Bodie State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Bodie State Historic Park is a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. Visitors can walk down the deserted streets of a town that once had a population of 10,000 people. The town was founded by Waterman S. Body (William Bodey), who had discovered small amounts of gold in hills north of Mono Lake. In 1877, the Standard Company struck pay dirt and a gold rush transformed Bodie from a town of 20 people to a boomtown. Only a small part of the town survives, preserved in a state of "arrested decay." Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods.

The park offers exhibits and tours.

Wells Fargo History Museum [CA]

Description

The Wells Fargo History Museum presents the history of Wells, Fargo & Co., a joint stock company for California banking and express business. Founded in 1852, the company was offering nationwide service as early as 1888. The museum collection includes a period Agent's office in a recreated historical building; an original Concord Coach, acquired by Wells Fargo in 1867; a 19th-century pocket watch; and two telegraph machines.

The museum offers exhibits and guided tours. The website offers a PDF listing educational standards covered during tours and a summary of tour topics.

Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation [OH]

Description

The Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation seeks to bolster the vitality of Cleveland, Ohio's previous commercial center. Prior to the 1850s, this area served as Cleveland's residential section. Over time, it shifted to hold warehouses, small businesses, and offices for the iron, coal, railway, and shipping industries. By the 1920s, this section of the city had grown to include a garment district, rivaling the garment production of New York City at that time.

The Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation offers guided and self-guided neighborhood walking tours.

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum [MD]

Description

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum presents the history of maritime activity in Chesapeake Bay, one of the major maritime regions of the United States. The museum consists of nine buildings located on 18-acres of land. Topics covered include trans-Atlantic trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, naval history, boat building, Native American ways of life, and the various maritime uses of the Chesapeake Bay. Maritime professionals staff the museum to share their experiences with visitors.

The museum offers a variety of self-guided and guided tours for students, educational hands-on programs, lectures, sailing programs, summer camps, historic vessel preservation apprenticeships, interactive and traditional exhibits, a working boat yard, group overnight programs in the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, and a research library. The website offers a lesson plan on oystering.

Beaufort Historical Association [NC]

Description

The Beaufort Historical Association works to preserve and showcase the history of Beaufort, North Carolina. The association works closely with the Beaufort Historic Site, which is located in downtown Beaufort, and which showcases the history of this quaint seaport.

The Beaufort Historic Site offers guided tours of historic homes, living history demonstrations, a variety of student programs including a courthouse dramatization and the Harvest Time program which gives students a view into colonial Beaufort, and tours of the nearby Old Burying Ground. The website offers visitor information, information regarding educational programs, an events calendar, and a brief history of Beaufort.

Old Economy Village [PA]

Description

The Old Economy Village is located in western Pennsylvania and is known for being the third, and most successful, home of the Harmonists, a utopian society known for its religious devotion and economic prosperity. In particular, the Harmonists were an economic force in the textile industry and agriculture. Today, the Old Economy Village stands as a historic village, and is open to visitors during the spring, summer, and fall months.

The Old Economy Village offers guided tours, exhibits and special events in the visitor center, and occasional historic trade workshops. The website offers visitor information, historical information and a calendar of events. In order to contact Old Economy Village via email, use the "email" link located on the left side of the webpage.

The Frick Art and Historical Center [PA]

Description

The Frick Art and Historical Center consists of the personal collections of Helen Clay Frick, daughter of Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919)—industrialist, steel tycoon, and major art connoisseur. The center includes the museum and Clayton, the Frick family's late Victorian home. The collection includes carriages, historic automobiles, and fine and decorative arts dating as far back as the Renaissance. Highlights include works by Jean-François Millet and an 1898 Panhard automobile.

The center offers themed tours of both the museum and Clayton, Act 48 educators' workshops, concerts, children's weekend workshops, summer camps, and more than 25 educational programs. The website offers lesson plans.

Shoshone County Mining and Smelting Museum [ID]

Description

The Shoshone County Mining and Smelting Museum presents the local history of the Silver Valley, Idaho, with a particular emphasis on mining and smelting history. Exhibits cover mining, environmental history, smelting equipment, minerals, metallurgy, medicine, and electricity. Collection highlights include an 1899 Nordberg Air Compressor and scale models of the Bunker Hill and Sunshine Mines. Dating to 1906, the museum structure was built as the residence of Stanley A. Easton (died 1961), manager of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company.

The museum offers exhibits and a period sitting room.

Captain Forbes House Museum [MA]

Description

The Captain Forbes House Museum presents the living quarters of Captain Robert Bennet Forbes (1804-1889), one of the major players in increasing U.S. maritime trade with China circa 1830. In addition to his status as merchant and ship owner, Forbes was also involved in philanthropy, art, and design. The structure itself dates to 1833 and is in the Greek Revival style. Collections include Chinese silver, paintings, furniture, porcelain, and bronzes (which possess deeply embedded cultural significance within China).

The museum offers tours, lectures, educational programs, exhibits, storytelling, hands-on activities, and slide presentations.