Skip to content
Photography
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Wagner Institute: A time portal, Victorian-era scientific society and North Philly hidden gem

View of a preserved 19th century natural science museum

Temple University students on a field trip pause by the English draft horse skeleton that has been a highlight of the museum’s collection since 1889.
Temple University students on a field trip pause by the English draft horse skeleton that has been a highlight of the museum’s collection since 1889.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

The Wagner Free Institute of Science was founded before the Civil War and remains a hidden, lesser-known tourist destination, lost in a city steeped in so much history. It’s not only a natural history museum but also a library and lecture hall. While other museums strive to keep up to date with the latest full-immersion simulations and touch screens with interactive games, Wagner’s 100,000-item collection features fossils, preserved insects, taxidermy displays, mounted skeletons, rocks, and minerals, much as it did when Philadelphia merchant, philanthropist, and amateur scientist William Wagner opened it in 1865.

📍1700 W. Montgomery Ave., Philadelphia 📞 215-763-6529, 🕙 Tuesday to Friday, 9:30 to 4:30 p.m., first Saturday of the month, noon to 4 p.m., 🌐 wagnerfreeinstitute.org, 📷 @wagnerfreeinst