New Fort Pitt Museum exhibit highlights Pittsburgh's role in the American Revolution

The countdown is on, as the NFL Draft comes to Pittsburgh and America turns 250 years old.

While the city prepares to welcome the football world, one spot Downtown is making sure visitors remember exactly where we came from.

For a couple of months, the Fort Pitt Museum has been closed, but for a good reason. They've been doing renovations for America's 250th anniversary and the NFL Draft.

The new exhibit has been dubbed "Pittsburgh's Revolution."

"This is history we can all unite around. This is our origin story and the beginning of this American experiment," said Michael Burke, assistant director of the Fort Pitt Museum.

That experiment had a western headquarters in this region, long before the city we know now.

As Pittsburgh prepares to host a major moment in football history, the museum is making sure visitors see the history beneath our feet before it's made on our streets.

"We really wanted to go big," Burke said.

Go big, they did.

From artifacts belonging to soldiers at Fort Pitt to pieces that connect the whole story.

"You're going to see an exhibit that covers Fort Pitt during the American Revolution, both the military aspect of it, and all the things that changed in Pittsburgh forever."

From rare horns, muskets, fine china, and cannons, these are pieces that connect Pittsburgh directly to the birth of our nation.

"Pittsburgh is extremely important to the American war effort. It is the headquarters of the Continental Army in the west and oversees a frontier that stretches from the forks of the Ohio River all the way to the Mississippi and beyond."

The new exhibit is open as of March 1, and in June, another one will open.

All of it timed perfectly for a year that Pittsburgh wouldn't just be welcoming football fans, but the country back to its roots.

"People from far, but also people from here in this region, to get a sense of how important this part of the country was to the American Revolution."