The Fort Pitt Museum – part of the Senator John Heinz History Center’s family of museums – will temporarily close for the next two months while the museum sets up a new exhibit ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft and the United States Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary).
Fort Pitt Museum Assistant Director Michael Burke said that the museum will close after New Year’s Eve and reopen on March 1, featuring rare artifacts, interactive activities and powerful imagery, all part of the new “Pittsburgh’s Revolution” exhibit.
“This is the story of the revolution that you haven’t heard,” Burke said on Tuesday.
The Fort Pitt Museum, situated in Point State Park—one of the locations for NFL Draft events—is housed in a reconstructed bastion of the British fort originally built in 1759.
The museum focuses on the critical role that Western Pennsylvania played during the French & Indian War and the American Revolution.
Burke said the “Pittsburgh’s Revolution” exhibit will capture Fort Pitt’s history as the epicenter of the Revolutionary War in the West.
The exhibit will have a chronological layout to make it easier for guests to understand the history basics, Burke said.
Throughout the museum muskets and rifles will be on display, including two artifacts donated by a family whose relative was a paymaster during the war.
Once visitors round the corner they will see displays that cover the war itself and the “changes in people’s hearts and minds” during the revolution, Burke said.
The three-day draft event begins April 23, and is expected to bring 500,000 to 700,000 fans, according to the city’s tourism agency, VisitPittsburgh.
Burke said the Fort Pitt Museum has consulted with other cities that have hosted the draft about how it can impact museum attendance
While Burke could not provide an estimate of how many people the museum anticipates visiting the exhibit, he said museum staff is expecting an influx.
In addition to the “Pittsburgh’s Revolution” exhibit, Fort Pitt Museum will also debut a temporary exhibition exploring the unique weapons and tactics used on the 18th-century frontier in celebration of America’s 250th in July.
