Ash Lawn-Highland, Home of James Monroe [VA]

Description

Ash Lawn-Highland is an historic house museum, 535-acre working farm, and performing arts site. President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe of New York, owned Ash Lawn-Highland from 1793 to 1826 and made it their official residence from 1799 to 1823. After the Monroes' death, the name of their farm was changed from "Highland" to "Ash Lawn"; today both names are used.

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

Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site

Description

Lincoln Log Cabin preserves the site of the last home and farm of Abraham Lincoln's father and stepmother, Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln. The Lincolns moved to the farm in 1837. Featured at the site are two living history farms that portray recreated agricultural practices as they existed in 1840s Illinois—the Thomas Lincoln Farm and the Stephen Sargent Farm. About 10 acres of period crops are cultivated, along with a hay field. Animals include teams of working oxen and horses, several sheep, and hogs similar to the razorbacks with which 1840s Illinois farmers were familiar.

The site offers exhibits, living history demonstrations, a short film, and educational and recreational programs and events.

Blue Ridge Institute and Museum [VA]

Description

Ferrum College's Blue Ridge Institute & Museum showcases the heritage and folkways of the Blue Ridge Mountains and western Virginia. Through rotating gallery exhibitions, engaging hands-on activities, and an 1800 living-history farm museum, students explore not just the past but also folk traditions in modern form. Tailored to the teacher’s specific needs, BRI school-group offerings include farm life tours with games and crafts, cornbread tours with hands-on open hearth cooking, Jack Tales tours with live theater, and Day on the Farm tours with costumed students cooking, driving oxen, blacksmithing, and gardening. BRI tours meet a variety of Virginia Standards of Learning at all K-12 grade levels. Outreach classroom visits by BRI museum interpreters are available. The BRI also offers a wealth of online resources for educators including online exhibitions and nearly 5,000 musical performances and photographs.

Lakeshore Museum Center [MI]

Description

The main Museum showcases exhibits on local natural and cultural history. The Hackley and Hume Historic Site preserves the homes of Muskegon's most famous lumber baron, Charles H. Hackley, and his business partner, Thomas Hume. The site envelops the visitor in a unique living space, bringing late 19th-century craftsmanship to life. The Fire Barn Museum serves as a living memorial to the brave men and women who have served as Muskegon County firefighters and exhibits firefighting equipment. The Scolnik House recreates the lifestyle of a Depression-era family.

The museum offers exhibits, educational programs, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events; the Hackley and Hume Historic Site offers tours; the Fire Barn Museum offers exhibits; the Scolnik House offers tours.

Historic Richmond Town [NY]

Description

Historic Richmond Town is New York City's living history village and museum complex. Visitors can explore the diversity of the American experience, especially that of Staten Island and its neighboring communities, from the colonial period to the present. The village area occupies 25 acres of a 100-acre site with about 15 restored buildings, including homes and commercial and civic buildings, as well as a museum.

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

County of Los Angeles Fire Museum [CA]

Description

One of the museum's first donated pieces was the famous Squad 51 from the hit television show Emergency! Since then, the collection has grown from a dozen or so antique fire engines to more than 40 dating back to the 1860s. Additionally, uniforms, badges, helmets, photographs, and many other artifacts are being resurrected and preserved as lucent examples of the County fire service.

The museum offers exhibits, but is only open to the public on a few days over the course of the year.