Museums of Old York [ME]

Description

The Old York Historical Society, as the Museums of Old York, was founded more than 100 years ago to preserve the history and artifacts of York, Maine. Originally referred to as Gorgeana, York is one of New England's earliest colonial settlements. It also has the distinction of being the nation's first chartered city (1641) and first incorporated city (1642). Offering 37 period room settings and several galleries housed throughout nine historic museum buildings, the Museums of Old York showcases a wealth of early New England art, architecture, and decorative arts. The exhibits focus on the stories of southern Maine's men, women, and children and the world they created and lived in from the earliest settlement in the 1600s to the present day. Historic structures include the 1834 Remick Barn, the 1750 Jefferds' Tavern, the 1745 Old Schoolhouse, the 1742 Emerson-Wilcox House, the 1719 Old Gaol, the 1747 Ramsdell House, the 1740s John Hancock Wharf, the 1867 George Marshall Store, and the 1730 Elizabeth Perkins House.

The museums offer exhibits, tours, living history demonstrations, classes, and other educational and recreational events.

Louisville Fire History and Learning Center

Description

The center exists to educate the Louisville community in fire and home safety while preserving the city's rich history. The center's collection includes a rare 1892 Hale Water Tower, one of 12 chemically-raised water towers built in the United States by Hale; a working vintage communications system featuring the "Joker"; a photo collection illustrating the history of the nation's third oldest professional fire department; and memorabilia, including uniforms, helmets, badges, and tools of the profession.

The center offers exhibits.

Washington Crossing Historic Park [PA]

Description

The Park memorializes the historic crossing of the Delaware by George Washington and his troops during the American Revolution, while preserving and presenting a number of historic structures, including the 18th-century McConkey's Ferry Inn, the 18th-century Thompson-Neely House, and a variety of early-19th-century homes and structures.

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

Oneida Community Mansion House

Description

Built brick-by-brick in stages beginning in 1861 by the utopian Oneida Community (1848—1880), the 93,000-square-foot Mansion House testifies to the Community's core belief in the possibility of personal and social perfection. In plan and decoration it reflects popular architectural styles of the mid-19th century, but its large scale epitomizes the needs of a society that lived as one family with more than 300 members. Continually inhabited since 1862, the Mansion House features a museum, overnight lodging, residential apartments, the Zabroso Restaurant in the Community dining room, and banquet and meeting facilities. Century-old trees define the grounds where meandering paths lead to gardens that change with the seasons.

The house offers exhibits, tours, workshops, and educational and recreational programs.

Amish Country Homestead

Description

The Homestead is the home of the fictional Old Order Amish family of Daniel and Lizzie Fisher. Inside the Homestead, visitors learn of Amish traditions and practices, including Sunday church services held in the home. They tour the nine rooms on the first and second floors and learn up close how the Fisher family lives from day to day.

The homestead offers the "experiential theater" film Jacob's Choice and tours.

Cape May Point State Park and Lighthouse [NJ]

Description

The 157-foot-high lighthouse is still an aid to navigation. Visitors who climb the 199 steps to the top of the lighthouse are rewarded with a panoramic view of the Cape May peninsula. The first known lighthouse at Cape May was built in 1823. By 1847 a new lighthouse was erected on a high bluff; however, due to the encroaching sea and poor building design it was eventually dismantled. Built in 1859, the current lighthouse used the original bricks of the 1847 lighthouse. Also on the site is a World War II bunker, built as part of the Harbor Defense Project of 1942.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational events.

Guilford Keeping Society, Thomas Griswold House Museum, and Medad Stone Tavern [CT]

Description

The Society collects, preserves and shares the history and heritage of Guilford, CT, for present and future generations. The Society also maintains and operates the Thomas Griswold House Museum, which includes a c. 1774 New England saltbox house, an early blacksmith shop, a large barn filled with farm implements, two corn cribs, and a Victorian three-seat privy or outhouse. It further operates the Medad Stone Tavern, built in 1803 by Medad Stone.

The society offers research library access, classes, tours, and educational and recreational events; the buildings offer exhibits.

Columbia County Historical Society, Museum, and Historic Houses [New York]

Description

The Society is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the history of Columbia County, NY. The Society owns and operates three historic properties, open to the public during the summer season, and a museum, open year-round. The Columbia County Museum, open to the public since 1985, was originally built as a Masonic Temple in 1916. Today it houses the Society offices, research library, collections storage, and exhibit space. Volunteers and staff organize educational programs and aid in genealogical research as well as many other activities. The Society also operates the 1820s James Vanderpoel House and the 1737 Luykas Van Alen House.

The museums offer exhibits, tours, and research library access; the society offers lectures and educational and recreational programs.

Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park [FL]

Description

More than eight centuries ago, Native Americans inhabited the area around Lake Jackson. The park site was part of what is now known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Today, it encompasses six earthen temple mounds and one possible burial mound. The largest mound is 278 feet by 312 feet at the base and approximately 36 feet in height. Artifacts of pre-Columbian societies have been found here including copper breastplates, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and cloaks. Visitors can enjoy a short hike past the remains of an 1800s grist mill or picnic on an open grassy area near the largest mound.

The park offers tours and exhibits.

Tryon Palace [NC]

Description

The grounds of this site include several historic structures, including the Tryon Palace, the George W. Dixon House, the Stanly House, the Robert Hay House, and the New Bern Academy. Tryon Palace was originally built between 1767 and 1770, as the first permanent capitol of the Colony of North Carolina and a home for the Royal Governor and his family. Josiah Martin, the second royal governor to live in the Palace, fled in May of 1775 at the beginning of the American Revolution. Patriots made the Palace their capitol and the first sessions of the General Assembly met there to begin designing a free and independent state. Four state governors used the Palace: Richard Caswell, Abner Nash, Alexander Martin, and Richard Dobbs Spaight. The George W. Dixon House was built in the early 1830s for George W. Dixon, a merchant tailor and one-time mayor of the city of New Bern. The Stanly House was built in the early 1780s for John Wright Stanly, a prominent New Bern citizen. John Hawks, the architect who designed Tryon Palace, may have designed the Stanly House as well. Built of hand-hewn longleaf pine, the Stanly House remains one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the South. The Robert Hay House, built in the first decade of the 19th century, is modest by comparison to other homes on the Palace complex. Robert Hay, a Scottish immigrant and wagon maker, bought this Federal-style wood frame townhouse in 1816, the same year he married Nancy Carney, and resided there until his death in 1850, at the age of 96. Today, it functions as a "living history" museum. Visitors get a firsthand feel for life in 1835 by talking with character interpreters who portray Hay household members and neighbors, and by hands-on experiences with the reproduction furnishings of this "Please Touch" museum. The New Bern Academy was the first school in North Carolina to be established by law; the legislative assembly incorporated it in 1766. Fire destroyed the original building in 1795. The present building was constructed between 1806 and 1809, and served as a school until 1971, making it one of the oldest continuously used school buildings in America. Today, it serves as a museum of local history.

The sites offer a short video, exhibits, tours, demonstrations, performances, and educational and recreational events (including living history events).