Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center

Mission

The Erie County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization committed to inspiring and engaging the community through dynamic educational programs, outreach, exhibits and events. We preserve buildings, collections and archives with local and national relevance representing the history of northwestern Pennsylvania serving as a comprehensive and accessible resource to aid in understanding the present and provide guidance for the future.

Vision

Hagen History Center will be recognized as a unique museum destination; an indispensable resource that provides a link to our heritage while inspiring all to create a better future. 

The Erie County Historical Society (ECHS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, does business as the Hagen History Center (HHC) and is governed by a Board of Directors.

ECHS was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1903 and merged with the former Erie Historical Museum & Planetarium (EHM&P) in 2000. Between 2014 and 2020, HHC raised over several million in capital funding for campus expansion. HHC was able to renovate and repurpose its nineteenth-century Watson-Curtze Mansion as a regional history museum, relocate the planetarium to a local university, and convert the campus Carriage House into offices, a gift shop, and a research library

TOday, ECHS is a multi-purpose museum, research facility, and historical society serving Erie County, PA. Our city campus includes six buildings with four historic structures. Self-guided tours are offered 2 days a week in winter and 6 days a week during the rest of the year. We also maintain two historic farmhouses in rural Erie County (Girard, PA). The HHC is the only comprehensive history museum and archive in the region.

We preserve collections representing over 200 years of our history and serve as a resource for researchers, educators, students, and the public.

We primarily serve Erie County, PA; however, with the addition of the Frank Lloyd Wright San Francisco office to our collections, we host national and international visitors. Wright designs are a strong presence in the tri-state area of western Pennsylvania, western New York, and northeast Ohio. Erie sits at the center of this region.