Latrobe offers several distinct cultural themes: Fred Rogers, regional art and local history, the Lincoln Highway Experience, and its banana split heritage. The experiences range from a public interactive exhibit and a guided tour with an audio device to historical markers and specific dining options. To choose your stay, you can first decide on your main interest: Would you like to explore an exhibit in depth, learn about the community’s history, or discover a connection to road and food culture?
Fred Rogers in Exhibits and the Cityscape
The Fred Rogers Exhibit at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe is a public, interactive exhibit. Its objects include the Neighborhood Trolley, puppets from the show, Daniel Tiger’s clock, and Fred Rogers’s signature sweaters and sneakers. These items give the exhibit a tangible connection to Fred Rogers and his show.
A statue of Fred Rogers seated on a bench stands in James H. Rogers Park in downtown Latrobe. A Pennsylvania State Historical Marker about Mister Rogers was also erected in the park on Main Street in June 2016. The Latrobe Art Center is also a stop on the Fred Rogers Trail. This means you can encounter the subject in different forms: as an interactive exhibit, as a statue with a historical marker, and as a connection along the trail.
Art and Community History
The Latrobe Area Historical Society is dedicated to collecting, researching, and documenting the heritage of the Latrobe community, as well as preserving its local history and ethnic roots. The Latrobe Art Center showcases works of art and crafts by artists from throughout the region. The two focus areas differ: the society centers on community heritage, local history, and ethnic roots, while the Art Center focuses on the work of regional artists and craftspeople. If you want to put Latrobe’s culture in context, you can distinguish between the community’s history and art from the region.
The Lincoln Highway Experience
The Lincoln Highway Experience offers a self-guided tour using an audio wand device, with 16 stations. It also offers a virtual bicycle tour along the Lincoln Highway across the United States. The formats are quite different: the tour is organized into stations, while the virtual bicycle tour follows a route across the country. You can then choose whether you’d prefer to explore a station-by-station audio experience or a virtual ride along the highway.
Banana Split Heritage and Dining Options
At the birthplace of the banana split in Latrobe, there is an oversized sculpture and a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker explaining its origins. The two elements present the subject in different ways: the sculpture makes it visible as a striking object, while the marker provides historical context for its origins. Ricolita’s Café in the Rogers Building offers breakfast or lunch. The Lincoln Highway Experience includes a restored 1938 diner serving pie and coffee. This gives you both specific meals at the café and the diner’s pie and coffee offering—two different dining options for your stay.
Discover more destinations: Delmont, Adamsburg, Jones Mills, Scottdale, New Kensington, Acme, Hyde Park, Donegal.
For the broader travel overview: Westmoreland.
