Delaware Canal State Park [PA]

Description

The Delaware Canal State Park preserves the Delaware Canal. Completed in 1832, the canal was used to transport coal to Philadelphia, New York, and the eastern seaboard.

The park offers hands-on activities; guided walks; guided bicycle tours; guided digital photography hikes; outreach programs; educational programs on the watershed, the environment, and history; mule-powered barge rides; continuing professional education workshops; curriculum development assistance; and trails. The park does not rent bicycles for the tour programs. The website offers a watershed and land use curriculum.

Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum [MA]

Description

The Greek Revival Rotch-Jones-Duff House was built in 1834 for whaling merchant William Rotch, Jr. The interior is furnished to the different periods of the residence's occupation (1834-1981). The home was also occupied in turn by the Jones and Duff families, ship's agents and coal, whale oil, and oil transportation professionals. The surrounding gardens most closely reflect the period 1851 to 1935.

The museum offers period rooms, exhibits, 30-minute self-guided tours of the home, gardens, one-hour guided group tours, guided group tours with tea or a luncheon, fourth and fifth grade educational programs, lectures, and educational programs. The website offers background information for the educational programs.

FASNY Museum of Firefighting [NY]

Description

The FASNY Museum of Firefighting presents more than 300 years of firefighting history. Collections include fire engines and pumpers dating as far back as 1731, memorabilia, and historic firefighting gear and equipment.

The museum offers a children's fire safety activity area, educational programs, hands-on fire trucks, guided tours, self-guided tours, science and safety outreach programs, and a picnic area. Groups of 10 or more can reserve a guided tour and/or use of the picnic site. At least two weeks advance notice is required. Programming can prevent public access to the entirety of the museum. Please call the museum to inquire after which areas will be unavailable on given days.

National First Ladies' Library and Historic Site

Description

The National First Ladies' Library is a national archive devoted to obtaining and sharing resources pertaining to the First Ladies of the United States of America. The historical site also presents information on other U.S. women of historical note. The First Ladies' National Historic Site is housed within the circa 1865 Saxton-McKinley House, family home of First Lady Ida McKinley; and presents relevant exhibits. The National First Ladies' Library is located within the 1895 City National Bank Building.

The site offers exhibits, educational programs, tours of both the historical site and library, and research library access. Reservations are required for tour groups of six or more. The website offers an extensive searchable listing of lesson plans, a timeline of major national events, and a virtual tour of the Saxton-McKinley House.

Historic Madison [IN]

Description

Historic Madison functions as a historic preservation organization. The organization has played a key role in the preservation, restoration, and development of Madison's 133-block historic district.The organization owns, operates and maintains 16 properties; four of the properties are open as museums and others are opened for special programs.

The properties maintained by Historic Madison are listed separately in the Historical Sites database.

The organization offers tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Cokato Historical Society and Museum[MN]

Description

The Cokato Historical Society seeks to preserve both the social and the Swedish and Finnish cultural history of Cokato, Minnesota and the surrounding area. To this end, the society supports a local history museum. Collection highlights include a 1922 snowmobile.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and research assistance. Tours are available by appointment. Please call ahead if you wish to see the snowmobile, as it is not on display on a daily basis. Payment is required for research assistance.

Taft Museum of Art [OH]

Description

The Taft Museum of Art is housed within the circa 1820 Palladian-style Federal Baum-Longworth-Taft House; and its collections include European paintings and decorative arts, American paintings, and Chinese porcelain. Major artists represented in the collection include Dutch Golden Age painter and etcher Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Dutch Golden Age portrait artist Frans Hals (circa 1580-1666), Spanish printmaker and painter Francisco Goya (1746-1828), English painter and landscape artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), English Grand Manner portrait artist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), French Neoclassical painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), American painter James Whistler (1834-1903), and American portrait artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).

The museum offers exhibits, research library access, 45-minute to one-hour guided tours, self-guided tours, audio tours, children's workshops, a pre-professional high school arts education program, studio programs, lectures, educational programs which complement Ohio and Kentucky educational standards, summer camps, Scout programs, and a teacher resource center with materials for rental. Four weeks advance notice is required for school tours; and two weeks are needed for sensory tours tailored to individuals with hearing, visual, or developmental impairments. The website offers coloring pages.

Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County and Stately Oaks [GA]

Description

Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County seeks to preserve and share the history of Jonesboro and Clayton County, Georgia. To this end, the organization operates an 1839 Greek Revival antebellum residence, Stately Oaks. The grounds include the log kitchen, a well house, a tenant house, a historic schoolhouse, and a country store. Clayton County was home to Margaret Mitchell, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gone with the Wind; and it is believed that Stately Oaks served as an inspiration for her novel's setting.

The organization offers tours of Stately Oaks—either with a costumed interpreter or self-guided with MP3 audio, educational programs, workshops, and presentations. Reservations are required for group and student tours.

Historic Speedwell [NJ]

Description

Historic Speedwell presents mid-19th-century life through the estate of Stephen Vail (1780-1864), proprietor of Speedwell Iron Works. The site highlight is the factory building where Alfred Vail (1807-1859) and Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872) completed and publicly demonstrated the electromagnetic telegraph in 1838. Other structures include an operational waterwheel; the Vail Home, furnished to an 1844 to 1864 appearance; 1849 carriage house; several residences; and a historic granary.

The site offers period rooms; traditional and interactive exhibits; guided tours of the factory building, Vail home, and Wheelhouse; hands-on workshops; Scout programs; and educational programs.

Pennington County Historical Society and Peder Engelstad Pioneer Village [MN]

Description

The Pennington County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Pennington County, Minnesota. To this end, the society operates the Peder Engelstad Pioneer Village. The village depicts Minnesota pioneer life circa the early 19th century. The 19 structures include a museum, a schoolhouse, railroad depots, residences, a barber shop, and a blacksmith shop, among other sites. The village also contains historic gardens and farm machinery.

The village offers exhibits, period rooms, gardens, and guided tours. Guided tours are only available by appointment. The society website offers a substantial online database of photographs, maps, obituaries, cemetery records, and landowner records, among other items of archival and genealogical interest.