Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum [SC]

Description

The Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum presents U.S. Naval and air history and technology via a collection of Navy vessels and World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and modern military planes. The USS Yorktown, a World War II aircraft carrier; 24 historical military aircraft; the USS Laffey, a World War II destroyer; the USS Clamagore, a Cold War Balao-class submarine; the USCGC Ingham, a World War II and drug bust cutter; a Congressional Medal of Honor exhibit; a Vietnam War Naval Support Base Camp replica; and the Cold War Submarine Memorial are all located on site.

The museum offers traditional and interactive exhibits, guided group tours, self-guided tours, a youth overnight program, curriculum-based history and science educational programs for students, scavenger hunts for students, youth leadership and history seminars, two snack bars, and food options in the mess hall. The mess hall only offers food between April and November. The USS Laffey, USS Clamagore, and USCGC Ingham offer little to no wheelchair accessibility. Groups must contain at least 15 paid visitors.

The USS Laffey is closed until further notice for repairs.

Historic Rogers Street Fishing Village and Great Lakes Coast Guard Museum [WI]

Description

The Historic Rogers Street Fishing Village and associated Great Lakes Coast Guard Museum is composed of five historic structures that chronicle the evolution of the fishing community of Two Rivers, WI. The 1886 pierhead lighthouse, 1887 Life Saving Station, and a 1936 wooden fishing tug are highlights of the museum's collection.

The museum offers guided tours and exhibits. The website offers visitor information.

McFarland State Historic Park [AZ]

Description

McFarland State Historic Park contains an 1878 courthouse, which displays the transition between Sonoran and Anglo-American architecture. Between 1891 and 1938, the structure was used as a county hospital. The site also served as a jail in the late 1800s. The site interprets Arizona Territory history and law enforcement.

The park offers exhibits, period rooms, guided walking tours of the Florence historic district, archival access, courtroom talks for students, guided building tours for students, and picnic areas.

The park is currently closed while exhibits are being changed.

Old Dutch Church Heritage Museum [NY]

Description

The Old Dutch Church Heritage Museum presents the history of a working Reformed Protestant church founded in 1659. The church dominies actively promoted the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War and the Union cause during the Civil War—with the site being used as a state armory and field hospital in the 1860s. The earliest grave on site dates to 1710. The current structure dates to 1859.

The church offers exhibits and archival access. Appointments are required for archival access.

Hay House [GA]

Description

The 1859 Italian Renaissance Revival-style Hay House is a historic house museum, which largely contains pieces from 1926 to 1962. In those years, the Hay family occupied the house. Parks Lee Hay founded Banker's Health and Life Insurance Company. At the time of construction, the house was already outfitted with hot and cold running water, an early intercom system, indoor bathrooms, heating, and a ventilation system. Tours focus on these features and on the architecture itself.

The house offers period rooms, guided tours, traveling trunks for kindergarten through eighth-grade students, nine curriculum-based programs for kindergarten through high school students, homeschool programs, and educational programs for teachers.

Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Perched on a cliff on the central California coast, 50 miles south of San Francisco, the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872. Its five-wick lard oil lamp, and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. It sits in a lantern room that had been constructed at the Lighthouse Service's general depot in New York before being shipped around the Horn. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24-inch Aero Beacon.

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

USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial [NC]

Description

Standing majestically across from downtown Wilmington, the battleship USS North Carolina beckons visitors to walk her decks and envision daily life as well as the fierce combat her veterans faced in World War II. The first fast battleship to join the American fleet during the war, she was then considered the world's greatest sea weapon. The North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific, earned 15 battle stars, and was home to 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men.

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

Friendship Firehouse Museum [VA]

Description

The Friendship Fire Company was established in 1774, and was the first volunteer fire company in Alexandria. The current firehouse was built in 1855, remodeled in 1871, and renovated in 1992. The Engine Room on the first floor houses hand-drawn fire engines, leather water buckets, axes, sections of early rubber hose, and other historic fire-fighting equipment. An exhibition discusses the development of firefighting technology and other fire companies that have served the citizens of Alexandria. The second floor Meeting Room is furnished the way it was during the late 19th century, the real heyday of Friendship as a community organization. On view here are various ceremonial objects such as parade uniforms, capes, banners, and other regalia. George Washington's association with the Friendship Fire Company, honored by members for over 200 years, is symbolized by several images of him throughout the museum.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Hamilton House [Maine]

Description

After railroads made the region accessible in the late 19th century, coastal Maine became a fashionable destination for wealthy summer people. Many of the newcomers bought and restored the fine old houses built during the prosperous years following the American Revolution. In 1898, Mrs. Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter, Elise, purchased the c. 1785 Hamilton House, built on a site overlooking the Salmon Falls River. The Tysons flung themselves into a lifelong project to restore the house to its former glory. Influenced by literary imagery, including the writings of their neighbor and friend, Sarah Orne Jewett, they decorated with a mixture of elegant antiques, painted murals, and simple country furnishings to create their own romantic interpretation of America's colonial past.

The house offers tours and educational and recreational programs.