William Preston was about 45 years old when he moved his family to Smithfield in March of 1774. He and his wife had seven children at that time; five more children were born at Smithfield. Colonel Preston began at once to make Smithfield a productive and profitable plantation. Smithfield was first opened to the public in 1964; and today is a living document of the past.

The site offers tours, living history demonstrations, workshops, classes, and other occasional educational and recreational events.

The Fulkerson Mansion and Farm Museum presents the cattle farm—Hazy Dell—and Southern-style Victorian mansion which became the home of Lt. Colonel William H. Fulkerson after his stint with the Confederate Army. Hazel Dell is virtually unchanged today; and the Farm Museum contains many rare agricultural items and equipment with emphasis on farm steam traction engines—utilized for plowing the prairie, threshing grain, and for powering early sawmills. The museum features Reeves steam engines and plows, while the 1866 mansion is furnished with antiques and artifacts of the period, with a special display of the Fulkerson's personal Civil War items, Lafayette Baker's Civil War artifacts, and the Thomas Lincoln Anvil. The building is in an Italianate style—with a low pitched roof and tall, narrow windows—popular between the 1850s and 1880s.

The site offers exhibits and tours of the mansion.

The Montpelier Foundation's primary mission is to present the lasting legacy of James Madison (1751–1836) as Father of the U.S. Constitution, architect of the Bill of Rights, and fourth president of the United States. The Montpelier estate, home of Madison for the majority of his life, features the Madison mansion, historic buildings, gardens, forests, a freedman's cabin and farm, and the site of a Civil War encampment.

The Montpelier Foundation offers exhibits, an archaeological lab and sites, hands-on activities, an introductory film, guided tours of the Madison mansion, self-guided landscape tours, a variety of other thematic guided tours, limited transportation grants, and educational programming with suggested grade levels (including in-class outreach presentations).

One of the nation's best preserved Victorian-era homes, St. Paul's Ramsey House offers a glimpse into family and servant life in the 1870s, with the house decoration reflecting 1872–1900. Ramsey himself served as Minnesota Territorial Governor, mayor of St. Paul, second state governor, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of War under President Hayes.

The site offers tours by guides in period dress, lectures, and digitized pre-visit curricula.

The Schriver House Museum aims to provide a unique perspective often overlooked by interpreters of the Battle of Gettysburg—namely the civilian experience, offering an authentic glimpse of what life was like during the war years. Guides in period attire tell the Shriver family's story within their restored home, originally built in 1860. The property temporarily housed Union soldiers and includes a garret used by Confederate sharpshooters during the Battle of Gettysburg and a cellar where locals gathered to escape the fighting. Collections include photographs and documents concerning the Shriver family and artifacts discovered during the architectural restoration. A mid-19th century "in town" garden is situated directly behind the Shriver's home.

The museum offers exhibits and tours guided by docents in period attire.

The Boalsburg Heritage Museum seeks to preserve and share the history of the Boalsburg and Harris Townships, Pennsylvania. The Sarah Sweet House, which holds the museum, was built in 1825 in a typical Pennsylvania Dutch architectural style. The interior houses a variety of period decorative arts original to the area, as well as relevant exhibits.

The museum offers exhibits and tours. Advanced notification of large groups is appreciated.

The La Mesa Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of La Mesa, California. This history encompasses time as grazing land for cattle and sheep in the late 1800s and as a silent movie production center in the early 1900s. The society is located within the 1908 Reverend Henry McKinney House, a turn of the century house museum. In addition to maintaining the Rev. Henry McKinney House and Museum, the Society is also home to the Palermo building. The Palermo building houses city directories and 1,500 photographs depicting early La Mesa.

The society hosts local third grade classes for McKinney House tours and educational programming on schooling and daily life in the early 1900s. Other opportunities include walking tours, annual historic home tours, photographic presentations, exhibits at special events, and quarterly history roundtables.

Rock Ford Plantation is the 17th-century home of Edward Hand. He purchased the 177 acres in two portions, in 1785 and 1792, and added a Georgian-style brick mansion circa 1794. Rock Ford's four floors conform to the same plan—a center hall and four corner rooms—typical of the period, and the original 18th-century floors, rails, shutters, doors, cupboards, paneling, and windowpanes remain. Furnishings were selected based on Hand's own estate inventory. During Hand's life, the property served as a tenant farm with fields, livestock, and orchards. Today, Rock Ford is one of the most important examples of Georgian domestic architecture surviving in Pennsylvania and the most intact building predating 1800 in Lancaster County.

The plantation offers living history interpretation, hands-on activities, open-hearth cooking demonstrations, guided tours, educational programs for specific grade levels, and a pre-visit education packet.

At the turn-of-the-century, George C. Boldt (1851–1916), millionaire proprietor of the world famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, set out to build a full size Rhineland castle in Alexandria Bay, on picturesque Heart Island. The grandiose structure was to be a display of his love for his wife, Louise. On the death of his wife in 1904, construction was ceased. The site tells of the Boldts' lifestyle and the history of the 1000 Islands region. There are a total of six structures: the Castle; the Power House, which was inspired by Medieval architecture and contains a period steam engine; the Alster Tower, used for entertainment purposes; the Hennery, containing a water tank and pigeon house; the Arch, modeled after Roman monuments, and a stone Gazebo.

Boldt Castle offers a 15 minute film, exhibits, and self-guided tours.

The Mansfield Historical Society collects, preserves, and shares genealogical, biographical, and historical data about the Mansfield, Texas community and its residents. The society operates a museum, housed in a 1899 building previously used as a doctor's office and by the Knights of Pythias.

The society offers guided museum tours and online cemetery and Civil War veteran databases.