Sam Houston Memorial Museum [TX]

Description

The museum is dedicated to the life and times of General Sam Houston, former Governor of Tennessee, victor over Santa Anna in the Texas War of Independence, first President of the Republic of Texas, Senator from the State of Texas, and Governor of the State of Texas. It includes both traditional museum spaces and exhibits and historical structures.

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

Christ Church in the City of Boston [MA]

Description

The enduring fame of the Old North began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea and not by land. The Old North Church is officially known as Christ Church in the City of Boston. It was built in 1723, and is the oldest standing church building in Boston. In 1775, on the eve of Revolution, the majority of the congregation were loyal to the British King and many held official positions in the royal government, including the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, making Robert Newman's loyalty to the Patriot cause unusual.

The church offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events and performances.

Chief Vann House Historic Site [GA]

Description

During the 1790s, James Vann became a Cherokee Indian leader and wealthy businessman. He established the largest and most prosperous plantation in the Cherokee Nation, covering 1,000 acres of what is now Murray County. In 1804 he completed construction of a 2-and-a-half-story brick home that was the most elegant in the Cherokee Nation. After Vann was murdered in 1809, his son Joseph inherited the mansion and plantation. Joseph was also a Cherokee leader and became even more wealthy than his father. In the 1830s almost the entire Cherokee Nation was forced west by state and federal troops on the infamous Trail of Tears. The Vann family lost their elegant home, rebuilding in the Cherokee Territory of Oklahoma. Today the Vann House survives as Georgia's best-preserved historic Cherokee Indian home. A guided tour allows visitors to see the house which features hand carvings, a "floating" staircase, a 12-foot mantle, and fine antiques.

The site offers tours, exhibits, a film, demonstrations, and recreational and educational events.

Highland Historical Society and Highlands Mansion and Gardens [PA]

Description

The Highlands Mansion and Gardens is a 44-acre historic site with a late-18th-century Georgian mansion and two-acre formal garden. Surrounded by massive stone walls, the gardens offer an example of early-20th-century estate gardening with an unusual blend of horticulture and architecture. The site features nine outbuildings, including a bank barn, springhouse, greenhouse, smokehouse, and Gothic Revival gardener's cottage.

The mansion offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

Old Salem [NC]

Description

Old Salem includes four museums—the Historic Town of Salem, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), the Old Salem Children's Museum, and the Old Salem Toy Museum— which engage visitors in an educational historical experience about those who lived and worked in the early South.

The museums offer exhibits, tours, demonstrations, and other recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Historic Site

Description

This beautiful plantation represents the history and culture of Georgia's rice coast. In the early 1800s, William Brailsford of Charleston carved a rice plantation from marshes along the Altamaha River. The plantation and its inhabitants were part of the genteel low-country society that developed during the antebellum period. While many factors made rice cultivation increasingly difficult in the years after the Civil War, the family continued to grow rice until 1913.

Today, at the plantation, a museum features silver from the family collection and a model of Hofwyl-Broadfield during its heyday. A brief film on the plantation's history is shown before visitors walk a short trail to the antebellum home. A guided tour allows visitors to see the home as Ophelia kept it with family heirlooms, 18th- and 19th-century furniture and Cantonese china. As one of the Colonial Coast Birding Trail sites, Hofwyl-Broadfield offers a nature trail that leads back to the Visitors Center along the edge of the marsh where rice once flourished.

The plantation offers exhibits, a film, and tours.

Hopsewee Plantation

Description

Built almost 40 years prior to the American Revolution, the Hopsewee Plantation House, still a private residence, is a typical low-country rice plantation dwelling of the early 18th century, with four rooms opening into a wide center hall on each floor, a full brick cellar, and attic rooms. Constructed on a brick foundation covered by scored tabby, the house is built of black cypress. It is furnished in 18th- and 19th-century furniture.

The house offers tours.

New Castle Historical Society: Dutch House, Amstel House, and Old Library Museum [DE]

Description

The New Castle Historical Society's three museums—the late-17th-century Dutch House, the 1730s Amstel House, and the 1892 Old Library Museum—tell unique stories about the town's past and its residents. From Dutch laborers and British colonial governors to prominent American architects, the New Castle Historical Society celebrates New Castle's diverse history from the town's 17th-century founding through the preservation efforts of the 21st century. The Society offer tours, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.

Student museum tours are available that emphasize colonial and revolutionary Delaware and American history. Ideal for fourth and fifth grade students, our tours are aligned with Delaware history education standards. Additional tours are available for other grade levels.

The Society’s website offers an events calendar, visitor information, and an online gift shop.

Independence National Historical Park

Description

The old cracked Bell still proclaims Liberty and Independence Hall echoes the words, "We the People." Explore Franklin's Philadelphia and learn about the past and America's continuing struggle to fulfill the Founders' Declaration that "all men are created equal."

Education is a primary mission of the park. The park offers resources for your classroom, for a field trip, and for professional development. The park’s education center, the Independence Park Institute (IPI), offers education programs that connect participants of all ages to the resources and stories of Independence National Historical Park.