Heinz History Center
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 Location within Pennsylvania
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| Established | 1879 Current location: 1996 |
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| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates | 40°26′48″N 79°59′32″W / 40.4466°N 79.9922°W |
| Type | History Museum |
| Director | Andrew Masich (President & CEO) |
| Curator | Anne Madarasz (Museum Division Director) |
| Website | www |
The Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest history museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. Named after U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III (1938–1991) from Pennsylvania, it is located in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.
The Heinz History Center is a 275,000-square-foot (25,500 m2) educational institution "that engages and inspires a diverse audience with links to the past, understanding in the present, and guidance for the future by preserving regional history and presenting the American experience with a Western Pennsylvania connection."
The History Center features the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum and the Library and Archives, and includes six floors of permanent and changing exhibitions that tell the story of Western Pennsylvania. Though it was originally established in 1879, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania opened its current location in the historic Strip District along the Allegheny River in 1996. It is named for H. John Heinz III, the late US Senator from Pennsylvania who died in a 1991 plane crash.
The century-old Chautauqua Lake Ice Company building was renovated and adapted for use as the museum. The interior was designed to show off the building's features, as well as create spaces for exhibits and support space. The museum building is an exhibit in its own right. The History Center also features the following permanent exhibitions:
The museum's history began in 1879, with the formation of a club called Old Residents of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. In 1884 it changed its name to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania (HSWP) and has been operating continuously since then. It is the Pittsburgh region's oldest cultural organization.
HSWP began the tradition of interpreting public history in 1911, organizing the centennial of steamboat navigation in Pittsburgh. In 1955 it led the organization of the city's bicentennial celebration. In the early years, HSWP held meetings in homes and churches, but in 1893, it was granted a space for its archives at the new Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood. By 1914, it had its own building nearby. It operated there until 1996, when its expanded quarters in the renovated historic warehouse were completed in Pittsburgh's Strip District. The Society celebrated the opening of the new museum by an Inaugural Gala there on April 26, 1996 for 900 guests.
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