Alabama State Capitol [AL]

Description

Completed in 1851, this National Historic Landmark is a museum of state history and politics. Additions to the building were made several times. The Confederacy began in the original Senate chamber and the Selma to Montgomery 1965 Voting Rights March ended on the street in front of the building. Today, the governor and other executive branch officers still occupy offices in the Capitol.

The site offers exhibits and tours.

Weeksville Heritage Center

Description

Weeksville Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving the Hunterfly Road houses. These houses represent one of the first free African American community in the United States. In 2005, the houses underwent a three million dollar restoration, and now sit in a park in central Brooklyn, similar to their original setting. A new education/cultural center is being built now.

The site offers information about historical Weeksville, an archive of press releases, and information about upcoming events.

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb

Description

This scenic park south of downtown Chicago is the burial place of distinguished statesman Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813–1861). The Douglas Monument Association was organized in 1861 to build a suitable memorial at the gravesite. In 1864 the Association adopted the design of Illinois sculptor Leonard W. Volk. During operating hours visitors may enter the Tomb and view the sarcophagus containing the Senator’s remains. Staff are available to provide information concerning Douglas and aspects of the Tomb’s history.

The tomb offers interpretative staff available to answer questions and occasional commemorative events.

Constitution Island Association [NY]

Description

Constitution Island is part of West Point, the United States Military Academy, a National Registered Landmark. The Island is most famous for the Great Chain that was placed across the Hudson during the Revolutionary War and the Warner family who lived on the Island during the 19th century. The Warner House and ruins of the Revolutionary War fortifications are the primary points of interest.

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

Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches, Melrose Plantation, and Kate Chopin House [LA]

Description

The Association for Preservation of Historic Natchitoches seeks to preserve areas of historic value in the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase Territory. The Association maintains the Melrose Plantation and the Kate Chopin House. The Melrose story begins with Marie Therese Coincoin, a slave born in 1742; she was eventually she sold to a Frenchmen, Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer. In time, Metoyer freed Marie Therese and 10 Franco-African children. Evidence points to Metoyer as the father of these children. Marie Therese and son Louis Metoyer received large grants of land including the present Melrose Plantation. This Creole-style home celebrates its most famous resident, Kate Chopin, and its original inhabitant, Alexis Cloutier. Built by slave labor between 1805 and 1809, the structure exemplifies the early 19th-century homes of the area.

The association offers occasional recreational and educational events; the plantation offers tours; the house offers exhibits and tours.

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.

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).

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.

Jeremiah Sullivan House [IN]

Description

The Jeremiah Sullivan House is a fine example of Federal-style architecture. Built for the Jeremiah Sullivan family in 1818, the house is considered Madison's first mansion. The two-story brick dwelling exhibits delicate tapered reeded columns between the entrance door and sidelights, and an elliptical fanlight above. The interior is furnished in period furnishings. The basement kitchen with brick floor and stone fireplace is furnished in period and demonstrates a typical Madison kitchen of the time. On the first floor is a restored federal serving kitchen. The rear yard contains an interpretation of a period bake oven and smokehouse.

The house offers tours.

Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village [DE]

Description

For the child who believes milk comes from the grocery store instead of a cow, for the woman who remembers using a cornsheller on her grandmother's farm, or the family who takes 20th-century technological advances and the farmer for granted, the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village offers a memorable and educational experience. By preserving the quickly fading agricultural heritage of Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula, the Museum stands as an important legacy for future generations. A main exhibit building and 15 historic structures associated with a 19th-century farming community bring the fascinating story of agriculture to life. More than 4,000 artifacts are displayed in the main exhibit building—from butter churns to threshers, from an 18th-century log house to the first broiler chicken house.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, demonstrations, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.