Old Sacramento State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Old Sacramento State Historic Park is a cluster of noteworthy, early Gold Rush commercial structures. Historic buildings include the 1849 Eagle Theater; the 1853 B. F. Hastings Building, once home to the California Supreme Court; and the 1855 Big Four Building. Old Sacramento's historical significance comes from it being the western terminus of the Pony Express postal system, the first transcontinental railroad, and the transcontinental telegraph. With over 50 historic buildings, Old Sacramento has more buildings of historic value in its 28 acres than any area of similar size in the West.

A second website for the park can be found here.

The park offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, living history programs and events, and other educational and recreational events.

Planes of Fame Air Museum [CA]

Description

The Planes of Fame Air Museum was the first air museum located west of the Rocky Mountains. Founded in 1957, the museum now contains over 150 vintage aircraft. The museum is open year round, and also operates an annual air-show.

The museum offers exhibits, self-guided tours, monthly presentations, and an annual airshow. The website offers visitor information, an events calendar, and a brief history of the museum. In order to contact the museum via email, use the "contact the museum" link located at the top of the webpage under the "air museum info" tab.

Lyndhurst [NY]

Description

Lyndhurst was one of the most famous examples of Gothic Revival architecture in 19th-century America and served as the New York home to former New York City mayor William Paulding, merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould, respectively. The site serves as a great example of money and power in the Gilded Age.

Lyndhurst offers 30-minute group tours and award-winning education programs (on-site or in-schools) designed to follow New York State standards of learning.

Howard County Historical Society [MD]

Description

The Howard County Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the history of Howard County, Maryland, from its origins in the colonial days to its current state as a major suburban area of Baltimore. The society owns and operates a local history museum, housed in the historic Presbyterian Church, and a library, which is located in the historic Ellicot City schoolhouse.

The society offers exhibits, guided tours and research resources. The website offers historical information regarding Howard County as well as visitor information.

Historic Milwaukee [WI]

Description

Historic Milwaukee presents the history and architectural legacy of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The organization offers neighborhood walking tours, guided bus tours, boat tours, customized tours, student tours, lectures, and slide shows. Reservations are required for all but the neighborhood walking tours.

Longfellow National Historic Site [MA]

Description

The Longfellow National Historic Site preserves the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the world's foremost 19th century poets. The home is now open as a historic house museum, and is furnished with 19th century antique furniture.

The home offers guided tours and exhibits on the life and times of Henry Longfellow. The website offers a brief biography of Wadsworth, a history of the home, a virtual tour, and visitor information. In order to email the historic site, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site [MA]

Description

The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site commemorates the life of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), owner of the world's first full-scale landscape design office.

The site offers guided walking tours of Boston-area parks designed by Olmsted, outreach slide presentations, custom-designed educational programs in the "Emerald Necklace" parks, an educator's packet, and teachers' workshops.

The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is closed for construction. The site is expected to reopen in 2010.

Minidoka Internment National Monument [ID]

Description

The Minidoka Internment National Monument presents the story of the forced relocation of people of Japanese descent within the U.S. following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. With President Franklin Roosevelt's (in office 1933-1945) signing of Executive Order 9066, over 120,000 men, women, and children were required to move to one of 10 Relocation Centers. Minidoka was one such center, built to contain the Japanese in the U.S. and prevent potential spy communications. Today the site includes the guard house and waiting room.

The site offers interpretive signage. The Jerome County Museum offers a display on the Minidoka Relocation Center, and the Idaho Farm and Ranch Museum offers a restored barracks building.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Description

At its two locations—the National Mall building and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia—the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum stewards "the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world," according to its website. Through a combination of state-of-the-art exhibits, programs, and media presentations, the Museum interprets aeronautical history for the public.

The museum offers exhibits, self-guided and guided tours for school groups, on-site presentations for school groups, IMAX and planetarium shows, occasional electronic field trips and videoconferences, and on-demand professional development workshops for educators.