Historic St. Mary's City [MD]

Description

Historic St. Mary's City presents the first capital of Maryland and fourth permanent British New World settlement via living history interpretation. Sites include the reconstructed 1676 State House, the square-rigger Maryland Dove, a working tobacco plantation, and a Yaocomaco Native American settlement. St. Mary's is an early example of government supported freedom of religion.

The museum offers exhibits, interpretive signage, an audio tour, self-guided tours, four hour school tours which complement state educational standards, hands-on activities, and picnic areas. Reservations are required for school and group tours. The website offers a virtual tour and children's activities.

Historic Charleston Foundation, Nathaniel Russell House, and Aiken-Rhett House [SC]

Description

The Foundation maintains two historic houses, the Nathaniel Russell House and the Aiken-Rhett House. Set amid spacious formal gardens, the 1808 Nathaniel Russell House is widely recognized as one of America's most important neoclassical dwellings. The house is furnished with period antiques and works of art that evoke the gracious lifestyle of the city's merchant elite. Today the Nathaniel Russell House interprets the lives of the Russell family, as well as the African-American slaves and artisans who were responsible for maintaining one of the South's grandest antebellum townhouses. The Aiken-Rhett House stands alone as the most intact townhouse complex showcasing urban life in antebellum Charleston. Built in 1818 and greatly expanded by Governor and Mrs. William Aiken, Jr. in the 1830s and 1850s, the house has survived virtually unaltered since 1858.

The foundation offers occasional recreational and educational events; the Nathaniel Russell House offers tours; the Aiken-Rhett House offers tours.

McLean County Historical Society [ND]

Description

The McLean County Historical Society preserves local history, and shares it with the public via a series of museums located in Washburn, North Dakota. These museums consist of two main museum buildings, the Joe Taylor Cabin (1869), the Sioux Ferryboat (in use 1952–1962), and an old school house (1882). The main museum buildings contain fossils, information on Lewis & Clark, farming tools, military memorabilia, models of historic structures, Native American artifacts, coal industry history, musical instruments, train station artifacts, memorabilia from local organizations, and a variety of period room dioramas.

The museums offer exhibits.

Haddon Fire Company Museum [NJ]

Description

The Haddon Fire Company Museum houses two pumpers (dating from 1818 and 1873), helmets, uniforms, a collection of metal toy fire equipment, and the company's original banner. The site has been structured to suggest how a fire house might have looked 200 years ago. The Haddon Fire Company is the nation's second oldest volunteer fire company in continuous existence, founded in 1764.

The museum offers exhibits.

Finger Lakes Boating Museum [NY]

Description

The Finger Lakes Boating Museum presents information concerning the long history of boating in the region, dating back to the Iroquois Nation. The collection includes over 90 boats built in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, as well as related artifacts. The archive contains extensive information about the boat building industry within the region. It is of note that the museum currently displays its collection in a variety of venues, as it has yet to establish a dedicated architectural space.

The museum offers exhibits.

Cahokia Courthouse State Historic Site

Description

This 1740 building is historically significant as the oldest courthouse in Illinois and the only one remaining from the state’s territorial period (1787–1818). It is architecturally significant as an example of the French Colonial vertical log poteaux-sur-solle ("post-on-sill") construction technique. Inside are three exhibit rooms and another furnished to represent the courtroom in the 1790s. Exhibits in the Courthouse depict issues that came before the court around 1800 and a history of the structure as it was moved in the early 20th century to St. Louis and Chicago before its eventual return to Cahokia.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Benicia Fire Museum [CA]

Description

The Benicia Fire Museum houses historic fire service equipment and hundreds of related items from the Benecia Volunteer Firemen Incorporated, the oldest continuous volunteer fire service in California (dating to 1847). Fire equipment from the former Benicia Arsenal Military Reservation in also on display. Collection highlights include a 1920's Phoenix engine, a circa 1855 Solano engine, an 1833 Griffin pumper, a replica of the first hand pumper, a circa 1932 Dodge, and the only open cab four wheel drive fire engine west of the Mississippi.

The museum offers exhibits.