Cobblestone Society Museum [NY]

Description

The Cobblestone Society Museum is an outdoor history museum complex. An 1834 cobblestone church, 1836 parsonage, 1849 school, 1922 blacksmith shop, 1875 working printshop, 1838 harness shop, 1855 farming and agriculture exhibit hall, and a research library are located on site. The printshop, harness shop, and exhibit buildings originally served other functions. The dates indicate when the building was erected.

The museum offers period rooms, exhibits, demonstrations, tours, and research library access. Tours are by appointment May through October.

Martin House Complex [NY]

Description

The Martin House Complex of Buffalo, New York is one of architect Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces. Completed in 1907 for Mr. and Mrs. Darwin D. Martin, the complex includes the in D. Martin House, the George F. Barton House, the Martin pergola, conservatory, carriage house and Gardener’s cottage. Currently some of the buildings are undergoing renovation.

The site offers group tours and field trips for school groups. Tours offered include a basic tour (1 hr), an in-depth tour (2 hr), a Focus tour with a master docent, or a group tour. Online resources for teachers are available free of charge on the site's Education page.

Wickersham State Historic Site [AK]

Description

The Wickersham State Historic Site preserves one of the residences, built in 1898, of James Wickersham (1857-1939). Wickersham served as a judge and Congressional delegate for Alaska; and is widely recognized as a key figure in Alaska's development. The home now presents period furnishings, artifacts, and photographs related to Wickersham and the Gold Rush.

The site offers exhibits.

Fort de Chartres State Historic Site

Description

The site marks the location of the last of three successive forts named "de Chartres" built by the French during their 18th-century colonial occupation of what is today Illinois. This third fort, erected in the 1750s, was a massive square stone structure enclosing six buildings, including a still-standing powder magazine that may be the oldest building in Illinois. This fort served as the French seat of government and its chief military installation in the Illinois Country. In 1763 France ceded much of its territory in North America, including Illinois, to Great Britain. British troops occupied the fort from 1765 until 1772, when encroachment by the Mississippi River caused a collapse of the south wall. Subsequently, the remaining walls and buildings fell into ruin. The site features an imaginative reconstruction of portions of the third Fort de Chartres. Inside the fort are the restored powder magazine (portions of which are original), several reconstructed stone buildings, and the exposed foundations of other buildings, which have been "ghosted" in wood. The powder magazine is stocked with reproduction barrels and barrel racks. A combination museum and office building, built in 1928 on the foundation of an original fort building, houses exhibits depicting French life at Fort de Chartres. The large stone "Guards' House," built in 1936, contains a Catholic chapel furnished in the style of the 1750s, along with a priest's room, a gunner's room, an officer-of-the-day room, and a guard's room. Also on the grounds are an operating bake oven, a garden shed built of upright logs in "post-on-sill" construction, and a kitchen garden with raised beds of produce that would have been grown in 18th-century Illinois.

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

Caldwell Heritage Museum [NC]

Description

The Caldwell Heritage Museum presents the history of Caldwell County, NC. Collections include medical, musical, and military artifacts, as well as historic cameras. Permanent exhibits detail county history from pre-colonial times to present day. Exhibit topics include local Native Americans, pioneers and the Revolutionary War, county formation, the Civil War, the fire department, railroads, furniture and industries, the military, children's lives, vernacular tools, local schools, and Davenport College. The museum is located within the final Davenport College structure. The college offered higher education opportunities to women between 1855 and 1933.

The museum offers exhibits and a reading and listening room. If local schools are closed, dismissed early, or have delayed openings due to weather, the museum schedule will be altered for the day.

Western Heritage Center [MT]

Description

The Western Heritage Center seeks to share the human history of the Yellowstone River Valley and the Northern Plains. The center ventures to do so through all relevant perspectives, including those of Native Americans, U.S. military men, Asians, Africans, Europeans, Russians, and French trappers. Permanent exhibits include the artistic works of J.K. Ralston (1896-1987), his studio cabin, and an overview of Montana's Native American tribes. The latter exhibit presents Crow and Northern Cheyenne oral histories gathered by the center. The site is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, student tours of exhibits, museum and historic site tours for a wide variety of groups, archive access, monthly presentations, traveling exhibits, and traveling trunks. Archive access is by appointment only. The website offers a virtual exhibit.

Phoenix Museum of History [AZ]

Description

The Phoenix Museum of History presents the historical development of Phoenix, AZ and the Salt River Valley. Exhibits topics include the first area general store, local people and places of note, and the Hohokam, among other subjects. Main interpretive focuses include archaeology, prehistory, family life, transportation, business, industry, and architecture.

The museum offers exhibits, curriculum-based program and tour options, a fourth grade outreach program, Scout programs, and research library access. Student programs must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.

Chenango County Historical Society Museum [NY]

Description

The Chenango County Historical Society Museum presents the local history of Chenango County, NY. The museum is housed within the 1892 Ward School No. 2. Exhibits address Native American life, railways, the Chenango Canal, china, glassware, military history, costume, Victorian life, pioneer life, and local craft and medical trades. The site also includes an 1800 through 1850 period room and an 1854 schoolhouse.

The museum offers exhibits, a period room, research library access, and research assistance. The schoolhouse is open by request. Please call in cases of severe weather to ascertain that the museum is open. A fee is charged for genealogical research conducted upon request. Advance notice is requested for library use.

Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site [CO]

Description

The 230-acre Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site is a living history farm depicting Ute and Plains Indian life circa 1775 and life on an 1860s homestead, 1880s home and ranch, and 1907 Edwardian estate. Cows, horses, chickens, and sheep are kept on site.

The site offers exhibits, period rooms, a junior docent program, and concerts. The site is open between June 6th and August 16th.