The Delaware Valley has its first Italian museum, and it’s in Tinicum Township, writes Alicia Vitarelli for 6abc.

“Our goal is to showcase the greatness and the ingenuity of the Italians and what they’ve brought to America,” said historian Michael DiPilla.

The Italian Cultural Center is located in the Lazaretto, the first quarantine hospital in the United States.

It took 10 years and millions of dollars in grants to make the museum a reality.

Its curated collection celebrates the area’s Italian roots.

“There was a small Italian community in Philadelphia in the 1700s,” DiPilla said. “Some of them were great artists and great sculptors.”

They brought the first musical concert to Philadelphia in 1757 and the first Italian restaurant in 1786 on Market Street.

Market Street had an Arc de Triomphe. “It was right outside what would become the George Washington White House,” DiPilla said.

The cultural center also has drawings of Thomas Jefferson’s macaroni machine.

“He loved macaroni, and he loved pasta,” DiPilla says. “He had his secretary go throughout Italy. He said, ‘Please find me this macaroni machine.'”

Those interested in their Italian heritage can also access original records stored at the center.

Learn more about a new Italian museum in Tinicum at 6abc.