Pomeroy Living History Farm [WA]

Description

The Pomeroy Living History Farm is a non-profit educational museum depicting 1920's agrarian life in Southwest Washington state. The farm is open to the public the first full weekend of each month, June through September. Over 25 staff and volunteers dress in period costume and utilize living history as an interpretive technique to provide many hands on experiences for guests.

The farm offers tours, living history exhibits, and a gift shop. The website offers a detailed history of the location, visitor information, a virtual tour of the museum, and an online repository of farm newsletters.

Pearce-McAllister Cottage [CO]

Description

The Dutch Colonial Revival Pearce-McAllister Cottage, built in 1899, reflected the original owners' desires to have a cottage similar to those seen in the older districts of the eastern United States. The second owners, the McAllisters, remodeled the interior in the 1920s decor seen in the home. Today, the Pearce-McAllister Cottage is home to the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Toys, which manages the site, and has exhibits throughout the house. The collection encompasses more than 10,000 items dating from 1680 through today.

A second website, focusing more closely on the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Toys that occupies the cottage, can be found here.

The cottage offers exhibits, tours, workshops, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site [TX]

Description

Governor Hogg bought this property in 1902. While he had initially thought of it as an investment, Hogg soon came to think fondly of the plantation as a second home for his scattered family. Hogg was convinced that the property contained oil in quantities equal to Spindletop, and he drilled several wells trying to find it. He died, however, in 1906, 14 years before his beliefs were vindicated. The West Columbia field was brought in during 1920 and proved very productive, becoming the cornerstone of the Hogg family wealth. Until 1958, the Hogg family leased the surface rights for farming and raising livestock, but usually kept the house and immediate outbuildings for weekend and vacation use. In 1958, Miss Ima Hogg, well-known Texas collector and philanthropist, refurbished and refurnished the house and kitchen building and donated the property to the state to commemorate her father and other Texas and American heroes.

The site offers tours.

Bucks County Historical Society and Museums [PA]

Description

The Bucks County Historical Society seeks to make the presentation of historical information both engaging and relevant to everyday life. To this end, the society operates the Mercer Museum, Fonthill Museum, and Spruance Library. The Mercer Museum, housed within a 1916 structure, presents pre-Industrialization artifacts of daily life. Exhibit topics include illumination, medicine, tinsmithing, transportation, and dairy farming, among more than 60 early American trades. The Spruance Library is housed within the Mercer Museum. The 1912 Fonthill Museum is a historic home. Once home to Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), anthropologist, antiquarian, archaeologist, and designer of renowned Moravian tile, the Byzantine, Gothic, and Medieval structure is now furnished in period style. Many of the pieces are original to the site and their locations within the home.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, guided tours of the Fonthill Museum, curriculum-based programs, curriculum-based traveling trunks, curriculum-based outreach presentations, concerts, workshops for children and teenagers, summer camps, Act 48 workshops, research library access, collections access, and research services. Reservations are strongly advised for the Fonthill Museum. The Mercer Museum is approximately 65 percent wheelchair accessible. The Fonthill Museum is wheelchair accessible on the first floor only. Collections access is by appointment only. A fee is charged for research conducted upon request. The website offers pre- and post-visit materials and an online catalog.

Victorian Wheeling Landmarks Foundation [WV]

Description

Wheeling, WV, was once the home of some of the wealthiest families in the United States. Due to these families, Wheeling is home to some of America's finest examples of Victorian architecture. The Landmarks Foundation is dedicated to preserving and showcasing these homes and buildings. The society also owns and operates several Victorian properties available for rental.

The society offers costumed and guided tours of the houses. The website offers visitor information as well as a brief background for all of the houses.

Anthracite Heritage Museum and Iron Furnaces [PA]

Description

The Museum tells the story of the people who came from Europe to work in the anthracite mining and textiles industries. On a tour of the facility visitors will experience the lives of proud people who endured harsh working conditions yet carved out communities filled with tradition. The diverse collection highlights life in the mines, mills, and factories. Visitors are welcomed into the families' homes and neighborhoods with a moment of reflection in the kitchen, a visit to the pub, or a seat in a local church.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, trolley rides, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Wyandot County Historical Society and Museums [OH]

Description

The Wyandot County Historical Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, and interpretation of physical evidence, relevant to the history of Wyandot County, OH, and surrounding areas. To fulfill such purposes, the Wyandot County Historical Society will support, operate and maintain facilities with professional standards of operation for its collections. In particular, the historical society runs two museums, the Overland Inn Museum and the Wyandot County Museum. The Overland Inn Museum is a living history museum which gives visitors a sense of life on the road in the 19th century, while the Wyandot County Museum is a typical local history museum with exhibits and artifacts which chronicle local history.

The site offers visitor information, brief historical information regarding the buildings that house the museums, and an events calendar. The society offers visitors and educators museum access and tours of the museums.

Zion Historical Society and Shiloh House

Description

The Society's main focus is maintaining the 1901 Shiloh House, the home of Zion's founder, Dr. John Alexander Dowie. The Society maintains a museum collection in Shiloh House. Artifacts of the period, many the personal property of the late Dr. and Mrs. Dowie, are on display. The Society continues to build on its collection through donations of photographs, documents, and artifacts by both past and present Zion residents.

The house offers exhibits and tours.

Yuma Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park [AZ]

Description

The Yuma Quartermaster Depot was used to store and distribute supplies for all military posts in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. Currently, five of the original buildings remain on the park grounds, and four contain exhibits which show visitors the military history of the site and the history of the irrigation construction in the Yuma area in the early 20th century. The park also has a visitor's center and gift shop.

The site offers visitor information, a history of the park, a photo gallery featuring 20 photographs of the park and its exhibits, a "for kids'' section with information on kid's programs, an events calendar, and information on other area attractions.

Winchester Mystery House [CA]

Description

The Winchester Mystery House was built between 1884 and 1922 by Sarah Winchester, the noted Winchester Rifle heiress. The house is known both for its beautiful architecture and for its many unexplained oddities, which is the reason it is now known as the mystery house. Visitors to the home can explore 110 of its 160 rooms, view the many oddities, and marvel at the Victorian gardens. The house also is home to the Winchester Firearms Museum.

The house offers exhibits, period rooms, and gardens.