Pictograph Cave State Park [MT]

Description

The Pictograph, Middle, and Ghost cave complex was home to generations of prehistoric hunters. Over 30,000 artifacts have been identified from the park. A short paved trail allows visitors to view the rock paintings, known as pictographs, that are still visible in Pictograph Cave, the largest of the three. Interpretive signs tell the story of Montana's first professional archaeological studies and excavations.

A second website for the site can be found here.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

National Ranching Heritage Center [TX]

Description

The 30-acre National Ranching Heritage Center presents the history of ranching and ranchers in the United States through a succession of changing exhibits. Topics addressed include daily life, vocational and craft skills, equipment, and the West. The outdoor museum contains more than 30 historic structures, including residences, a schoolhouse, ranch buildings, a bunkhouse, a blacksmith shop, a granary, a stable, a carriage house, a sheep hospital, barns, and a railway depot. Several of these structures survived Native American raids. The center also possesses a collection of fine art works depicting Western themes.

The center offers exhibits, summer youth classes, and self-guided tours. Reservations can be made by school groups for picnic areas. The website offers pre-visit suggestions, a virtual tour, curricula, video and audio podcasts, and children's materials for use on site.

Savannah History Museum [GA]

Description

The Savannah History Museum presents the history of Savannah, Georgia, from its founding in 1733 to present day. Exhibit topics include the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, women's costume of the 19th and 20th centuries, 19th-century dugout canoes, railway history, weaponry, and military uniforms. Collections consist of more than 10,000 artifacts. The museum is located in the Central of Georgia Railway passenger shed, completed in the 1860s.

The museum offers an 18-minute introductory film, exhibits, self-guided student tours, visit and meal packages, and a cafe.

Rome Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The Rome Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Oneida County and Rome, NY. To this end, the society operates a museum of local history which covers the Ice Age through present day. Permanent exhibits address Iroquois life, manufacturing, daily life, area canals, forts along the Carry, and the dairy industry.

The society offers exhibits, a multimedia presentation, guided group tours, educational kits, outreach speakers and slide presentations, and archive access. Reservations are required for guided tours. Appointments are recommended for archive use.

Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Historic Site [ND]

Description

Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Historic Site marks the scene of the fiercest clash between Indians and white soldiers in North Dakota. On September 3, 1863, General Alfred Sully's troops attacked a tipi camp of Yanktonai, some Dakota, Hunkpapa Lakota, and Blackfeet (Sihasapa Lakota), as part of a military mission to punish participants of the Dakota Conflict of 1862. In the ensuing battle, many Indian men, women, and children died or were captured. Military casualties were comparatively light. The Indians also suffered the destruction of virtually all of t heir property, leaving them nearly destitute for the coming winter. Today, Whitestone Battlefield State Historic Site includes a portion of the battlefield and a small museum with exhibits explaining the 1863 Sibley and Sully expeditions and the Battle of Whitestone Hill. There are two monuments, one honoring the Indian dead and a second commemorating the soldiers who died in the battle. A marker also recognizes two early settlers, Tom and Mary Shimmin.

The site offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events.

Salmon Brook Historical Society and Museums [CT]

Description

The Salmon Brook Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Granby, Connecticut. To this end, the society operates four museum buildings. The circa 1732 Abijah Rowe House has been restored to an early 1800s interior appearance. It also houses a collection of Victorian toys. The circa 1790 Weed-Enders House houses the society research library and a Victorian parlor. The circa 1870 Cooley School House has been furnished and styled to a 19th-century appearance. The circa 1914 Colton-Hayes Tobacco Barn offers a recreated Shaker meeting house; town microcosm; and exhibits on vernacular items, Native American artifacts, and the Civil War.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, and library access. The museum buildings are open between June and September. Reservations are required for groups.

Fort Toulouse / Fort Jackson State Historic Site [AL]

Description

History is alive and outside at Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson. Here Native Americans, Spanish explorers, French soldiers, English and Scottish traders, American settlers, and modern archaeologists have all left their mark. Frequent living history events showcase a recreated 1751 French fort, recreated Creek Indian houses, and the partially restored 1814 American Fort Jackson. A 3,000-year-old Mississipian Indian mound, the William Bartram Nature Trail, and an early 19th-century house weave even more strands into this colorful tapestry of Alabama's earliest days.

Two other websites for the site exist: a second general website here and a website for the site's living history programs here.

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

Historic Santa Fe Foundation [NM]

Description

The Historic Santa Fe Foundation operates eight historic sites within Santa Fe, New Mexico. Most of these are leased as private residences or as businesses. The pre-1850 Spanish Pueblo and Territorial-style El Zaguán was once the home of a prosperous merchant. It now serves primarily as an apartment building, but also includes an exhibit area. The Cross of the Martyrs is a monument to the dead of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in which the Pueblo people rebelled against Spanish colonists.

The foundation offers exhibits.

Great Brook Farm State Park [MA]

Description

The 1,000-acre Great Brook Farm State Park preserves long-standing agricultural, Native American, and milling histories. Cellar pits mark the site of a 17th-century English mill community, portions of the grounds have been considered sacred to local Native American groups, and modern farming continues an on site Holstein dairy tradition which began prior to 1950.

The park offers dairy tours, more than 20 miles of trails, and outdoor activities. Dairy tours are offered May through October.

Matheson Museum [FL]

Description

The Matheson Museum consists of four entities—the Matheson Museum, Matheson House, Tison Tool Museum, and Sweetwater Park. The Matheson Museum presents the history of Alachua County, FL. Permanent exhibits address the Timucuan; Spanish occupation; and Willam Bartram, 18th-century botanist. The 1867 Matheson House has been restored to period style. It is used to discuss the history of Gainesville, FL and the family which once owned the home. The Tilson Tool Museum presents historic tools, and honors the labor which was exerted to create Alachua County's structures. Sweetwater Park is an outdoor site which provides a brief overview of Gainesville history.

The museum offers period rooms, exhibits, guided tours, interactive tours for students, group tours, and research services. The Matheson House and Tilson Tool Museum are open by appointment only. Reservations are required for group and student tours. A fee is charged for one hour of research conducted upon request. The website offers a curriculum guide.