Bourne Historical Society and Center, Aptucxet Trading Post, and Briggs-McDermott House [MA]

Description

The Society is housed in the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, built in 1897 by Emily Howland Bourne as a town library and as a memorial to her father, Jonathan Bourne, for whom the town was named. The Society also manages the Aptucxet Trading Post and the Briggs-McDermott House. The Trading Post recreates the first trade house built in 1627, by Plymouth Colony, located on the south bank of the Manomet (Monument) River, which is now part of the Cape Cod Canal. The Pilgrims traded with the Indians and the Dutch from New Amsterdam (New York City), thus having a source of income by which their debt to the London backers of their expedition to the New World could be repaid. The Trading Post site also houses Gray Gables Railroad Station, built for the personal use of President Grover Cleveland during the years of his presidency (1893–1896). The Greek Revival-style Briggs-McDermott House has been restored and furnished to reflect the period from 1840 to 1910, an important time for the Briggs family and Bourne.

The society offers lectures and occasional recreational and educational events; the center offers tours, exhibits, and research library access; the Trading Post offers tours; the Briggs-McDermott House offers exhibits and tours.

Old Barracks Museum [NJ]

Description

Built in 1758 by the Colony of New Jersey during the French and Indian War, the Old Barracks was a witness in 1776 to the Battle of Trenton, the turning point of the American Revolution. Today, the Old Barracks serves as an educational center for Colonial and American history, and stands as the last remaining structure of its kind. The Old Barracks staff provides daily tours and interpretations of American colonial life. The building offers a museum of artifacts and weapons.

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

Belle Grove Plantation [VA]

Description

Belle Grove is an 18th-century grain and livestock farm, which, in its prime (circa 1815), encompassed about 7,500 acres of land. The unique limestone house was completed in 1797 for Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly, sister of future President James Madison. The house has remained virtually unchanged through the years, offering visitors an experience of the life and times of the people who lived there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. During the Civil War, Belle Grove was at the center of the decisive Battle of Belle Grove or Cedar Creek. Today, the plantation includes the main house and gardens, original outbuildings, a classic 1918 barn, an overseer's house, the slave cemetery, a heritage apple orchard, fields and meadows, and scenic mountain views.

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

Magoffin Home State Historic Site [TX]

Description

A striking historic adobe structure, this site explores the stories of a multicultural family who influenced the development of the Southwest borderlands. Magoffin family members actively participated in American expansion, West Texas settlement, trade on the Santa Fe-Chihuahua Trails, Civil War turmoil, military service and U.S. Mexico relations. The home, built around 1875 by Joseph Magoffin, is a prime example of territorial style architecture. Explore the home’s authentic art and furnishings reflecting the daily lives of this prominent El Paso family. The site is open Tuesday- Sunday from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Tours are given on the hour with the last tour at 4 p.m. Students of all ages are encouraged to come experience life in the past! Tours are designed to meet the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies.

Schools are asked to make reservations in advance by calling 915.533.5147.

El Rancho de Las Golondrinas [NM]

Description

This historic rancho, now a living history museum, dates from the early 1700s and was an important paraje, or stopping point, along the famous Camino Real, the Royal Road from Mexico City to Santa Fe, NM.

The site offers demonstrations, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Garretson Forge and Farm Restoration [NJ]

Description

One of the oldest sites in Bergen County, this pre-Revolutionary sandstone house is officially listed on the New Jersey State and United States National Register of Historic Places. A living Dutch farm museum, it sponsors activities involving restoration, preservation, historic digs, compilation of local history and folklore, educational programming, colonial agriculture, horticulture, and crafts.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park [CO]

Description

Visitors to the Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park can explore how the people of Golden, CO, settled a bustling town that served the developing West as a government center and mining supply town. They can tour an 1800s boarding house and homestead where early Colorado pioneers worked and played, see what life was like on the frontier, and hear stories of the people who called this place home. The Astor House was built in 1867 and stayed in continuous operation as a boarding and rooming house until 1971—over 100 years! It rented rooms and served hot meals to lawmakers, laborers, miners, students, and families, some of whom stayed for weeks or even months. Clear Creek History Park recreates the look and feel of a late 1800s mountain ranch complete with gardens, a working blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, and chicken coop (chickens included).

The sites offer tours, demonstrations, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Woolly Hollow State Park and Woolly Cabin [AR]

Description

The park features the "Woolly Cabin," a one-room log structure erected on the Woolly family homestead in 1882 by Martin Alfred Woolly, son of William Riley Woolly, the head of a family clan of early pioneers who came to Arkansas in 1851. Martin Woolly took up land in the "Hollow" in 1859. This started the chain of events that led to his namesake being used here over a century later.

The site offers occasional recreational and educational events.

Woodrow Wilson House [DC]

Description

The Woodrow Wilson House is a national historic landmark and house museum that focuses on President Woodrow Wilson's "Washington Years" (1912–1924). The museum promotes a greater awareness of Wilson's public life and ideals for future generations through guided tours, exhibitions, and educational programs. The museum also serves as a community preservation model and resource, dedicated to the stewardship and presentation of an authentic collection and property.

The site offers a short film, tours, exhibits, and occasional recreational and educational events.