Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Oakland, Pittsburgh · 10am–5pm · closed Tuesdays · Thursdays to 8pm
The museum the credits thank, with insect tours that go behind the scenes.
Plan a visit
Quantico, Virginia · filmed 1989 · released 1991
The Silenceof theLambs
The story runs from Quantico to Baltimore, Memphis, Ohio and Illinois. The camera found almost all of it near Pittsburgh: 8 of the 11 places here.
Dawn fog in the woods. Somewhere ahead, a trail of painted rocks.
Case notes
01The file
Seven addresses in the story.
Mark them up.
The case file lists where the story says it is. Circle a line in red, and the margin writes back where the camera really was.
Circle a story address to see where it was really filmed.
02Quantico
Where the case begins,
and a borrowed office.
The story opens at the Academy, where the trainee Clarice Starling is called in by Jack Crawford. Filming took place at the FBI Academy in Quantico.
The end credits thank the FBI, and its Behavioral Science Unit in particular.
The National Academy’s last test, the Yellow Brick Road, is 6.1 miles long and follows a trail of painted yellow rocks; finishers get a yellow brick.
A working training academy, not a visitor site.
Case notes
03The ballroom
Quid pro quo.
An answer for a fact.
The cell was in Pittsburgh, in the ballroom of a war memorial. Tell the cage something true about yourself and it tells you something true about the room.
Three questions. Answer one to hear the first fact.
Case notes
04The insect halls
More than three hundred moths,
painted by hand.
A plain moth on the pin. Paint the mark on its back, one stroke at a time.
The moth here is drawn for this page.
More than 300 tobacco hornworm moths were used; some had painted shields to look like Asian death’s-head moths, and the University of North Carolina supplied some of them.
Case notes
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
The end credits thank the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The museum’s own behind-the-scenes insect tour promises a walk through the halls where the film was shot.
Open 10am–5pm every day except Tuesday, and until 8pm on Thursdays.
Case notes
05Ross Street
The old county jail,
two lunchtimes a month.
Pittsburgh shots in the film include the Allegheny County Jail. The jail depicted Hannibal Lecter’s holding cell.
It was completed in 1886 to designs by H. H. Richardson and closed as a jail on 27 July 1995; the Jail Museum opened in 2005. Docents from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation tell its story. Entry is free, and cameras are not allowed.
The line on the photograph is the museum’s rule, in short.
Now Family Court. The Jail Museum opens on the first and third Mondays of the month, 11.30am–1pm, free: go in by the Ross Street entrance and through security. No cameras.
Case notes
06The road out
Three seconds on a bridge
to a town that isn’t there.
Press and hold for three seconds.
The bridge appears as Clarice drives to the fictional Belvedere, Ohio: you see only her car’s shadow on the water, coming from Benwood, West Virginia. Police closed the bridge at both ends. Someone drove back and forth for about an hour and a half, for three seconds on screen. Ted Levine, who played Buffalo Bill, is from Bellaire.
The bridge closed for good in 1991. It still stands, unusable. Closed and unusable: look at it from the riverside in Benwood or Bellaire, never from the deck. About 82 km from Soldiers & Sailors as the crow flies.
Case notes
The bridge here is drawn for this page.
The centre of Perryopolis, 2026. Cramerwiki · CC0 Perryopolis · private · not on the map
Buffalo Bill’s house
After a Bellaire objection, the producers moved most of the filming planned for the town to Perryopolis, Pennsylvania. The 116-year-old Victorian house was used for the showdown in which Clarice confronts Buffalo Bill.
Chris Rowan, a prop stylist and set decorator, bought it in early 2021 for $300,000. Before that, fans would stop on the lawn for a photo, or even knock on the door.
The basement pit is a replica of the film set, built later by Tom Savini’s crew.
A private house, rented whole to one party at a time. There is no drop-in visiting: book a stay or a guided tour, or leave it be.
