light bulb, to many other things that are too numerous to mention. The main draw here for children is the third floor which is designated as the Children's Museum. This floor has held up much better than any other floor. There is the rooftop garden that looked as if they needed to do some weeding. The interactive water exhibits are fun, but might need to be cleaned a bit, some exhibits are missing pieces, worn down to the point that they don't work properly, or in one instance needs to be cleaned thoroughly. I believe it looks like mildew could be inside. The coal mining interactive exhibit is pretty fun if you are little. The slide still hurts to go down. And the company store/kitchen exhibit can definitely keep any child busy for hours, maybe even some adults. Sadly I don't think that a return visit is warranted after this visit. The only way I would go back is if there is a massive overhaul of the museum. Update and/or add exhibits, utilized the space better, and take care of what you already have on premise. read more

Heritage Discovery Center - The mining interactive exhibit in the children's museum part. - Museums Near Me - Johnstown, Pennsylvania

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Hubs and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. The museum is broken into many floors - the 1st is the immigrant experience, the 3rd and 5th are local artifacts and the 4th is the childrens museum. *Immigrant Experience This was entertaining and informative! I recommend getting the immigrant card so that, as the desk person said, the system can 'yell at you' in a few places. It doesn't really yell of course, but it does give you a good feel for the discrimination one would have felt. This part of the museum as a good amount of interaction to keep you engaged and is set up to feel like you're walking through a town/mine/etc. My biggest criticism is that many of the audio features didn't work. It was things like 'voice of an immigrant' so I still feel like I learned a lot but it was sad to see so much non functional *Local exhibits These were really neat, but limited in scope. I hope the museum is able to collect more to expand what you can see. *Childrens museum We popped in here even though we are kid free. As a kid it would be a dream, as an adult, we still found some of the games fun. You can build your own 'damn' and click a button to have the water rush down to see if your damn holds up and if not it washes sponge houses away. Thats fun, even for an adult *Steel theather This is a must do! There is a 10 minute video on the history of discovering how to make steel from iron that includes great sound rumbling and some heat lamps to give you a feel for what it might be like at the plant. There are also some beautiful pictures of the abandoned mills and some artifacts from locals who spent their entire working career at the mills. read more

This is a cute little spot in Johnstown but a lot of the children's exhibits are closed or broken and they don't mention that before you get there. We usually only go to the children's section. The water section is broken. The slides are closed. The dress up is closed. The garden is closed. It'd be nice if they'd warn you about that or reduce the cost. There's not a whole lot to do these days there. read more

Nice interactive museum. Guest pick a character and you go through the process of immigration to Johnstown at the turn of the century. Lots of info on life back them with the Cambria Iron Works. read more

The Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center in downtown Johnstown is really awesome! It's five floors dedicated to the history, culture, geography of the greater Johnstown region. The first floor is America Through Immigrant Eyes, where it tells the life and times of immigrants to the city and their family. What working conditions they had to endure in mines & mills, how much money they made and the cost of basic items, religious services, etc (clothing, food, newspapers, insurance, etc) The 2nd floor has a Gallery called The Pattern Makers Art which had wooden molds that were used to create the machinery in the local Steel Mills. The 3rd Floor is the Newly opened (June 2009) Children's Museum. Block Area, Containing a Mix Master Studio, Fashio Studio, General Store, Giant Kitchen Table, Steel Mill, City Works, Inclimber, Overlook Garden (closed due to weather), Water Room. Our daughter loved the Inclimber so much, it's a giant slide that looks like the Inclined Plane, you have to take these stairs to the top, and you get to slide down into a cart of foam coal. While youre climbing up there are samples of different minerals in the wall. The 4th floor consists of offices. The 5th floor is an art gallery with paintings and pictures from over the years. There is also an on site Galliker's Cafe and a large gift shop. We were un-able to check out the Iron & Steel gallery, due to lack of time. If visiting with children, please allow 2 hours. It is part of the Johnstown Discovery Network, which also consists of the Johnstown Flood Museum and the Wagner Ritter House. One admission is good for all the sites. This museum has lots of hands on experiences for children and I'd really suggest visiting if you're in the area. Admission is 7 dollars for adults. read more

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The Johnstown Children's Museum (on the third floor of the Heritage Discovery Center) is such a hidden gem for kids! They learned so much about the city's history and had a blast at the same time!! I really appreciated the historical explanations on each activity, and there was so much for the kids to do! Everything seemed to be clean and in working condition when we were there. Searching for Morley's Dog was a fun extra adventure! We walked through the first floor as well. My kids (ages 5 and 7) didn't really love it, but there were some hands on displays that kept them entertained long enough for the adults to at least get a quick look around. And each display had an interactive or 3D feature. You really felt transported to the past! We loved our experience and will definitely come back this summer! read more

Fun children's museum, my son asks to come here everytime we visit family in Johnstown. What I can't figure out is why no one local ever seems to be here. Both times I visited there were 5 or fewer kids there. Last time we were only people there. The exhibits were interesting mix--the coal mine one seemed the best but the pretend hats were all missing the inside straps and ll and the jackets were gone for dress up. Some of the exhibits seemed better for groups of kids and were boring for my singleton kid--who wants to play grocery store without customers? But he loved the slide into the coal cart. One beef I did have with musuem is that they only portrayed one side of the story of coal actually calling it "buried sunshine," without mentioning anything about how coal is changing (to be be cleaner) and how too much carbon use can be damaging to the earth. I"m not saying let's scare the kids into dreaming of climate change every night, but a balanced story would be appreciated. There is a little ice cream shop with Galliker's ice cream and other treats. read more

Just a wonderful spot for kids, and adults on a rainy afternoon or any day to be that, in the summer! Lots of fun interactive displays on the history of Johnstown. Great children's museum on the 3rd floor. Replica of incline plane and coal mine slide for the kids. Such helpful and friendly staff. Always a smile and willing to help our wild group of 6 kids! Such an important history lesson for all about the city and so much fun!! read more

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This was great 8 years ago when it was first redone. 1) ac is broken and no one tells you that when you buy tickets. 2) exhibits are broken and have not been well maintained, some buttons work, some do not. 3) did I mention there isn't any air conditioning? The coal mining exhibit and recreating flood exhibits are fun and generally speaking the activities for kids are great, but basic infrastructure isn't being maintained and that's a serious problem if you want to keep something running. read more

AMAZING place, I've went here since i was a kid. You'll receive an abundance of information about a lot of different things, must go!

Great place to visit! We took so much time enjoying the "Immigrant Experience" that we never even GOT to the rest of the place so that's on the boards for the next visit. Just a truly great way to connect with the past and learn about what previous generations faced...hardships and triumphs. You get to actually "be" one of 6 immigrants for an interactive experience that is a real eye-opener as you move thru the exhibits and learn what it was like to be a newcomer in a land that was not always as welcoming as it should be. Very moving; highly recommended! read more

An amazing place to learn the history of Johnstown. Although, Johnstown is a dwindling city the history here is rich. This building has things for all ages including a great children museum that is just as fun for parents as adults. read more