Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing [KY]

Description

Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing, is an example of a typical 19th century farm along the Ohio River. Today the site consists of the historic house, a detached 19th century kitchen, archeological excavations, and a kitchen garden. A Visitors' Center, museum shop, and cruise service are also offered.

The site offers an award-winning field trip program, Building Block of History, that can be adapted for any grade level and meets curriculum standards for many subject areas. The program includes a tour of the historic house, a chance to participate in the ongoing archeological dig on-site, and a hands-on activity where students can create their own archeological artifact. The site offers pre-visit activities for teachers to use in their classroom as well. Another option is the Life On the River program, which can also be adapted for any grade level.

Nevada State Railroad Museum

Description

The Nevada State Railroad Museum contains a collection of locomotives and other rail memorabilia from Nevada's history including the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Many of these were used in the 19th century before being bought by Hollywood studios for use in films.

The museum offers exhibits, train and motor car rides, and other recreational and educational events.

Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site [ND]

Description

Known historically as "the Gateway to the Dakotas," Fort Abercrombie was the first permanent United States military fort established in what was to become North Dakota. It was also the only post in the area to be besieged by Dakota (Sioux) warriors for more than six weeks during the Dakota Conflict of 1862. During the Dakota Conflict, Minnesota Volunteer soldiers manned the fort when area settlers sought shelter there. The "regular" U.S. Army soldiers had been withdrawn during the Civil War and had been replaced by the Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. The fort was not protected by blockhouses or a palisade during the seige, but these defensive structures were constructed soon afterward. The fort guarded the oxcart trails of the later fur trade era, military supply wagon trains, stagecoach routes, and steamboat traffic on the Red River. It also was a supply base for two major gold-seeking expeditions across Dakota into Montana. Fort Abercrombie served as a hub for several major transportation routes through the northern plains.

The site offers exhibits.

Penn Center National Historic Landmark District [SC]

Description

The Penn Center is one of the nation's first schools for freed slaves and remains one of the most significant African American historical and cultural insitutions in existence today. The Penn Center also seeks to promote and preserve the culture of the Sea Islands of southern South Carolina.

The Penn Center offers exhibits, guided tours of the museum, the Program for Academic and Cultural Enrichment (PACE), and special events. PACE offers after school sessions, a summer enrichment program, a teen leadership institute, and the Child Development Center. The website offers visitor information, a history of the site, and an events calendar.

Soldiers and Sailors Military Museum and Memorial [PA]

Description

The Soldiers and Sailors Military Museum and Memorial presents the military history of Pennsylvanians from the Civil War to the War on Terrorism, and commemorates the veterans and fallen of past and present military action. Exhibits include a wide range of wartime artifacts and artwork, including a comprehensive range of prosthetic limbs and military headgear. All military branches are represented.

The museum offers exhibits, one-hour or 270-minute guided educational tours, 150-minute guided educational tours with hands-on activities, outreach presentations, camps, and Scout programs. Tour topics include both World Wars, the Homefront, the Civil War, women and war, African Americans and war, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The website offers veteran and fallen solider listings.

Oliver H. Kelley Farm [MN]

Description

The Oliver H. Kelley Farm is a living history farm museum with heirloom crops and heritage animal breeds. Costumed interpreters depict life as it would have been between 1850 and 1876. Structures on-site include an Italianate farmhouse, the construction of which began in 1876; a root cellar; a chicken house; a machine shed; a barn; sheep, calf, and pig pens; and a corn crib. Heirloom gardens and a water pump are also accessible. The farm's original owner, Oliver Hudson Kelley (1826-1913), was a scientist-farmer and both founder and secretary of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, the Grange, a farmers' rights association later known as the National Grange. Oliver Kelley lived on site between 1850 and 1876.

The farm offers hands-on activities, self-guided tours, guided tours, nature trails, and grade-appropriate educational programs. The website offers historic photographs and a suggested reading list.

Kansas Oil Museum

Description

The 10-acre Kansas Oil Museum presents the history of the discovery of oil and the growth of the oil industry within the state of Kansas, as well as the history of Butler County. The site includes historical oil field equipment and a "boom town" of historic buildings. Topics addressed include G.W. Brown’s 1860s oil well, John Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, the connection between geology and oil, farming, ranching, and Native American ways of life.

The museum offers exhibits, camps, tours, Scout programs, oil rig demonstrations, educational outreach programs, and research library access. Advance notice is needed for oil rig demonstrations and school tours. The website offers definitions of drilling terminology and a writing competition.

Studebaker National Museum [IN]

Description

The Studebaker National Museum presents the history of the Studebaker Corporation, an automobile manufacturer; and, in doing so, displays U.S. transportation history. The Studebaker brothers' blacksmith shop, founded in 1852, would eventually be reconfigured as the world's largest wagon manufacturer and the producer of both military and civilian vehicles. Collection highlights include a 19th-century Conestoga wagon; military vehicles from six wars; and the presidential carriages of Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, and William McKinley. Lincoln's carriage is the vehicle he used to travel to Ford's Theater the night of his assassination. The Studebaker Archives house more than 50,000 images, engineering drawings, and 500 motion picture titles comprising the corporate archives of the Studebaker Corporation, the Packard Motor Car Company, and local South Bend industries. The museum structure itself incorporates design elements of Studebaker dealerships of the 1920s and 1930s.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, archival access, and research assistance. Both archival access and research assistance require payment.

Ellwood Manor [VA]

Description

The 5,000-acre Ellwood represents a fairly typical antebellum agricultural property. Built circa 1790 by William Jones, the residence served as a Confederate hospital for the wounded of the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville; and Gouverneur K. Warren used the grounds as a Union headquarters during the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness. Following the battle, Ellwood's caretakers, Confederate sympathizers, were imprisoned; and the estate was abandoned for the next eight years. The Ellwood cemetery holds "Stonewall" Jackson's amputated arm, and several of the 25,000 dead of the Battle of the Wilderness were temporarily interred on site.

The estate offers house tours. Ellwood Manor is located within the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial.

Washburne House

Description

The 1843 Washburne House was for many years the home of Elihu B. Washburne, United States Congressman from 1853 to 1869. The restored home's first floor interprets an entry hall, parlor, sitting room, library, dining room, and kitchen with adjoining pantries. All are decorated and furnished to depict the lifestyle of a well-to-do midwestern professional. On the second floor are the master bedroom and a second bedroom.

The house offers tours.