Visiting The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg

The National Civil War Museum in association with the Smithsonian Institution is located at One Lincoln Circle in Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. You'll find it conveniently located off of Interstate 83, Interstate 81 and US Route 15.  It's open 7-days a week, closed on major holidays.

2018 Admission Rates:

Children 6 and Under - FREE
Active Duty Military - $10.00
Students 6 years & up - $10.00
Adults 18 & up - $12.00
Seniors 60 & up - $11.00

The American Civil War was one of the bloodiest conflicts in history, especially American history. The National Civil War Museum bring the war to life with artifacts, videos, exhibits and more. Experience the drama that made up the war, from slavery to the soldier's camp life, from the politics involved to struggle of both sides.

You'll find 2 floors within the museum to explore. You'll begin your tour up on the second floor where you'll follow the Civil War to the Civil Rights Trail. Up on the second floor you'll find 10 main exhibit areas which are as follows:

1. A House Divided, 1850-1860
2. American Slavery, 1850-1860
3. First Shots, 1861
4. Making of Armies, focuses on recruitment, training & equipping.
5. Weapons & Equipment
6. Campaigns & Battles of 1862
7. Battle Map, 1861-1862
8. Camp Curtain located in Harrisburg
9. Why Men Fought, 1861-1863
10. Civil War Music

On the first floor of the museum you'll explore 8 main areas which are as follows:

11. Gettysburg, 1863
12. Costs of War
13. Women in the Civil War
14. Navy
15. Campaigns & Battles of 1864-65
16. Battle Map
Theater Room: Award-winning video on the end of the war.
17. Lincoln: War and Rememberence

There is a temporary exhibit gallery that features changing exhibits on a variety of Civil War topics. If you want to learn more about the temporary exhibit, you can check out their official website or give the museum a call.

On the day that we visited we paid our admission at the gift shop (located near the entrance) and was given a Gallery Guide and Map, to help guide us around. What was really nice was that we went during a weekday afternoon and there were only 20 to 25 other guests in the museum at that time. We were able to take our leisurely time looking at all of the exhibits.

Here are a few museum & Civil War facts that were printed on the Gallery Guide:

- Since opening in 2001, the museum has greeted over 850,000 guests from all 50 states and 39 countries.
- There are over 4,000 artifacts and 21,000 archival documents.
- Join and become a member for unlimited visits, behind the scenes tours, quarterly newsletter and discounts in the gift shop.
- General Robert E. Lee's father fought in the Revolutionary War.
- After the Battle of Gettysburg, 35,574 rifles were recovered & sent to Washington to be reissued.

We spent a total of 2 hours wondering around the museum and exploring all of the exhibits. There was an employee there dressed up as a Union Soldier who answered a few questions that we had. He showed us some of the artillery used during the Civil War and left my husband hold one of the riffles at the museum. That was one of his highlights from our day!

Afterwards we headed back into the gift shop to do a little shopping. I picked up a few inexpensive souvenirs for our grandchildren and a book for my husband. Once outside we spent another 35 minutes or so walking around Reservoir Park and enjoying the beautiful water fountains that they have on the park grounds. Overall, a really nice visit to the National Civil War Museum.