The Weirdest Museums to Explore in Philadelphia

If you are a fan of the weird and unusual, you will feel right at home in The City of Brotherly Love. The largest city in Pennsylvania is known for several of its strange museums and their uniquely odd contents.

If you are planning a trip to Philadelphia and want to see all the weird sights, there are definitely a few museums to add to your must-see list. If you plan to explore all the weirdest museums in Philly, be sure to check these out:

Mutter Museum

The Mutter Museum is the iconic “weird” museum of Philadelphia, and some people make the trip to Philly just to visit this museum. This museum contains over 20,000 weird and unusual items. Some of the strange things you can see on display at the Mutter Museum include a wall of skulls, skeletons, and slides of the brain of Albert Einstein.

While it may seem like the museum exists only to fascinate and gross people out, this museum exists to educate people about medical history, the human body, and the treatment of disease. The collections of the Mutter Museum are displayed like a “cabinet museum,” and some of the other items on display include medical instruments and anatomical specimens.

Edgar Allan Poe House

Lovers of the dark and macabre will be drawn to the Edgar Allan Poe house in the Spring Garden Neighborhood of Philadelphia. Though Poe lived in several other rented houses during his six-year stay in Philadelphia, this is the only surviving house. It was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Today, visitors can take a guided tour of the house, as well as some small exhibits. The house is not furnished as it would have been when Poe lived there, but the park rangers giving tours are full of information on this notably unusual writer. Be sure to check out the basement on your tour, as it is believed to have inspired aspects of “The Black Cat.”

Eastern State Penitentiary

If you like a side of spooky with your weird, consider a tour of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Eastern State was one of the most notable prisons in the world, was active for over 100 years, and focused on solitary confinement.

Visitors today can take a daytime tour, nighttime tour, or visit for Halloween Nights, a spooky event that includes several haunted houses and other attractions inside the prison. The prison does have several exhibits and galleries to learn more about prison life, including some of Eastern State’s famous prisoners, like Al Capone.

If you are drawn to the weird and unusual, Philadelphia is the city for you. You might even find that you want to make a permanent move to Philly, so you can visit all these great, weird sites whenever you want. If that is the case, you are in luck because there are plenty of Philadelphia houses for sale. You will enjoy exploring all the weird things the City of Brotherly Love has to offer.