Explore the wonders of the Wagner Institute of Science

PHILADELPHIA -- A trip to the Wagner Free Institute of Science is more than just a day at a museum.

It's like a trip back in time.

The Wagner is a natural history museum founded in 1855.

It's a 19th-century museum, educational center and library dedicated to preserving and displaying natural history from many time periods of the world's history.

It is housed in a National Historic Landmark in North Philadelphia.

Many of the displays and specimens within are original to the time period and they are how people in the 1800s would have seen them.

Executive Director Susan Glassman explains, "One thing that's cool is the displays were set up in the 1890s and they haven't changed much since. It's kind of like stepping back in time. It's a great place to explore natural history but it's also a great place to see how our understanding of the natural world has evolved."

The Wagner offers a number of free educational programs for children and adults alike.

A museum dedicated to free access to science and its wonders has always been a part of its mission since its inception.

"The most wonderful thing is the sense of wonder when people come here," Glassman explains. "You come in downstairs and it's an old building. But then they come upstairs, and they light up, especially kids, when they look at these displays. And that sense of wonder is what inspires us in our work."

Check out the Wagner and the wonders within at wagnerfreeinstitute.org