Camden-Rockport Historical Society and Museum [ME]

Description

The Camden-Rockport Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of the Camden-Rockport area, Maine. To this end, the society operates the 1770 Cape Cod-style Conway House. The house is furnished in the style of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Other structures on site include an 18th-century barn, a blacksmith shop, an 1820 maple sugar house, an education center, and the Cramer Museum. Museum collections are particularly strong in historic costume and glass. Other artifacts include works of fine art, firearms, and musical instruments.

The society offers a day camp. The museum offers exhibits and a reference library. The Conway House offers period rooms.

Lanier Mansion State Historic Site [IN]

Description

The Lanier Mansion State Historic Site preserves the former home of James Franklin Doughty Lanier (1800-1881), bank president and railroad promoter. The site presents information on both Lanier and life during the 19th century. The structure itself was completed in 1844, and is Greek Revival in style. The grounds include replanted heritage gardens, reflecting the home's Post-Civil War landscaping.

The site offers guided tours, educational outreach programs, heritage gardens with historic plant varieties, and summer camps. Reservations are required for group tours and outreach programs.

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens [OH]

Description

The 70-acre Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens is a historic house museum. The Tudor Revival manor was built in 1912; and reflects the architecture of Charles S. Schneider (1874-1932), interior design of Hugo F. Huber, and landscaping of Warren H. Manning (1860-1938). Manning favored naturalistic, as opposed to heavily stylized, garden design. The residence is intended to be visually complementary to its surrounding environment. Guests who visited the estate owners, the Sieberlings, included Shirley Temple (born 1928) and Will Rogers (1879-1935). Other structures on site include the Gate Lodge, site of a conversation among Henrietta Seiberling and two men suffering from alcoholism which would determine the guiding principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as a reproduction of the original greenhouse. The Lodge contains an exhibit on the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The estate offers an exhibit, period rooms, gardens, self-guided manor tours, guided manor tours, other guided tours, educational programs for students, traveling trunks, educational outreach presentations, teacher's workshops, a children's club, Scout programs, and collections access. Appointments are required for collections access. Two weeks advance notice is required for group tours. Boxed lunches can be provided with five days advance notice.

Hubbard County Historical Museum [MN]

Description

The Hubbard County Historical Museum presents the history of Hubbard County, Minnesota. Permanent exhibits include Native American life, farming, logging, quilts, and rooms depicting a pioneer cabin and a one-room schoolhouse. Collection strengths include Civil War artifacts and textiles.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, group programs, and tours.

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Description

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania houses one of the most significant collections of historic railroad artifacts in the world. Devoted to preserving and interpreting the broad impact of railroad development on society, the Museum displays over 100 locomotives and cars from the mid-19th and 20th centuries, including the priceless Pennsylvania Railroad Historical Collection.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, train rides, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium [VT]

Description

The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium presents conservation stewardship, natural history, and the relationship between humanity and our ecosystems. The environmental focus is on the Great Northern Forest. The museum is housed in a Victorian structure, and possesses the only public planetarium in Vermont. Over 400 species of plant can be viewed on site; and the museum collections consist of more than 175,000 specimens, artifacts, and archival documents.

The museum offers 50-minute planetarium presentations, exhibits, curriculum-based walking tours and educational programs for students, a student curator summer program, and archival access. Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more wishing to view the planetarium program. Archival access is by appointment only. The website offers monthly astronomical information; curriculum resource guides on Abenaki life, the Great Northern Forest, and regional history; and scavenger hunts for use at the museum.

Portland Harbor Museum [ME]

Description

The Portland Harbor Museum presents the maritime history of New England's Portland Harbor. Available topics for educational programming include Casco Bay lighthouses, the forts of Portland Harbor, 19th-century clipper ships, 19th-century Portland Harbor, modern Portland Harbor, and the liberty ships of World War II.

The museum offers exhibits, a standards-based curriculum, and customizable educational programs for students.

Houmas House Plantation and Gardens [LA]

Description

The Houmas House Plantation and Gardens is a historic estate in the vicinity of New Orleans. The land was originally granted to the Houmas people, who then sold it to Maurice Conway and Alexander Latil in the 18th-century. From there, the site was developed into a sugar plantation, eventually becoming the nation's largest sugar producer. The Greek Revival primary residence on site today was completed in 1828. The plantation suffered economic failure during the Great Depression, and ceased to be a working agricultural site. More recently, the house has been seen in the 1964 Bette Davis film Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and the televised competition Top Chef. Today, the house contains period furnishings.

The plantation offers guided tours, period rooms, and 38-acres of gardens.