Pennsbury Manor Visitor’s Center
The Schuylkill River Trail connects Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia to Frackville in Schuylkill County along 120 miles of abandoned rail lines. A critical node on this trail is the civil war-era Phoenix Steel Works, acting as an introduction to the industrial reaches of the trail. CICADA worked with the Phoenixville Area Economic Development Corporation to create the Schuylkill River Heritage Center to celebrate its industrial legacy.
The center is organized around a massive, wooden industrial crane, the only surviving example of its kind. Display cases and original masonry walls display artifacts from the processes of producing steel. The floor holds an inlaid map of the entire river with important sites explained by museum-quality displays.