Case notes
Buffalo Bill’s HouseBuffalo Bill’s House
Perryopolis, Pennsylvania · Whole house · up to eight guests · (833) 283-3245
The 1910 Victorian from the showdown, rented whole to one party of up to eight. The basement pit is a later replica of the set. Pictured: the centre of Perryopolis; the house itself is not shown here.
Check dates
Main Street, Rural Valley, 2015. Nyttend · Public domain Armstrong County · about 67 km from Soldiers & Sailors
Rural Valley
The end credits thank the town of Rural Valley, Pennsylvania.
A small borough in Armstrong County. Its houses are homes: look from the street.
Case notes
The Forbes Avenue end of the Armstrong Tunnel, 2022. Cbaile19 · CC0 Downtown Pittsburgh
The Armstrong Tunnel
Shots of Pittsburgh in the film include the Armstrong Tunnel.
A working road tunnel. See its stone portal from Forbes Avenue.
Case notes
Western State School and Hospital on an 1897 bird’s-eye map of Canonsburg. Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler & James B. Moyer · Public domain Near Canonsburg · lost
Western Center
The exterior of the Western Center near Canonsburg was the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
Western Center closed in 2000. The last building on the campus was razed in May 2012. Its cemetery is the last trace of it; the copper cupola from the administration building was put into storage.
Gone. Only the hospital cemetery is left, in the north-west corner of the Southpointe business park.
Case notes
07The last call
Somewhere tropical,
never named.
The film ends at an unnamed tropical place, where Lecter watches Dr Chilton step off a small plane. The end credits thank the Island of Bimini, Bahamas, and name a location coordinator there.
Alice Town on North Bimini is the islands’ largest settlement; flights land at South Bimini, 50 miles from Florida’s east coast.
Case notes
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- Buffalo Bill’s house A private house, rented whole to one party at a time. There is no drop-in visiting: book a stay or a guided tour, or leave it be.
- The FBI Academy A working training academy, not a visitor site.
- Western Center Gone. Only the hospital cemetery is left, in the north-west corner of the Southpointe business park.
Case notes
Where it is now
8 places on the map. The Bellaire Bridge is closed: look from the riverside. The house in Perryopolis, the FBI Academy and the lost hospital are listed above, not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A military history museum at 4141 Fifth Avenue. Monday to Saturday, 10am–4pm; adults $15, seniors $10, ages 5–17 $5, military and veterans free.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open 10am–5pm every day except Tuesday, and until 8pm on Thursdays.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Now Family Court. The Jail Museum opens on the first and third Mondays of the month, 11.30am–1pm, free: go in by the Ross Street entrance and through security. No cameras.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working road tunnel. See its stone portal from Forbes Avenue.
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall on Fifth Avenue, 2022. Cbaile19 · CC0 Fifth Avenue, Oakland, Pittsburgh
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
The Allegheny Soldiers and Sailors memorial in Pittsburgh stood in for the Memphis building where Lecter is held.
A military history museum at 4141 Fifth Avenue. Monday to Saturday, 10am–4pm; adults $15, seniors $10, ages 5–17 $5, military and veterans free.
Case notes
The Carnegie Museums on Forbes Avenue, 2019. Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0 Forbes Avenue, Oakland, Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
The end credits thank the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Open 10am–5pm every day except Tuesday, and until 8pm on Thursdays.
Case notes
The old Allegheny County Jail at Ross Street and Forbes Avenue, 2023. w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0 Ross Street, Downtown Pittsburgh
The old Allegheny County Jail
Pittsburgh shots in the film include the Allegheny County Jail.
Now Family Court. The Jail Museum opens on the first and third Mondays of the month, 11.30am–1pm, free: go in by the Ross Street entrance and through security. No cameras.
Case notes
The Forbes Avenue end of the Armstrong Tunnel, 2022. Cbaile19 · CC0 Under the Bluff, between Second Avenue and Forbes Avenue
The Armstrong Tunnel
Shots of Pittsburgh in the film include the Armstrong Tunnel.
A working road tunnel. See its stone portal from Forbes Avenue.
Case notes
Stay
Sleep in the house.
The Perryopolis house is rented whole, to one party at a time.
