Ritzville's Museums: Dr. Frank R. Burroughs Home and Railroad Depot Museum [WA]

Description

Historic Ritzville maintains two museums. The Burroughs Home was the residence of Ritzville's pioneer physician, Dr. Frank R. Burroughs. It has been restored to its original condition and its collection highlights clothing and household items from the 1890s to the 1920s. The Depot features commercial artifacts relevant to Ritzville around the turn of the century. These include the town's original horse-drawn hearse and a working telegraph machine.

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park [CA]

Description

In August 1908, Colonel Allen Allensworth and four other settlers established a town founded, financed, and governed by African Americans. Their dream of developing an abundant and thriving community stemmed directly from a strong belief in programs that allowed blacks to help themselves create better lives. By 1910, Allensworth’s success was the focus of many national newspaper articles praising the town and its inhabitants. Today a collection of restored and reconstructed early 20th-century buildings—including the Colonel's house, historic schoolhouse, Baptist church, and library—once again dots this flat farm country.

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

Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum [IN]

Description

In this reconstructed 1893 firehouse, the public is shown how the Fort Wayne Fire Department developed from a volunteer department (1839–1882) to an organization of paid professionals (1882–present). This history is traced from the use of hand pumpers and neighborhood volunteers through the development of the steamers and paid firefighters right up to the present-day firefighters. Almost all of the artifacts in the museum were once used by the Fort Wayne Fire Department. Most were graciously donated to the Museum by present and former firefighters or their families in the hopes that future generations can fully understand just how far the fire service has come in the last century and a half.

The museums offers exhibits and tours.

Montgomery County Historical Society and Museums [MD]

Description

The Society maintains three historical properties, including the Beall-Dawson House, the Stonestreet Museum of 19th-century Medicine, and the Waters House History Center. Visitors can learn about the county's beginnings at the historic 1815 Beall-Dawson House, an elegant federal style townhome that features period rooms and changing exhibits. The museum tour highlights the culture and daily life of both the upper-class Beall family as well as the enslaved African Americans who labored in the house and on the adjacent property. The Stonestreet Museum offers an insider's look into the developments in medical science that occurred during the career of Dr. Edward E. Stonestreet. Built in 1852, this unique one-room Gothic Revival doctor's office features medical artifacts and implements that demonstrate the fascinating changes that occurred in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Waters House History Center is housed in oldest house in Germantown—built in three parts, the oldest dates to the mid-1790s. It offers exhibits related to local history.

The Society offers educational programs and lectures; the Beall-Dawson House offers exhibits, tours, and occasional educational and recreation events and programs; the Stonestreet Museum offers exhibits and tours; the Center offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational programs.

Fort Stark Historic Site [NH]

Description

Fort Stark State Historic Site is located on a peninsula historically called Jerry's Point on the southeast corner of New Castle Island. It overlooks the Piscataqua River, Little Harbor, and the Atlantic Ocean. Fort Stark was named in honor of John Stark, commander of New Hampshire forces at the Battle of Bennington (1777). It is one of seven forts built to protect Portsmouth Harbor. A visitor center, located in the old mines building, is open by appointment only.

The site offers exhibits, open by appointment.

Glensheen: Congdon Historic Estate [MN]

Description

Along the shore of Lake Superior, a 7.6-acre expanse of wooded land enfolds the 39-room Jacobean Revival mansion that is Minnesota's premier historic house museum. The interiors of the mansion have endured, boasting nearly all of the same furnishings and décor that graced the rooms when the Congdons' estate was completed in 1908. Even the formal gardens and naturalistic landscape retain much of their original design. Here, visitors are given a look at life in an affluent family home from the turn of the last century.

The site offers tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Johnson Victrola Museum [DE]

Description

The Museum is a tribute to Delaware's native son, Eldridge Reeves Johnson, who founded the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. Exhibits include phonographs, recordings, memorabilia, trademarks, objects, and paintings that highlight Mr. Johnson's successful business enterprises and chronicle the development of the sound-recording industry.

The museums offers exhibits, tours,

Talcott Mountain State Park [CT]

Description

The Farmington River Valley landmark of Heublein Tower sits atop Talcott Mountain, a long, precipitous wooded ledge named after the Talcott family. The 165-foot structure was built as a summer home in 1914 by Gilbert Heublein. In the early '50s, two future presidents were guests of the Hartford Times, then General Dwight D. Eisenhower (who was asked to run for office there) and Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors' Guild. Following a period of ownership of the property by the Hartford Times during WWII and the early 1950s, it was slated for residential development by a private corporation when the 557 acres of Talcott Mountain came under public ownership in 1965 through the cooperative efforts of private conservationists and state and federal governments.

The park offers tours.

Denver Firefighters Museum [CO]

Description

The Museum is located in historic Denver Fire Station No. 1. The building was constructed in 1909 for Engine Company No. 1 by Glen W. Huntington, noted Denver architect, as one of the largest firehouses ever built in Denver. The building served as a working fire station until 1974. Today the Museum offers hands-on activities and exhibits which provide information about fire safety and prevention as well as the history of the Denver Fire Department and historic Fire Station No. 1. Visitors can try on firefighting equipment, slide down a pole, and ride on a fire truck designed just for kids.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational programs and events.