New Bedford Whaling Museum [MA]

Description

The New Bedford Whaling Museum chronicles the history of the whaling industry in New Bedford and New England in general. The museum also serves as a local history museum, with exhibits on New Bedford’s past.

The museum offers a variety of exhibits pertaining to whaling and New Bedford, special events such as lectures and presentations, and educational programs that operate year-round. The website offers visitor information, a calendar of events, a summary of all exhibits, and information regarding educational and special programs.

W.W. Mayo House [MN]

Description

The W.W. Mayo House was home to both the Mayo and Cosgrove families, who would go on to found the Mayo Clinic and Green Giant Food Company respectively. The home was hand-built by W.W. Mayo in 1859, and today is open as a fully restored historic house museum.

The home offers tours by costumed guides. The website offers a brief history of the home and visitor information.

Winter Quarters State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Winter Quarters Plantation is one of the few true Southern-style plantations to survive the Civil War. The home was built in 1805, and eventually grew to over 2,000 acres, manned by 300 slaves. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and today serves as a historic house museum. The home is furnished with period furnishings, and contains copies of diaries and other personal records from the tenants.

The home offers tours, interpretive programs and events, and special tours for field trips. The website offers a history of the site, visitor information, links to nearby attractions, and a virtual tour.

Rail Depot Museum [OR]

Description

The Rail Depot was built in 1882 per the wishes of Captain John Harlow, founder of Troutdale. Today, the depot serves as a rail museum, owned and operated by the Troutdale Historical Society. The Depot is in much the same condition as it was in 1907, when it was rebuilt following a fire.

The Depot offers self-guided tours and a display of railroad artifacts. The website offers a brief history of the Depot, as well as visitor information and a Depot photo gallery that contains 12 photographs of the Depot.

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park is the site of California’s largest "hydraulic" mine. Visitors can see huge cliffs carved by mighty streams of water, results of the gold mining technique of washing away entire mountains to find the precious metal. Legal battles between mine owners and downstream farmers ended this method. The park also contains a 7,847 foot bedrock tunnel that served as a drain. The visitor center has exhibits on life in the old mining town of North Bloomfield.

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

Hudson River Maritime Museum [NY]

Description

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is the only museum in New York State focusing exclusively on the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and the industries that developed around it.

The museum offers both indoor and outdoor exhibits on Hudson maritime history, special events, guided tours of the museum, and boat rides to the historic Roundout Lighthouse. The website offers visitor information, information regarding school tours, and an events calendar.

Mission Houses Museum [HI]

Description

Built between 1821 and 1841, the three mission houses that make up the Museum served as homes and workplaces for the first Christian missionaries to travel to the Hawaiian Islands. The Frame House (Ka Hale La'āu), was shipped around Cape Horn from Boston in 1820 and is the oldest wood house in Hawai'i. The Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani), built of coral blocks in 1831, was both a family home and storehouse for mission supplies. The third building, also of coral blocks, completed in 1841, today functions as the Printing Office (Ka Hale Pa'i). A working replica of the first printing press to be brought to Hawai'i is demonstrated there on a regular basis. In addition, the Museum grounds are the location of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (HMCS) library. Among the library's artifacts are the earliest books printed in the Hawaiian language. These books were used by missionaries and scholars alike in church and school.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, demonstrations, workshops, lectures, and other educational and recreational programs.

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.

Francis Mill Preservation Society [NC]

Description

The Francis Mill is located just outside of Waynesville, North Carolina. The mill was built in 1887 and served as a corn and wheat mill for the next 100 years. In 2003, the mill was slated for destruction, but was saved by the timely intervention of the Francis Mill Preservation Society, which continues to work to preserve and restore the mill.

The mill offers tours and "education days," which are days devoted to educating local schoolchildren. Education days feature tours and lectures that highlight the history of the mill. The website offers visitor information, a brief history of the mill, a photo gallery featuring current and historical photos of the mill, and educational information.