Drake House Museum [NJ]

Description

The Drake House Museum is located in Planfield, NJ, and is owned and operated by the Historical Society of Plainfield. On permanent display in the house are three Colonial era rooms, the kitchen, the Queen Anne dining room, and the Washington bedroom. In addition, the parlor and Harberger Library are interpreted as period Victorian rooms. Thus, visitors to the house can view the house as it was throughout the early history of New Jersey.

The site offers brief historic and visitor information, an events calendar, information about the "Traveling Trunk," a traveling exhibits that shows a virtual tour of the house as well as several house artifacts, and an online newsletter.

The museum is currently closed for renovation.

President James K. Polk State Historic Site [NC]

Description

Located on land once owned by President James K. Polk's family, this historic site is where the 11th president grew up. Here he spent spent most of his childhood, helping work the 250-acre farm. The site recalls significant events in the Polk administration including the Mexican War, settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, and the annexation of California. Reconstructions of typical homestead buildings—a log house, separate kitchen, and barn—are authentically furnished.

The site offers a short film, exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Ximenez-Fatio House [FL]

Description

The Ximenez-Fatio House is one of St. Augustine's "most authentic historic properties." The house is the best preserved of roughly three dozen colonial buildings in St. Augustine. The grounds and buildings that compose the home date all the way back to St. Augustine's original town plan of 1572. Visitors to the home will be taken on a trip starting in the late 18th century when the house was built all the way through Florida's acquisition as a U.S. state in 1845. The house museum focuses on the property's role as a boarding house, one of the few socially acceptable business ventures for a 19th-century woman.

The house offers exhibits and guided tours for school groups, as well as a DVD presentation on Florida's territorial-era history, Florida: The 27th Star, for order. The website offers visitor information, detailed historical information, a virtual tour of the home, and resources for teachers, including lesson plans, a tour designed for schoolchildren, and historical information about the property.

Fort Jesup State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Fort Jesup, located in western Louisiana, was constructed in the early 19th century in order to provide protection on the western edge of the United States. Throughout its military life, the fort presided over the furthest western reaches of the United States of America, which terminated at the Sabine river, which forms the modern-day border between Texas and Louisiana. In addition to providing protection, the garrison provided many other crucial functions, such as road construction, surveying, and treaty negotiation. The fort was designated a national historic landmark in 1961.

The site offers basic historical information, a list of nearby attractions along with links to the attractions, and visitor information.

Smith's Castle [RI]

Description

This 1678 home developed over decades into one of the greatest New England plantations of the 18th century. Today, Smith's Castle is an historic site where four centuries of Rhode Island history are preserved and interpreted through tours, historic reenactments, and educational programs for both adults and children.

The site offers tours and educational programs.

Old Fort Harrod State Park [KY]

Description

Fort Harrod State Park is located in central Kentucky. The Park seeks to preserve Kentucky's pioneer history, and has reconstructed the fort close to the site of the original fort. Today, the reconstructed fort serves as a living history site, complete with interpreters in correct period clothing show visitors how pioneer tasks such as woodworking, weaving, broom making, and blacksmithing were performed. In addition, the site served as the location of the marriage of Abraham Lincoln's parents in 1806. Finally, the park features a museum which houses Civil War artifacts, a gun display, Native American artifacts and a collection of Lincoln memorabilia.

The site offers general information about the park intended for visitors, including an events guide, park maps, and a small photo gallery featuring 16 photographs of the park and the fort.

Jarrot Mansion State Historic Site [IL]

Description

Nicholas Jarrot was a French born entrepreneur and land speculator who also served as a local judge and militia officer. Jarrot began construction of his mansion in 1807, and was one of the earliest buildings built with brick in the state of Illinois. In addition, the home is notable for its use of the American Federal architecture style, not the more common French Colonial style prevalent in the midwest during the time period. Currently, the house is under restoration and is only opened periodically to the public for special events.

The site provides visitors with historical information regarding the house, current information on the restoration projects, a photo gallery featuring nine historical and present photographs of the mansion, a calendar of events, and links to local historical sites and organizations.

Butler-McCook House and Garden [CT]

Description

For 189 years the Butler-McCook House and Garden was home to four generations of a family who participated in, witnessed, and recorded the evolution of Main Street between the American Revolution and the mid-20th century. The house's exterior looks much as it did when it was built in 1782. Behind it is a restored Victorian ornamental garden, originally laid out in 1865. Inside are the original furnishings ranging from Connecticut-crafted colonial furniture to Victorian-era toys and paintings to samurai armor acquired during a trip to Japan. The objects were accumulated over the course of more than 125 years by members of this clan, which included physicians, industrialists, missionaries, artists, globe trotters, and pioneering educators and social reformers. The Main Street History Center's keystone exhibition, "Witnesses on Main Street," uses the Butler and McCook families' words and experiences to chronicle their neighborhood's transformation from a clutch of clapboard dwellings, taverns, and artisans' shops into a modern urban enclave of multistory steel, brick, and stone structures housing major financial, industrial, governmental, and cultural institutions.

The house offers exhibits and tours.

Levi Coffin Home State Historic Site [IN]

Description

The Levi Coffin Home was a stop on the Underground Railroad in the years preceding the civil war, and treats visitors to a tour of Indiana history through hidden doors, false-bottomed wagons, and other methods used to hide escaped slaves. This brick house in Newport, Indiana, was the home to Levi and Catherine Coffin, North Carolina Quakers who opposed slavery and helped more than 2,000 slaves reach safety.

The site offers very minimal information for visitors regarding the house.

Champoeg State Heritage Area [OR]

Description

Champoeg features a combination of history, nature, and recreation. This is the site where Oregon's first provisional government was formed by a historical vote in 1843. Situated on the south bank of the scenic Willamette River, Champoeg's acres of forest, fields, and wetlands recreate the landscape of a bygone era. Visitors can tour the park's visitor center, Newell House, and Pioneer Mothers Log Cabin museums to discover pioneer life at Champoeg; or take a guided walk to learn what happened to the bustling pioneer town of Champoeg, and how the Donald Manson Barn was built. An 1860s-style garden lies next to the visitor center. The park also includes the Historic Butteville Store founded in 1863. It is considered the oldest operating store in Oregon. The store is the last commercial vestige of the once thriving Willamette River community of Butteville.

A second website for the area, the Friends of Historic Champoeg site, can be found here.

The area offers short films; exhibits, tours; educational programs; demonstrations; lectures; and educational and recreational events, including living history events.