Lycoming County Historical Society & Taber Museum

Four and a half stars! This is another one of those great little museums that Rick and I expored while on our budget vacation in this part of PA. The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society is named in honor of local historian and philanthropist Thomas T. Taber. He was an expert in local history and the author of many books inlcuding «Sunset Along Susquehanna Waters», «Williamsport Lumber Capital», «Sawmills Among the Derricks», and «Williamsport and Elmira Railroad». The museum itself specializes in the ihistory of Lycoming County.
One of the current exhibits, Civil War Weaponry, shows not only examples of the weaponry used, but it also shows how in the early days of the war, men had to carry their own firearms into battle. As the war progressed, both the North and the South discovered that mass produced firearms were a necessity.
The James Bressler American Indian Gallery illustrates the lives of the first true settlers of the region. This is a walk through exhibit and it shows their daily lives via life size dioramas. It dislpays artworks, burial techniques, and locally discovered artifacts. My favorite is A Walk Trhough Time. A Walk Through Time is life sized replicas of a blacksmith shop, a wooshop, a general store, and a Greek Revival living room.
Unfortunately, my railfan husband found the model trail collection, which is quite extensive. Ah well, it kept him happy for awhile!
Anyway, this is a nother one of those great local museums that are worth checking out.

After looking at the website and asking other Unilocalers for info I decided to go on a trip to williamsport. Looked on Unilocal and then google maps to get basic info, then check the county tourism website for specific info. as it turns out the Lycoming County Historical Society & Taber Museum are in the same building. Admission was 5.00/pp or 4.00 with AAA discount.
It was a large building with different exhibits that explained all about life in the area, from prehistory to modern times. There was info from native american times, the revolutionary war, civil war, lumber era and modern times. There were literally hundreds if not thousands of artifacts and objects from the past.
It was a self guided tour that was fairly interesting (to me.) We spent about an hour or so there, checking everything out, reading plaques, looking at paintings (both local and national) and taking pictures. There were several other families visiting the same day.
There is also a very large train section in the downstairs part. Im not much or a train guy, but it was pretty neat. Children would certainly have a great time there.