Lincoln Fire Department Museum [NE]

Description

The Lincoln Fire Department Museum presents the history of Lincoln, Nebraska's firefighting department, founded in 1886. Collections include historic firefighting equipment, photographs, and other related artifacts. Highlights include a fire trumpet, period uniforms, and a 1911 American LaFrance motorized fire engine.

The museum offers exhibits.

Ocracoke Preservation Society and Museum [NC]

Description

The Ocracoke Preservation Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Ocracoke Island, NC. To this end, the society operates a museum and research library within the circa 1900 David Williams House. The residence's namesake and original owner served as the first Coast Guard Chief at the local station. The museum contains period rooms, maritime artifacts, and contemporary art.

The museum offers period rooms, exhibits, and research library access. Appointments are necessary for library access.

Quincy House

Description

Built as a country estate in 1770, Quincy House was originally surrounded by fields and pasture overlooking Quincy Bay. Its architectural details, including a Chinese fretwork balustrade and classical portico, befit the status of the man who built it, the Revolutionary leader Colonel Josiah Quincy. For generations, the Quincys, like the Adamses, to whom they were related, played important roles in the social and political life of Massachusetts. The family produced three mayors of Boston and a president of Harvard. Much of the historical information pertaining to the house and family was documented in the early 1880s by Eliza Susan Quincy. She kept journals, inventoried the contents of the house, commissioned photographs of the interior, and persuaded relatives to return heirlooms so that the house could become a repository of Quincy family history.

The house offers tours and educational programs.

The Heritage Society [TX]

Description

The Heritage Society is a 10-acre museum consisting of nine historic structures. These structures date from 1823 to 1905, and were selected to present the history of Houston settlement and daily life. The 1847 Kellum-Noble House; circa 1850 Greek Revival Nichols-Rice-Cherry House; the 1868 San Felipe Cottage, built by German immigrants; 1868 mid-Victorian Pillot House; 1891 St. John Church, an Evangelical Lutheran place of worship; circa 1823 cabin, known as The Old Place; 1905 Staiti House; 1870 Yates House; and the circa 1860 Fourth Ward Cottage, a working class home, are located on site. The Yates House was built by Reverend Jack Yates, a freed African American man, religious leader, and advocate for African American education, only five years after emancipation.

The museum offers exhibits, 75-minute guided house tours, cell phone tours, group-rate guided tours for six or more students and/or Scouts, hands-on activities, outreach presentations, and library and archives access. School tours are curriculum-based. Access to the library and archival materials is by appointment only.

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.

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.

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.