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.

Victorian Wheeling Landmarks Foundation [WV]

Description

Wheeling, WV, was once the home of some of the wealthiest families in the United States. Due to these families, Wheeling is home to some of America's finest examples of Victorian architecture. The Landmarks Foundation is dedicated to preserving and showcasing these homes and buildings. The society also owns and operates several Victorian properties available for rental.

The society offers costumed and guided tours of the houses. The website offers visitor information as well as a brief background for all of the houses.

Anthracite Heritage Museum and Iron Furnaces [PA]

Description

The Museum tells the story of the people who came from Europe to work in the anthracite mining and textiles industries. On a tour of the facility visitors will experience the lives of proud people who endured harsh working conditions yet carved out communities filled with tradition. The diverse collection highlights life in the mines, mills, and factories. Visitors are welcomed into the families' homes and neighborhoods with a moment of reflection in the kitchen, a visit to the pub, or a seat in a local church.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, trolley rides, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Duke Homestead [NC]

Description

Visitors to the Homestead can see the early home, factories, and farm where Washington Duke first grew and processed tobacco. His sons later founded The American Tobacco Company, the world's largest tobacco company. Duke and others helped create a market for Durham-area tobacco products that eventually would turn North Carolina into the heart of an international tobacco empire. Many profits were invested in land and industries but others were used for such humanitarian causes as Duke University, named for the family. The tour includes the Duke family's restored home, an early factory, a curing barn, and a packhouse. The Tobacco Museum exhibits traces tobacco history from Native American times to the present.

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

Shaker Historical Museum [OH]

Description

The Shaker Museum is housed in a mansion overlooking Upper Shaker Lake. The museum exhibits a large collection of Shaker objects. Many are from North Union, a Shaker colony founded in 1822 and located in what is now the city of Shaker Heights. The museum also has a library with collections from both the 19th-century Shakers and 20th-century Shaker Heights. By 1850, North Union was a prosperous community of 200. At first it sold produce and handmade furniture to nearby communities. Cleveland's mass production industries eventually put them out of business. The colony disbanded in 1889.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, lectures, and research library access.

Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center [NY]

Description

The Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center was first opened in 1966 in order to preserve and showcase the history of Waterford, New York, which is located just north of Albany. The museum organization was originally focused on the preservation of the Hugh White Homestead, which today has been moved from its original location and serves as the residence for the museum.

The museum offers a variety of exhibits focusing on the history of Waterford, museum tours, a field trip to the Hill-Stead Museum of Farmington, Connecticut, and a series of traveling lectures. The site offers general information about all above programs, as well as a history of the museum and information on current projects.

Winchester Mystery House [CA]

Description

The Winchester Mystery House was built between 1884 and 1922 by Sarah Winchester, the noted Winchester Rifle heiress. The house is known both for its beautiful architecture and for its many unexplained oddities, which is the reason it is now known as the mystery house. Visitors to the home can explore 110 of its 160 rooms, view the many oddities, and marvel at the Victorian gardens. The house also is home to the Winchester Firearms Museum.

The house offers exhibits, period rooms, and gardens.

Erie Canal Museum [NY]

Description

The Erie Canal Museum was opened in 1962 in order to chronicle the history and culture of the Erie Canal. Presently, the museum offers exhibits on topics as varied as the history of Syracuse, the history of the canal, jobs on the canal, and taverns on the canal. Visitors to the museum can also take part in a variety of educational programs, including guided tours, online interactive activities, and lectures.

The site offers visitor information, a series of historical features, a listing of current exhibits, a small photo gallery featuring photographs of the Erie Canal Museum building, and an online museum shop.

Dudley Farm Historic State Park [FL]

Description

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this park demonstrates the evolution of Florida farming from the 1850s to the mid-1940s—through three generations of the Dudley family. An authentic working farm, the homestead consists of 18 buildings, including the family farmhouse with original furnishings, an 1880s kitchen outbuilding, a general store and post office, and a functional cane syrup complex. Park staff in period clothing perform daily chores—raising crops and tending to livestock. The farm features seasonal cane grindings, corn shuckings, and heritage varieties of livestock and plants.

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