Field Trips & Thematic Tours
Concerns about COVID-19 may still exist. Group Tours may be limited to groups of 25 or less on site at any one time and may not include some of the hands on activities. We will try to accommodate larger groups by staggering their arrival/departure or scheduling multiple days. Click on this link if you are looking for a virtual tour option, and contact us at schools@yorkhistorycenter.org for the latest information and availability to bring your group on-site.
Onsite Tours
York County History Center Museum
Tour Length: 60-90 minutes with Interactive Exploration
Discover the new museum that highlights more than 300 years of York County history. Begin your exploration at the History Makers Tower, where a state-of-the-art touchscreen display invites you to delve into the lives of History Makers from all walks of life. Uncover the narrative threads woven within the sections titled Building, Growing, Energizing, Making and Doing. Each section features digital towers and touchscreens that will let you explore topics that pique your curiosity. Discover York County’s pivotal role in early expansion across Pennsylvania and its long-overlooked contributions to the Underground Railroad. Learn about the innovations in farming and industry that cemented the county’s status as a place of progress and resilience. Experience a building transformed into a vibrant space where history comes to life.
Agricultural & Industrial Museum
Tour length: 60 minutes
Tour and Interactive Exploration: 75-90 minutes
Learn about York County’s many contributions to agricultural and industrial progress on a visit to the Agricultural & Industrial Museum. Agricultural artifacts produced or used in the county over three centuries include locally made wagons, a tractor, steam engines and farm tools. Try your hand at the interactive exhibit, Marvelous Milk: From the Farm to Your Table, where students learn about the dairy industry in York County and get the opportunity to milk our (reproduction) cow, Annabelle. Working industrial exhibits include a 72-ton A-Frame ammonia compressor once used to manufacture large blocks of ice and a three-story gristmill. Exhibits on pottery, casket manufacturing, dental supplies, piano and organ manufacturing, as well as York’s industrial contribution to World War II are also featured. Air, Land, & Water: Transporting People & Products, housed in The History Center’s 12,000 square-foot transportation wing, includes York manufactured automobiles, a Conestoga wagon, a York trolley car and a 1937 Aeronca K airplane.
Colonial Complex
Tour length: 60-75 minutes
Tour and Interactive Colonial Activities: 90 minutes
The Colonial Complex is one of the most interesting York, PA attractions. The Golden Plough Tavern, a Germanic half-timbered building built in 1741, is the oldest structure in the City of York and served York residents and travelers into the mid 1800s. The General Gates House (c. 1751) was the temporary residence of General Horatio Gates, newly appointed president of the Board of War. The Barnett Bobb Log House dates to 1812 and is currently used during programs for artisan demonstrations and hands-on activities. All three buildings contain period furnishings, textiles, tools and utensils. The Complex also includes the reproduction of the 1754 Colonial Court House, created to represent the headquarters of the Continental Congress, which met in York from September 1777 to June 1778 and adopted the Articles of Confederation.
York County Fire Museum
Tour length: 45 minutes
Located in the 1903 Royal Fire House, the museum allows visitors to see how York firefighters worked, lived and played. It holds more than 225 years of firefighting equipment, representative of the 72 fire companies of York County. Objects on display include 6 fire trucks ranging from the 1920s to the 1950s, 19th century hand-pumped equipment, the original stalls for the fire horses, alarm boxes, parade uniforms and photographs. Students can work on their firefighting skills by forming a bucket brigade and trying out a hand pumper (weather permitting).
Traveling Trunks School Program
The following materials are available for use in classrooms or off-site.
Trunks can be picked up at the Agricultural & Industrial Museum between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Tuesday – Saturday. The Visitor Experience Department should be contacted at least three weeks in advance to sign out a trunk for a period of 10 school days. Trunks are offered free of charge to our educational members. Trunks are $25.00 each for non-member schools, educational institutions or children groups. An organization may only sign out one trunk at a time. Trunks are most appropriate for grades 2-6.
Colonial America and the Revolution
Experience the life of an 18th century man or woman! A unique, hands-on experience is provided for your classroom as students examine reproduction Revolutionary-era clothing, tools, and games.
Soldiers and Civilians of the Civil War
Complete Union and Confederate uniforms and equipment give your students an accurate feel of what a Civil War soldier’s life was like. Ladies’ clothes show just how complicated and elaborate women’s outfits could be! Also included are reproductions of Civil War era games. A reproduction surgeon’s supply kit and School in the Civil War replica artifacts are available upon request.
York College of Pennsylvania Curriculum and Lesson Plans
Thanks to a partnership between York College of Pennsylvania (YCP) and The History Center, education majors enrolled in the course “Seminar in Curriculum” are tasked with creating grade specific content, curriculum, and lesson plans that incorporated visits, outreach programs, hands-on activities or other concepts and themes related to the general history of York County as the whole, and the relation to the museums, historic sites, or collections of The History Center. The History Center is grateful for the commitment of York College of Pennsylvania and the dedicated students who have given their time and talents to enhance the educational resources and offerings of the York County History Center.
All of the programs offered by the York County History Center conforms to the History Standards defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Learn more about these standards and the Center’s compliance by downloading one of the following:
Museum Memberships for Schools
School districts and educational organizations that are Educational Members pay a yearly fee that covers the cost of tours and programs, including Traveling Trunks and outreach presentations, for the entire school year (September – June). Museum Membership fees are based upon student population of the District or School.
| Population | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1-500 | 650 |
| 501-1000 | 1,200 |
| 1001-2000 | 1,700 |
| 2001-4000 | 2,300 |
| 4001-6000 | 2,800 |
| 6001-8000 | 3,200 |
