The model of Fort Pitt at the Fort Pitt Museum is an original museum fixture dating to the 1960s. The museum commissioned the local Pittsburgh business Holiday Displays to create the model of the fort at a scale of 10 feet to one inch. Introducing visitors to the fort in 1765, the model rests in the museum’s first floor William Pitt Memorial Hall and is a primary point of interest for any visitor.
Like all exhibits at the Fort Pitt Museum, the model requires routine cleaning. First, a staff member removes all mobile pieces – such as barges and docks that reside on the rivers – then a quick sweep with a dust mop takes care of the rivers’ painted, flat surfaces. Cleaning the land and the fort, however, involve a more delicate and tedious process.
Small vacuum attachments remove a year’s worth of dust from the grounds in the model of Fort Pitt. See how the grass, dirt roads, and gardens brighten up after a thorough brush with the miniature tools!
Click on the photos in the photo galleries below to see them larger.
Care must be taken when navigating across the model and all of its tiny figures, homes, trees, and gardens.
A staff member then uses damp Q-Tips to lift dust from the rooftops and drawbridges as well as the tiny soldiers and livestock. All of this meticulous work revitalizes the model’s color for Fort Pitt Museum visitors.
Jaclyn Sternick is a customer service associate at the Fort Pitt Museum.