Scotty's Castle [CA]

Description

Scotty's Castle, or the Death Valley Ranch, was designed as a vacation home for a wealthy Chicago couple, Albert Mussey Johnson and his wife Bessie. However, according to legend, it was built by Walter Scott or "Death Valley Scotty" with the earnings from his secret mines. The site interprets the Roaring 20s and the 1930s, which suffered from the Great Depression. Construction was permanently halted in 1931 when Johnson and Scott discovered that the site was located on government land.

The home offers 50-minute living history tours, tours for students, exhibits, a snack bar, and picnic areas. Tours interpret the year 1939. Tour transcriptions are available in Japanese, German, Dutch, Korean, Russian, Slovenian, Italian, Czech, Danish, Spanish, and French. The website offers a virtual tour.

The second floor is temporarily inaccessible by wheelchair. Gasoline is currently unavailable on site. The nearest gasoline is located 45 miles from the site.

Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site [TX]

Description

Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site is located on the Navasota River in Limestone County. In 1889, 24 years after the end of the Civil War, veterans of the Confederacy in Limestone and Freestone counties assembled as an encampment and formed the Joe Johnston Camp No. 94–United Confederate Veterans. The organization's constitution formulated during the 1889 meeting stated that its purpose was to perpetuate the memories of fallen comrades, aid disabled survivors and indigent widows and orphans of deceased Confederate soldiers, and preserve the fraternity that grew out of the war. The 1889 meeting was the first of a series of annual reunions that continued with few interruptions for the next 57 years. Attractions at the site include historic buildings such as the 1872 Heritage House, an 1893 dance pavilion, a Civil War steel-barreled Val Verde cannon, and two scenic footbridges that span Jack's Creek.

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

Ramsey County Historical Society and Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life [MN]

Description

The Ramsey County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of St. Paul and Ramsey County, MN. To this end, the society operates the Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life. The Gibbs Museum consists of the 1854 home of pioneers Herman and Jane Gibbs, a replica of their earlier c. 1849 sod home, their 1910 barn, a later barn, an 1880s schoolhouse, Dakotah style tipi, a replica Dakotah bark lodge, prairie, an orchard, Dakotah and pioneer crops, and a Dakotah medicine garden. Jane Gibbs was raised near the Dakotah, learning their language as a child; and she and the local Dakotah maintained a friendship throughout her life. Other exhibits and a research center are located at the society's headquarters.

The society offers period rooms, exhibits, tours led by costumed interpreters, group tours, gardens, farm animals, summer camps, lectures, research center access, and picnic tables. Reservations are required for group tours, and picnic tables are available with advance notice. Group tours focus on pioneer or Dakotah life, although tours can be given other areas of emphasis upon request. Students as young as preschoolers are welcome. The research center is open by appointment only.

Charlevoix Historical Society and Harsha House Museum [MI]

Description

The Charlevoix Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of the Charlevoix, MI area and its people. To this end, the society operates the Harsha House Museum. The 1891 Harsha House contains three period rooms, local history exhibits, a 1917 player piano, and a research library with oral histories.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, research library access, and research assistance.

The Slaughter Ranch [AZ]

Description

The Slaughter Ranch is a 19th century ranch once owned by "Texas" John Slaughter, a powerful cattle rancher and legendary sheriff in modern day Arizona. The 1893 ranch consists of a five bedroom ranch house, an ice house, a wash house, a granary, a commissary, and a car shed.

Groups may tour the house and grounds, as well as use the designated picnic area.

Roth Living Farm Museum [PA]

Description

The Roth Living Farm Museum demonstrates farming as practiced between 1890 and 1910. Demonstrations include sheep shearing, milking, washing laundry, egg collecting, cheese making, butter churning, corn grinding, and planting. Animals on site include horses, chickens, sheep, goats, and cattle. The farm consists of an 1832 Georgian farmhouse, 19th-century barn, and 35 surrounding acres.

The museum offers traditional and interactive demonstrations, Scout programs, summer tours, and group tours and activities. Group tours and hands-on activities can be scheduled throughout the year.

California State Railroad Museum

Description

The California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento is a tribute to the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. The museum features 21 restored locomotives and cars, some dating back to 1862. There is a full-scale diorama of an 1860s construction site high in the Sierra Nevada as well as a bridge elevated 24 feet above the museum floor.

The museum offers exhibits, train rides, a short film, tours, research library access, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.

Dothan Landmarks Foundation [AL]

Description

The Landmark Park in Dothan, Alabama is an outdoor classroom that is designed to educate children about local history and nature. The site has a turn-of-the-century school house and farmstead, a general store, and an Interpretative Center. "Learning Labs" that focus on nature are also available in addition to the history labs.

The site offers history education programs for school groups that include a turn-of-the-century school lesson in the schoolhouse, visit the blacksmith shop and general store, and the Wiregrass farmstead where they will participate in 1900's farm chores and recreation.

Royal Arts Foundation- Belcourt Castle [RI]

Description

The Belcourt Castle was the home of built in 1894 by the famous American architect Richard Morris Hunt. It was designed as Louis XIII style hunting lodge to be a summer cottage during the Gilded Age. The mansion contains historical furnishings and memorabilia.

The Castle offers guided group tours for students that include showcase the Tinney family's (the current owners) antiques and the variety of architectural styles of the home. The tour covers the history of the Gilded Age and the home's illustrious residents O.H.P. Belmont, a representative of the Rothschild Banking empire and Congressman, and his wife Alva Vanderbilt, the former wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt.