W.W. Mayo House [MN]

Description

The W.W. Mayo House was home to both the Mayo and Cosgrove families, who would go on to found the Mayo Clinic and Green Giant Food Company respectively. The home was hand-built by W.W. Mayo in 1859, and today is open as a fully restored historic house museum.

The home offers tours by costumed guides. The website offers a brief history of the home and visitor information.

Winter Quarters State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Winter Quarters Plantation is one of the few true Southern-style plantations to survive the Civil War. The home was built in 1805, and eventually grew to over 2,000 acres, manned by 300 slaves. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and today serves as a historic house museum. The home is furnished with period furnishings, and contains copies of diaries and other personal records from the tenants.

The home offers tours, interpretive programs and events, and special tours for field trips. The website offers a history of the site, visitor information, links to nearby attractions, and a virtual tour.

Chimney Rock National Historic Site [NE]

Description

Chimney Rock has become one of the most famous landmarks in the American West. This unique formation—the most noted on the Oregon Trail—has come to symbolize the greatest voluntary migration in the history of mankind. The Visitor Center features museum exhibits explaining the westward migration of the 19th century and the significant role Chimney Rock had in the memories of those who traveled the trails west.

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

Enfield Shaker Museum [NH]

Description

The Enfield Shaker Museum is located in the "Great Stone Dwelling," the largest Shaker building in the world. Built in 1841, it served as a dwelling for Shakers until it was sold in 1927. Today, visitors can tour the building and its grounds for a view into Shaker life during the 19th century.

The museum offers exhibits, special programs, concerts, guided tours, and craft demonstrations, as well as a collection of Shaker furniture, tools, clothing, photographs, and agricultural implements. School tours may be customized for any grade level. The website offers visitor information, a history of the museum, a photo tour of the museum and surrounding village, and a calendar of events.

Fort Garland Museum / Pike's Stockade [CO]

Description

Fort Garland was once commanded by the legendary frontiersman Kit Carson. Established in 1858 in southern Colorado, Fort Garland, with its garrison of over 100 men, served to protect the earliest settlers in the San Luis Valley. Approximately 45 miles southwest of Fort Garland is Pike's Stockade on the Conejos River, where Zebulon Pike and his men camped during the cold winter of 1806 and 1807. The stockade was reconstructed from notes in Pike's journal.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and educational programs.

Winslow Crocker House

Description

In 1936, Mary Thacher, an avid collector of antiques, moved the house of a wealthy 18th-century trader and land speculator, Winslow Crocker, to its present location. Considering that Cape Cod in the 18th century was a region of small farms and fishing ports, the Winslow Crocker House is surprisingly elaborate, with rich paneling in every room. Miss Thacher remodeled the interior in order to provide an appropriate early American backdrop for the display of her collection. Woodwork was stripped, smaller-paned windows installed, and a fireplace rebuilt to contain a beehive oven. The result is a colonial Cape Cod house with a 20th-century flavor. Miss Thacher's collection of furniture, accented by colorful hooked rugs, ceramics, and pewter, presents a thorough survey of early American styles, from Jacobean, William and Mary, and Queen Anne, to Chippendale.

The house offers tours.

Jerusalem Mill at Gunpowder Falls State Park [MD]

Description

The Jerusalem Mill is over 228 years old, and operated continuously for two centuries. Today, the mill serves as the Gunpowder State Park headquarters and visitor center, and offers a variety of exhibits. In addition to the mill, visitors can also explore the surrounding village. Both the village and the mill are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The mill offers a variety of special events, including blacksmithing demonstrations and living history exhibits, and offers exhibits on park history. The website offers a brief history of the park and visitor information.

Museum and White House of the Confederacy [VA]

Description

The Museum of the Confederacy is located in Richmond, Virginia, and is housed in the Civil War residence of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. The home serves as both a historic house museum and general museum of the Confederacy.

The museum offers a variety of exhibits that showcase the history of the Confederacy, living history programs during the summer months, and tours for adults and children. The website offers teacher resources, including lesson plans and field trip information; visitor information; and a calendar of events.

Butler-Turpin State Historic House [KY]

Description

Once the home of a notable Kentucky military family, today the 1859 Butler House preserves the history of the family and the region.

The historic house offers tours year-round, as well as educational programs for school groups. The website offers a brief history of the Butlers, field trip information, two small photo albums of the present-day park, an events calendar, and visitor information.