James J. Hill House [MN]

Description

The 1891 Gilded Age James J. Hill House served as the residence of James J. Hill (1838-1916), chief executive officer of several Great Northern Railway lines; his family; and their servants. The interpretive focuses include family life and the life of the home's domestic servants. Other topics covered include Hill's career; architecture; interior design; and period heating, power, communication, and lighting systems. Hill's original gallery now displays art exhibits.

The house offers residence tours, exhibits, 75-minute tours of the residence for students, video or slide show introductory programs for students, late 19th-century skill workshops for children, 90-minute walking tours and 45-minute bus tours of the Summit Avenue neighborhood, lectures, concerts, and dramatic performances. Reservations are required for field trips. The website offers a word search.

Benton County Historical Museum [OR]

Description

The Benton County Historical Museum is dedicated to preserving the history of Benton County, and the history of the settlement of Oregon and the Willamette Valley. The museum is located in the 1867 Philomath College building, an important local historic landmark that was kept standing by the advocacy of local citizens.

The museum offers exhibits, guided tours, field trip programs, and special presentations. The website offers visitor information, online exhibits, and a calendar of events.

The Paine Art Center and Gardens [WI]

Description

The Paine Art Center and Gardens are located in the historic Paine Mansion, which was built in the early 1930s for the Nathan Paine and his wife, wealthy logging and milling moguls. Today, the center preserves both the historic home and serves as a showcase for the Paine family's art collection.

The center offers exhibits and galleries, guided tours of the center, and special events. The website offers a history of the home, a calendar of events, visitor information, and a virtual tour of the mansion.

McFaddin-Ward House [TX]

Description

The 1906 Beaux Arts Colonial McFaddin-Ward House presents the history of its residents and that of the Beaumont, TX area between 1906 and 1950. The McFaddins were involved in real estate, trapping, rice farming, rice milling, cattle, and oil. The grounds contain historic gardens. The carriage house contains period rooms and exhibits addressing the McFaddin's business interests and automobiles.

The house offers a 10-minute introductory film, period rooms, exhibits, guided tours, gardens, self-guided carriage house tours, and seventh grade tours. Guided tours consist of no more than eight visitors, and children under eight are not permitted. Spike heels cannot be worn in the residence. The home is not wheelchair accessible. The website offers pre-tour information and post-visit suggestions for educators.

Pultneyville Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The Pultneyville Historical Society seeks to preserve and present the history of Williamson Township, New York. To this end, the society offers exhibits within a circa 1858 home. Exhibits address the life and work of Horatio Nelson Throop, the 1898 loss of the schooner St. Peter, and local history as depicted through photography. Throop was a boat builder and captain. In the 1830s, he conducted experiments with wind and screw propeller propulsion systems. He was also active in the Underground Railroad. The society owns a collection of artifacts recovered from the wreck of the St. Peter.

The society offers exhibits and archival access. Appointments are required for archival access.

The Snyder Estate [NY]

Description

The Century House, also known as the Snyder Estate, is the former home of Andrew Snyder, and was a small family farm until the discovery of natural cement in the region in 1825. The area experienced impressive industrial growth up to the 1970s, and was the United State's largest producer of cement during that time.

The estate offers guided tours of the Century House, Widow Jane Mine, and Cement Industry Museum. The estate also offers field trip programs, outreach programs, and special events. The website offers visitor information, a history of the estate, and information regarding upcoming events.

Fort Totten State Historic Site [ND]

Description

This site preserves a military post built in 1867 and used continuously as a military reservation until 1890 when it became a boarding school for Indian children. The brick buildings, which replaced an earlier log fort, appear much as they did when built of locally made brick in 1868. Original buildings are now being used to house museum exhibits. Fort Totten served American Indian policy from 1867 to 1959. Constructed as a military post, it became an Indian boarding school, Indian health care facility, and a reservation school.

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

Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum and Muheim Heritage House Museum [AZ]

Description

The Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum, housed in the former corporate headquarters of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company, interprets the rise of the copper mining industry in the region. The Museum also maintains the Muheim Heritage House Museum, an 1898 home restored to its turn-of-the-century state.

The museum offers exhibits and research library access; the Muheim Heritage House offers tours.

Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home [GA]

Description

The Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home preserves the residence in which famed author Flannery O'Conner (1925-1965) lived between 1925 and 1938. The interior has been restored to appear much like it did during that period of time. While O'Conner lived on site, the residence consisted of the first floor only. O'Conner's short stories and novels were often Southern Gothic in style, and favored grotesque characters.

The home offers period rooms.