Thomas Lee House [CT]

Description

The Thomas Lee House, located in East Lyme, CT, is one of the oldest wood frame houses in Connecticut in its primitive state. The original structure dates to circa 1660, with additions having been made circa 1700 and circa 1765. The site is located by the Little Boston Schoolhouse (dating to circa 1805 and also open to the public).

The house offers period rooms, exhibits, colonial days for fourth graders, and the possibility of scheduling tours.

Pilgrim Memorial State Park [MA]

Description

The Pilgrim Memorial State Park commemorates the 1620 landing of European settlers in New England. Plymouth Rock, a boulder on the shore of Plymouth Harbor, has become a world-famous symbol of the courage and faith of the men and women who founded the first New England colony. A landscaped waterfront park provides views of Plymouth Harbor, in which the Mayflower II is anchored. There are no precise records of the Mayflower's construction, but the Mayflower II is a replica of the class of vessel most likely to have brought the first pilgrims to Massachusetts. Also in the park, the National Monument to the Forefathers honors the pilgrims of the Mayflower.

The park offers exhibits and living history interpreters aboard the Mayflower II.

Makah Cultural & Research Center [WA]

Description

The Makah Cultural and Research Center is located along Neah Bay in Washington, and is one of the nation's finest tribal museums. The museum gives visitors a glimpse of the pre-contact life of the Makah people, while the cultural and research center houses the Makah language program, which works towards the preservation and teaching on the Makah language. The cultural and research center also houses over 60,000 Makah artifacts.

The museum offers guided tours for groups and individuals along with hands on activities and demonstrations of traditional Makah activities such as basketry, carving, and storytelling.

Town Creek Indian Mound [NC]

Description

For more than a thousand years, Indians farmed on lands later known as North Carolina. Around A.D. 1200, a new cultural tradition arrived in the Pee Dee River Valley. Termed "Pee Dee" by archaeologists, it was part of a widespread tradition known as "South Appalachian Mississippian." These Native Americans established a political and ceremonial center at the Town Creek and Little Rivers. Here, visitors can now see a reconstructed ceremonial center, featuring a temple mound and major temple, minor temple, and burial hut.

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

Bucks County Historical Society and Museums [PA]

Description

The Bucks County Historical Society seeks to make the presentation of historical information both engaging and relevant to everyday life. To this end, the society operates the Mercer Museum, Fonthill Museum, and Spruance Library. The Mercer Museum, housed within a 1916 structure, presents pre-Industrialization artifacts of daily life. Exhibit topics include illumination, medicine, tinsmithing, transportation, and dairy farming, among more than 60 early American trades. The Spruance Library is housed within the Mercer Museum. The 1912 Fonthill Museum is a historic home. Once home to Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930), anthropologist, antiquarian, archaeologist, and designer of renowned Moravian tile, the Byzantine, Gothic, and Medieval structure is now furnished in period style. Many of the pieces are original to the site and their locations within the home.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, guided tours of the Fonthill Museum, curriculum-based programs, curriculum-based traveling trunks, curriculum-based outreach presentations, concerts, workshops for children and teenagers, summer camps, Act 48 workshops, research library access, collections access, and research services. Reservations are strongly advised for the Fonthill Museum. The Mercer Museum is approximately 65 percent wheelchair accessible. The Fonthill Museum is wheelchair accessible on the first floor only. Collections access is by appointment only. A fee is charged for research conducted upon request. The website offers pre- and post-visit materials and an online catalog.

Newark Earthworks [OH]

Description

he Newark Earthworks were the largest set of geometric earthen enclosures in the world. Built by prehistoric Hopewell people between 100 BC and AD 500, this architectural wonder of ancient America was part cathedral, part cemetery, and part astronomical observatory.

Originally covering more than four square miles, today only three major segments are preserved: Great Circle Earthworks, (formerly known as Moundbuilders State Memorial), Octagon Earthworks, and Wright Earthworks.
Maintained by the Ohio Historical Society since the 1930s, these sites are the best preserved examples of the monumental geometric earthworks of the Hopewell culture. The surviving parts of the Newark Earthworks are recognized as a National Historic Landmark. In 2006, the State of Ohio designated the Newark Earthworks as "the official prehistoric monument of the state."

Learn more about the Newark Earthworks by visiting the Great Circle Museum. Visitors are invited to watch an interactive video explaining the significance of the site and tour a 1,000-square-foot exhibit that includes a timeline of Ohio's ancient cultures and an explanation of why American Indians regard the Newark Earthworks as a sacred site. The exhibit also details how the earthworks align with the rising and setting of the moon. Following the museum tour, visitors can take self-guided tours of the grounds during daylight hours.

Crystal River Archaeological State Park [FL]

Description

A National Historic Landmark, this 61-acre, pre-Columbian, Native American site has burial mounds, temple/platform mounds, a plaza area, and a substantial midden. The six-mound complex is one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Florida. For 1,600 years the site served as an imposing ceremonial center for Native Americans. People traveled to the complex from great distances to bury their dead and conduct trade. It is estimated that as many as 7,500 Native Americans may have visited the complex every year.

The park offers exhibits, tours, boat tours, educational programs, and occasional documentary screenings.