National Museum of Industrial History — Attraction in Bethlehem

This is our second visit to this museum and it won’t be our last. The first time we visited there was not as many displays, I think it might have been right after they opened.

They have a great display of artifacts that demonstrate the industrial history of the area. We had a docent that gave us a great overview of everything that they interpret there. He did a great job and showed us how to access everything with my limited mobility.

That being said, I depend on using an electric scooter to get around. The museum was well accessible and I was easily able to use my scooter to get around. They have a great ramp that I was able to use to get up close to see the stacks.

My one critique is the bathroom. The handicap stall itself was great, it had a lot of room and there was even a chair inside it. My critique is that they have the stall all the way in the back of this huge bathroom. I don’t understand why many places don’t have it closer to the door. I can’t take my scooter into the bathroom so I have to use my cane and it is very challenging to navigate. I see this often and it is frustrating.

Other than that it was a great visit. They have a small gift shop where you check in. They even have a notebook full of recommended restaurants in the area with menus. Nice touch! We will...

March 2017 First, the parking entrance is on 3rd St, at the college. Fees are $12 adults, 7-17 $9, under 6 free. I could not suggest this to kids under 11, and above that age having an interest in history. This is not a "touch me" museum. Little ones would be boarded real quick. Grand parents and parents would be interested. Whoever took the large hall photo must have had a 5 mph digital camera, really poor quality. Lots of big and interesting machines. Nothing on the plaques that show "how" they worked, pressure or speed of the machines. Just who made, where used. The old sewing machines used pattern cards. Change the card, new pattern. A major advance in those days. There were a couple of videos available, to show the hard work and dangers in industry at the times. The name is "National", but is really about the workers in the Leigh Valley. It'll take over an hour to go through the place. Not much else in walking distance. The Casino is a short drive away if you want to gamble and lose money. There are fancy restaurants at the Casino too, the outlet store are like many others. It's not a giant mall. It's basically something else to do between the Casino and before/after concerts that are held there. My wife went to a big name CW concert by the...

This place is a SUPER bargain for about 2-3 hours worth of fun and I easily could have spent an entire afternoon in this place. I will make one disclaimer, although this facility is child-friendly, unless your kids excel at STEM, you might be better served going to a different museum. If you're an adult and you enjoy history, this place is for you. If you're like me and you're an engineer, this place is like heaven. I had some friends in from out of town and I finally made it to this facility after saying, "We should go there" for about 10,000 times despite living just over the river. I am making a plan to go back and to take my wife with me. There are so many exhibits ranging in age and they have great descriptive placards describing the piece of machinery you were looking at and how it helped to move forward society. When I return next time, I'm going to opt for the guided tour (see website for details on dates/times if you're interested) otherwise the tour is pretty much self-guided. Also, aside from the sweatshirts, the gift shop is very affordably priced and I felt that I got a fair price for the items that I purchased. They have some really neat stuff for sale, I just wish that they had an even...