Wagner Free Institute of Science

Description

The Wagner Free Institute of Science is a natural history museum at 1700 West Montgomery Avenue in northern Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, it is a rare surviving example of a Victorian era scientific society, with a museum, research center, library, and educational facilities. Its buildings, developed between 1859 and 1901, present the collections of founder William Wagner in the style of the period, and have been designated a National Historic Landmark for their architecture and state of preservation.
The Wagner Free Institute was founded in 1855 by William Wagner, a merchant, philanthropist, and gentleman scientist of the time, who sought to offer free educational courses to all who would seek to learn about the natural world. Wagner began offering free lectures on science at his home, Elm Grove, a colonial farm estate on the outskirts of Philadelphia in 1847. To illustrate the lectures he drew on a collection of specimens he had gathered since his boyhood. All of the classes were offered with an open admission policy that allowed women as well as men to attend. These lectures became so popular that by 1855 he moved them first to a public hall to accommodate the rapidly growing audience, and later to its permanent home designed by Philadelphia architect John McArthur, Jr., who would go on to design Philadelphia's City Hall.

Source

Source: Wikipedia.org

Copyright: Creative Commons 3.0

More information

US | | Public | French

Contact information

Address: Philadelphia, United States

Statistics

Looking for routes that pass here?

Nearby routes
Advertisement

Activities to do in surrounding Show all

Select one of the most popular activities below or refine your search.

- RouteYou Selections -

Discover the most beautiful and popular trails in the area, carefully bundled into appropriate selections.

Advertisement

Sights nearby Show all

Select one of the most popular categories below or be inspired by our selections.

- RouteYou Selections -

Discover the most beautiful and popular attractions in the area, carefully bundled in appropriate selections.

Destinations close by

Advertisement

Plan your route

With RouteYou, it's easy to create your own customised maps. Simply plot your route, add waypoints or nodes, add places of interest and places to eat and drink, and then easily share it with your family and friends.

Route planner

Route planner

This place of interest on your website

<iframe src="https://plugin.routeyou.com/poiviewer/free/?language=en&amp;params.poi.id=1489441" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


More than 11,800,000 routes


More than 15,000,000 users


More than 4,500,000 points of interest

Address

Kerkstraat 108

9050 Gentbrugge, Belgium

Follow us

Download the free app

Contact

Marketing & sales

sales@routeyou.com

General queries

Customer Support Team Help Center

© 2006-2026 RouteYou - www.routeyou.com