New Jersey State Police Museum & Learning Center

Description

"A visit to the New Jersey State Police Museum & Learning Center provides the opportunity to learn the distinguished history of the nation's most diversified state law enforcement agency. Students learn the history of the State of New Jersey through the historic development of the State Police. Beginning with the State Grange era, through periods of population growth and economic changes, the New Jersey State Police have kept in step, meeting the changing needs of the citizens of the state."

Shasta State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Six miles west of Redding, a row of old, half-ruined, brick buildings remind passing motorists that Shasta City, the lusty "Queen City" of California's northern mining district, once stood on this site. These ruins and some of the nearby roads, cottages, and cemeteries are all silent but eloquent vestiges of the intense activity that was centered here during the California gold rush. Iron shutters still swing on massive, old, iron hinges before the doors and windows of grass-filled, roofless buildings that once were crowded with merchandise, and alive with the human sounds of business, trade, and social endeavor. The County Courthouse is restored to its 1861 appearance, the year when it was converted from commercial uses to become the Shasta County Courthouse. Today the building is filled with historical exhibits, and an unparalleled collection of historic California artwork that make it the central figure of Shasta State Historic Park.

The park offers exhibits, tours, demonstrations, and occasional recreational and educational events.

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park [AL]

Description

The USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park is a general military history museum covering the years from World War II to present day. Visitors are welcome to visit 12 decks of the 1942 battleship USS Alabama. Sights include crew quarters, the sick bay, gun turrets, and an engine room. Off the USS Alabama, the park presents historic aircraft and tanks, a Vietnam PBR Boat, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, and the 1941 submarine USS Drum.

The park offers a 15-minute introductory film, exhibits, self-guided tours, a flight simulator, and a Scout overnight program. Advance notice is appreciated for group visits and required for school visits. Catered meals can be provided with two weeks notice, subject to availability. Student lunch packages must be reserved one week in advance. The website offers pre-visit activities.

Moosehead Historical Society, Eveleth-Crafts-Sheridan House, and Lumberman's Museum [ME]

Description

The Moosehead Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of the Moosehead Lake area, ME. To this end, the society operates the Lumberman's Museum and the 1899 Victorian Eveleth-Crafts-Sheridan House. The house holds exhibits of local historical relevance, covering the period between the Civil War and World War II. The Lumberman's House exhibits address Native American life, 19th-century logging, and steamships, among other topics.

The society offers exhibits, guided house and museum tours led by costumed interpreters, and archive access. Archive access is only available during the winter, while guided tours are only available June through September. During the summer, the society hosts periodic living history events. Picnicking is welcome in the sunken garden.

California Automobile Museum [CA]

Description

The California Automobile Museum presents more than 160 historic automobiles, including hot rods, race cars, classic cars, muscle cars, and early models. Vehicles in the collection range from an 1882 horse-drawn wagon to a 2003 Fuel Cell Mercedes Benz Necar 4A. Permanent exhibits address clean fuel alternatives, vehicles until 1906, vehicles between 1906 and 1918, pre-Depression vehicles, Depression vehicles, cars designed to impress, speed vehicles, and the evolution of automotive technology.

The museum offers exhibits, family programs, guided student tours, outreach speakers, and research services. Reservations for student tours must be made at least two weeks in advance. A fee is charged for research conducted upon request.

The Black Archives [FL]

Description

The Black Archives collects manuscripts, photographs, and oral histories pertinent to African American history in southern Florida between 1896 and present day. Particular emphasis is placed on the 20th-century urban South.

The archives offers a photograph and manuscript research center. The website offers children's activity pages.

Wickersham State Historic Site [AK]

Description

The Wickersham State Historic Site preserves one of the residences, built in 1898, of James Wickersham (1857-1939). Wickersham served as a judge and Congressional delegate for Alaska; and is widely recognized as a key figure in Alaska's development. The home now presents period furnishings, artifacts, and photographs related to Wickersham and the Gold Rush.

The site offers exhibits.

Beckman Mill Park [WI]

Description

The 50-acre Beckman Mill Park contains an 1840s cooperage; a fish ladder; dam; vintage saw mill, blacksmith shop, and creamery displays; and an 1868 grist mill with an operating water-powered Leffel turbine. The mill has been restored to its 1920s appearance. The fish ladder is a graded water passageway which allows fish to move between the two bodies of water separated by the dam.

The park offers exhibits, period rooms, guided mill tours, student tours, and bus group tours. Reservations are required for student and bus group tours.

Willa Cather State Historic Site [NE]

Description

Willa Cather, Nebraska's Pulitzer Prize-winning author, spent her formative years in Red Cloud. Many of the scenes and characters in her writings are based on the people, streets, and landscapes Cather encountered here in her youth. Visitors to the site encounter eight period structures that influenced her writing, including her childhood home; the Catholic and Episcopal churches; the Garber Bank; the Burlington Depot; and the Pavelka Farmstead, home of Annie Pavelka, the basis for the title character of Cather's most famous novel, My Antonia.

A second website for the site, maintained by the Cather Foundation, can be found here.

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