Bannack State Park [MT]

Description

Bannack State Park is the site of Montana's first major gold discovery on July 28, 1862. This strike set off a massive gold rush that swelled Bannack's population to over 3,000 by 1863. As the value of gold steadily dwindled, Bannack's bustling population was slowly snuffed out. There are over 50 buildings that line Main Street with their historic log and frame structures that recall Montana's formative years.

A second website for the site can be found here.

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

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station [MD]

Description

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station located in Silver Spring, Maryland, is one of the few carefully preserved railroad station in the state of Maryland. The station was designed in the Colonial Revival style of architecture, and today stands much as it did during its service in the mid 20th century.

The station offers guided tours, special events, and is available for rent. The website offers a history of the station and visitor information.

William Allen White House State Historic Site

Description

Visitors can tour the showplace home of William Allen White, nationally known newspaperman and author. From the 1890s through World War II, White influenced state and national politics through his writings from the heartland town of Emporia. White looms particularly large in the politics of his home state, debating the Populists of the 1890s and battling against the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.

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

Port Orford Lifeboat Station [OR]

Description

The Port Orford Lifeboat Station was constructed in 1934 in order to provide lifesaving service to the southern portion of the Oregon Coast. The station was close in 1970 when the advent of helicoptor search and rescue made the lifeboat station obsolete. Today, the lifeboat station is open to visitors year round, and features a new visitor center.

The station offers exhibits and interpretive activities in the visitor center, along with a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, swimming, fishing, and a small beach. The website offers a history of the station along with visitor information.

Bayside Historical Society, Lawrence Cemetery, and Museum [NY]

Description

The Bayside Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Bayside and Queens, New York, as well as neighboring communities. To this end, the society operates a number of exhibits within the 1887 Gothic Revival Army Officer's Club. The society also maintains the Lawrence Cemetery, a family plot with burials dating between 1832 and 1939. Individuals of note interred on site include Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence, Mayor of the New York City between 1834 and 1837; County Judge Effingham Lawrence and his Native American servant Lawrence Moccasin; and Colonel Frederick Newbold Lawrence, president of the New York Stock Exchange between 1882 and 1883.

The society offers exhibits, tours of the Officer's Club, educational programs, and archival access. Lawrence Cemetery is open by appointment only. The second floor of the Officer's Club is not wheelchair accessible. The website offers virtual exhibits.

North Carolina Railroad Museum

Description

The North Carolina Railroad Museum is an outdoor museum consisting of exhibits of historic railroad equipment. Many of the artifacts in the collection were made and/or used in North Carolina. Collection highlights include a 1/24-scale model railroad with over 1,000 feet of track; eight stationary historic locomotives, dating from 1941 to 1953; and eight operating historic railway cars.

The museum offers exhibits, locomotive rides, and a barbecue vendor.

Fort Trumbull State Park [CT]

Description

Visitors to the site can receive an interactive history lesson at the visitor's center, or just walk the Fort and ramparts for a view of the Thames River. The fort contains informative markers and displays, a touchable cannon and artillery crew display, and gun emplacements. The fort interior features 19th-century restored living quarters, a mock laboratory, and a 1950s era office furnished to resemble a research and development lab at the facility. The visitor center contains state-of-the-art multimedia theaters, computer touch-screen interactive exhibits, 3-D models, and extensive graphics and text panels. The center depicts over 225 years of military history and technological advances from the Revolutionary War to the Cold War. Some of the main display themes include the September 6, 1781 attack by the British under the command of Benedict Arnold, the U-boat menace during World War II, and the anti-submarine efforts during the Cold War.

A second website for the site, maintained by the Friends of Fort Trumbull, can be found here.

The site offers short films, exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The Greenbrier Historical Society and North House Museum [WV]

Description

The Greenbrier Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of the Greenbrier area, West Virginia. To this end, the society operates the North House Museum and an archival collection. The archives contain documents dating as far back as the 1700s. The North House Museum, housed in an 1820 residence, presents life between the Revolutionary War and World War II.

The museum offers guided tours, tea and tour programs, historic district walking tours, a one-hour educational program on 1850s manners and games, archival access, and research assistance. A nominal fee is charged for archival access. Reservations are required for educational programs, the tea and tour combination, and walking tours.