National Capital Trolley Museum [MD]

Description

The National Capital Trolley Museum preserves and interprets the heritage of electric and interurban railways of Washington, D.C. and environs for the benefit of present and future generations, while supplementing its collections with significant national and international objects to enhance its interpretive programs.

The museum offers exhibits, street car rides, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Eureka Heritage Society and Romano Gabriel Garden [CA]

Description

The Eureka Heritage Society provides leadership, education, and advocacy to preserve and enhance Eureka's irreplaceable historic structures and neighborhoods so as to ensure a legacy for future generations. It maintains the Romano Gabriel Garden, fashioned from discarded crates and boards by Romano Gabriel, a carpenter turned sculptor. The garden has been "transplanted" and is now housed in a glass exhibit area for viewing.

The society offers occasional recreational and educational events; the garden is open to the public as a viewable exhibit.

Woodland Opera House State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Built in 1885, the original Opera House burned down in the 1892 fire that destroyed much of downtown Woodland. It was rebuilt on the same site, using some of the remaining foundations and bricks from the walls, reopening in 1896. Today, the interior of the Opera House has been painstakingly restored to the grandeur it enjoyed at the turn if the century. Careful attention was paid to reproduction of the wallpaper friezes, paint colors, and carpeting. The main floor carpet was manufactured in England and shipped to the Opera House for installation. Comfortable main floor theater seating was built on the East Coast for installation and the historic pew-like benches in the balcony area were repaired or carefully replaced.

A second, individual website for the Opera House can be found here.

The park offers tours and year-round performances, productions, classes, and workshops.

Bourne Historical Society and Center, Aptucxet Trading Post, and Briggs-McDermott House [MA]

Description

The Society is housed in the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, built in 1897 by Emily Howland Bourne as a town library and as a memorial to her father, Jonathan Bourne, for whom the town was named. The Society also manages the Aptucxet Trading Post and the Briggs-McDermott House. The Trading Post recreates the first trade house built in 1627, by Plymouth Colony, located on the south bank of the Manomet (Monument) River, which is now part of the Cape Cod Canal. The Pilgrims traded with the Indians and the Dutch from New Amsterdam (New York City), thus having a source of income by which their debt to the London backers of their expedition to the New World could be repaid. The Trading Post site also houses Gray Gables Railroad Station, built for the personal use of President Grover Cleveland during the years of his presidency (1893–1896). The Greek Revival-style Briggs-McDermott House has been restored and furnished to reflect the period from 1840 to 1910, an important time for the Briggs family and Bourne.

The society offers lectures and occasional recreational and educational events; the center offers tours, exhibits, and research library access; the Trading Post offers tours; the Briggs-McDermott House offers exhibits and tours.

Varnum Memorial Armory Museum [RI]

Description

The Varnum Continentals built their armory in 1913 in the medieval architectural style. The armory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 1984 State Historical Building Survey described the Varnum Memorial Armory as remaining in perfect original condition. Among the key architectural details are the towers, the massive double doors, the multiple arched windows, and the crenellated parapet along the roofline. The armory serves contains an extensive military and naval museum which has been acquired through donation and purchase.

The museum offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events.

Belle Grove Plantation [VA]

Description

Belle Grove is an 18th-century grain and livestock farm, which, in its prime (circa 1815), encompassed about 7,500 acres of land. The unique limestone house was completed in 1797 for Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly, sister of future President James Madison. The house has remained virtually unchanged through the years, offering visitors an experience of the life and times of the people who lived there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. During the Civil War, Belle Grove was at the center of the decisive Battle of Belle Grove or Cedar Creek. Today, the plantation includes the main house and gardens, original outbuildings, a classic 1918 barn, an overseer's house, the slave cemetery, a heritage apple orchard, fields and meadows, and scenic mountain views.

The site offers tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park [CO]

Description

Visitors to the Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park can explore how the people of Golden, CO, settled a bustling town that served the developing West as a government center and mining supply town. They can tour an 1800s boarding house and homestead where early Colorado pioneers worked and played, see what life was like on the frontier, and hear stories of the people who called this place home. The Astor House was built in 1867 and stayed in continuous operation as a boarding and rooming house until 1971—over 100 years! It rented rooms and served hot meals to lawmakers, laborers, miners, students, and families, some of whom stayed for weeks or even months. Clear Creek History Park recreates the look and feel of a late 1800s mountain ranch complete with gardens, a working blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, and chicken coop (chickens included).

The sites offer tours, demonstrations, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Woodrow Wilson House [DC]

Description

The Woodrow Wilson House is a national historic landmark and house museum that focuses on President Woodrow Wilson's "Washington Years" (1912–1924). The museum promotes a greater awareness of Wilson's public life and ideals for future generations through guided tours, exhibitions, and educational programs. The museum also serves as a community preservation model and resource, dedicated to the stewardship and presentation of an authentic collection and property.

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

Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum [NY]

Description

The Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum is located within the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park in Central New York State. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 96-foot long cargo boats were built and repaired on this site. The Museum tells of the construction of these boats, the workings of the restored dry docks, and the social history of the canal area.

The museum offers exhibits, educational programs, and occasional recreational and historical events.