Buffalo Bill’s House
Buffalo Bill’s House
Perryopolis, Pennsylvania · Whole house · up to eight guests · (833) 283-3245
The 1910 Victorian from the showdown, rented whole to one party of up to eight. The basement pit is a later replica of the set. Pictured: the centre of Perryopolis; the house itself is not shown here.
Check datesGo there
Walk the halls.
The memorial with the ballroom, the insect museum, the old jail on its open Mondays, and tours from Pittsburgh and to Bimini.
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum
Oakland, Pittsburgh · Mon–Sat 10am–4pm · adults $15 · military and veterans free
The memorial whose ballroom held Lecter’s cage. A museum of American military history, Civil War to now.
Plan a visitCarnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Oakland, Pittsburgh · 10am–5pm · closed Tuesdays · Thursdays to 8pm
The museum the credits thank, with insect tours that go behind the scenes.
Plan a visit
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation
The Old Allegheny County Jail Museum
Downtown Pittsburgh · Free · first and third Mondays · 11.30am–1pm
Docents in the old jail, now Family Court. Enter on Ross Street through security; no cameras.
See the dates
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Three October dates.
The jail museum on 19 October, the last house tours from 23 to 25 October, and Cage Night on 30 October.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
The 1991 poster, the novels, the score.
Original one-sheets from our store, Thomas Harris’s novels, a short study and Howard Shore’s soundtrack.
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The Silence of the Lambs (1991) — US one-sheet
An original 1991 US one-sheet, 27 × 40 in, rolled, mint. Art by Dawn Baillie.
In stock
View poster
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The Silence of the Lambs (1991) — US one-sheet, second copy
Another original 1991 US one-sheet, 27 × 40 in, rolled, mint.
In stock
View poster
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The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris
The 1988 novel the film was made from.
Find the book
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Red Dragon
Thomas Harris
Thomas Harris’s earlier Lecter novel.
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The Silence of the Lambs (BFI Modern Classics)
Yvonne Tasker
A short study of the film.
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The Silence of the Lambs: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Howard Shore · CD, MCA Records, 1991
Howard Shore’s score, the 1991 US release.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The case notes
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
11 of 11 places · 13 of 13 Moments
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
Fifth Avenue, Oakland, Pittsburgh
The cage
The cage scene was filmed in the third-floor ballroom of Soldiers & Sailors, standing in for Memphis.
The lift
A fake lift car was built in the auditorium doorway at Soldiers & Sailors for the elevator scene.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Forbes Avenue, Oakland, Pittsburgh
The insect halls
The film was shot in the halls of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
The moths
More than 300 tobacco hornworm moths were used; some had painted shields to look like Asian death’s-head moths, and the University of North Carolina supplied some of them.
The old Allegheny County Jail
Ross Street, Downtown Pittsburgh
The holding cell
The old county jail depicted Lecter’s holding cell.
The Armstrong Tunnel
Under the Bluff, between Second Avenue and Forbes Avenue
Through the Bluff
The film’s Pittsburgh shots include the Armstrong Tunnel.
Rural Valley
Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Rural Valley
The end credits thank the town of Rural Valley.
Buffalo Bill’s house
Perryopolis, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
The showdown
The Perryopolis house was used for the showdown between Clarice and Buffalo Bill.
Western Center
Southpointe, near Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Baltimore State Hospital
The Western Center’s exterior played the hospital where Lecter is held.
The Bellaire Bridge
Benwood, West Virginia, to Bellaire, Ohio
Belvedere, Ohio
Clarice’s car crosses the Bellaire Bridge into the fictional Belvedere, seen only as a shadow on the water.
The FBI Academy
Quantico, Virginia
The Academy
The story opens at the FBI Academy, and the production filmed there.
The Department of Labor
Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC
Headquarters
Elizabeth Dole lent her office at Labor for a scene set at FBI headquarters.
Alice Town, Bimini
North Bimini, The Bahamas
An old friend for dinner
The film ends somewhere tropical and unnamed; the credits thank Bimini.