Greenwood Furnace State Park [PA]

Description

A walk through historic Greenwood Furnace evokes images of the community that flourished here from 1834 to 1904. Greenwood Furnace was a busy industrial complex, with all the noise and dirt of a 19th-century ironmaking community. Today, the park covers 423 acres, including a six-acre lake, and is surrounded by an 80,000-acre block of Rothrock State Forest. Interpretive programming at the park is centered on the former Greenwood Furnace and the company town that grew up around it.

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

Patapsco Valley State Park [MD]

Description

In one of Maryland's first state parks (1907), the valley and its natural resources have been enjoyed by the Native Americans, explorers, settlers, and present-day citizens. With its source in Frederick and Carroll counties, the Patapsco serves the Port of Baltimore, and empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The Avalon Visitor Center houses exhibits spanning over 300 years of history along the Patapsco River. Housed in a 19th-century stone dwelling in the Avalon Area, the center includes a recreation of a 1930s forest warden's office. The park contains several historic sites, including the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Thomas Viaduct, remains of the Orange Grove Mill, the Avalon Iron and Nail Works, and Bloedes Dam.

The park offers exhibits and tours.

Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum [WA]

Description

The Center presents interpretative exhibits covering the entire history of the Columbia Gorge, from prehistory to the present day, including First Peoples, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, forts and settlements in the area, timber and fishing industries, transportation up and down the river, and other historical topics.

The center offers a short film, exhibits, and educational programs.

Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park [CA]

Description

The Folsom Powerhouse is an example of the tremendous advance in the commercial application of electricity. H.P. Livermore realized that the water of the American River could turn generators for electricity in Sacramento, 22 miles downstream. With his partners, Livermore built the powerhouse, which still looks much as it did in 1895. Vintage generators are still in place at the powerhouse, as is the control switchboard, faced with Tennessee marble. Visitors touring the powerhouse can see the massive General Electric transformers, each capable of conducting from 800 to 11,000 volts of electricity, in addition to the forebays and canal system that brought the water from the dam.

The park offers tours.

Jericho Historical Society and Old Red Mill [VT]

Description

The Society was formed in 1972 to perpetuate the mission of preserving the rich history of Jericho, Vermont, and the legacy of Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley. The Society's 1885 headquarters is located in the historic Chittenden Mills, a national historic site. The Old Red Mill, as it is known, houses a milling museum, art gallery, craft shop, and is also the home of the "Snowflake" Bentley Exhibit. Native son, Wilson A. Bentley, pioneered the technique of photomicrography and was the first person to photograph a single snowflake. The entire lower level of the building displays priceless mementos of "Snowflake" Bentley, original milling machinery, and the products of Jericho's water-powered mills.

The mill offers exhibits and tours.

Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History [GA]

Description

With three permanent collections and a membership in the Smithsonian Affiliations Program, the Museum offers a wide range of exhibits, including a glimpse into the daily lives of soldiers during the Civil War; a reproduction of a turn-of-the-century locomotive factory; and an exciting depiction of the Civil War's Great Locomotive Chase.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, lectures, workshops, and other 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).

Rivers of Steel Heritage Area and Bost Building

Description

Created by Congress in 1996, the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is committed to preserving, interpreting, and managing the historic, cultural, and natural resources related to Big Steel and its related industries. Encompassing over 5,000 square miles in the seven counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Westmoreland, Greene, Fayette, and Washington, Rivers of Steel is building on this area's remarkable transition from heavy industry to high technology and diversified services as well as bolstering the new regional economy by promoting tourism and economic development based on this region's historic industrial saga.

A multifaceted program, the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area's mission includes: historic preservation, cultural conservation, education, recreation, and resource development. Currently, the Heritage Area has bills in Congress to create the Homestead Works National Park. The proposed park would be located on 38 acres surrounding the Carrie Furnaces, the last of the giant blast furnaces from the Homestead Works, and the Pump House, site of the bloody 1892 Homestead Steel Strike.

River of Steel also maintains the Bost Building, an 1892 hotel, in which it presents exhibits.

The Bost Building offers exhibits and educational programs.

Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society and Museum Complex [NY]

Description

The Bellport-Brookhaven Historical Society is devoted to the preservation and interpretation of Long Island's past—in particular, the history of the Bellport-Brookhaven-East-Patchogue area. The Society pursues this goal through its Museum Complex, its museum collections and gallery exhibitions, its educational programs, its outreach to the community, and its publication of studies on local history and material culture. The Museum Complex includes the 1833 Post-Crowell House, the 19th-century Ralph Brown Building, a blacksmith shop, the Barn Museum, the John Chester Memorial Boathouse, and an 1850 gazebo.

The society offers research library access and occasional recreational and educational events; the Museum Complex provides exhibits and tours.

Sauder Village

Description

Visitors to Sauder Village experience history up close as costumed staff lead activities and demonstrations of daily rural life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Depending on the day and season, visitors may encounter hymn singing, demonstrations of old printing techniques, samples of a 19th-century recipe, or a chance to taste a homemade pickle or help with food preparation. The craft buildings and studios are home to several nationally-recognized craftsmen working with traditional crafts in both historic and modern interpretations. The village also includes a 350-seat restaurant; a bakery; a campground; a 98-room country inn; and an exhibit/performance center, Founder's Hall.

Sauder Village offers historical reenactments, exhibits, tours, educational programs, and other opportunities.