Albany Institute of History & Art [NY]

Description

The Albany Institute of History and Art chronicles the history of the Hudson River Valley and also contains a world-renowned collection of art including pieces from the Hudson River School. The Institute is open year round and offers a variety of exhibits and services.

The institute offers educational programs, tours, and seminars, a research library, a variety of exhibits on art and local history, and special events including guest lectures. The website offers teacher resources, including source reproductions and resource kits, visitor information, and an events calendar.

Whitewater Canal State Historic Site [IN]

Description

The Whitewater Canal State Historic Site preserves one of the remaining canals in Indiana. The site consists of the canal, which is still navigable, and a grist mill. Both are open to visitors during the summer months.

The Canal offers boat rides, tours of the grist mill, carriage rides, tours for school groups, in-class standards-based outreach programs, and educational materials available for checkout. The website offers visitor information, a calendar of events, and a brief history of the website.

Milwaukee County Historical Society, Center, and Historic Sites [WI]

Description

The Society operates the Historical Center, in the 1913 Second Ward Savings Bank building, as well as several historical sites, including Trimborn Farm, Jeremiah Curtin House, Lowell Damon House, and Kilbourntown House. Trimborn farm lets visitors take a giant step back into pioneer times. They can delve into Victorian-era industry, reminisce about 19th-century farm life, and witness Wisconsin culture come to life as embodied by the immigrant entrepreneur Werner Trimborn, his family, and his employees. With help from a stone mason, Irish immigrant David Curtin built the first-of-its-kind stone Jeremiah Curtin House in the Old Town of Greenfield in 1846. Started in 1844 by Oliver Damon and completed in 1847 by his son Lowell, the Lowell Damon House is Wauwatosa's oldest residence and stands as a classic example of a colonial home. Built in 1844 by Benjamin Church, Kilbourntown House was originally located in the area of Milwaukee known as Kilbourntown. This building was moved to Estabrook Park in 1938 and serves as a fine example of Greek Revival architecture.

The society offers research library access, lectures, and occasional recreational and educational events; the Center offers exhibits and tours; the Farm offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events); the Jeremiah Curtin House offers tours; the Lowell Damon House offers tours; Kilbourntown House offers tours.

Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society and Museum [NH]

Description

The Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society preserves the history of Lake Winnipesaukee, maintaining a museum of local history, open during spring, summer, and fall.

The museum offers several exhibits on local history, including "Souvenirs from the Past," "The Steamboat Era," "Waterskiing," and "Summer Camps on Lake Winnipesaukee." The society also offers a variety of special events, including trips to other local history museums, lectures, presentation, and tours of the lake. The website offers a brief history of the lake, the society, and the museum, as well as an events calendar and visitor information.

New Bedford Whaling Museum [MA]

Description

The New Bedford Whaling Museum chronicles the history of the whaling industry in New Bedford and New England in general. The museum also serves as a local history museum, with exhibits on New Bedford’s past.

The museum offers a variety of exhibits pertaining to whaling and New Bedford, special events such as lectures and presentations, and educational programs that operate year-round. The website offers visitor information, a calendar of events, a summary of all exhibits, and information regarding educational and special programs.

W.W. Mayo House [MN]

Description

The W.W. Mayo House was home to both the Mayo and Cosgrove families, who would go on to found the Mayo Clinic and Green Giant Food Company respectively. The home was hand-built by W.W. Mayo in 1859, and today is open as a fully restored historic house museum.

The home offers tours by costumed guides. The website offers a brief history of the home and visitor information.

Winter Quarters State Historic Site [LA]

Description

Winter Quarters Plantation is one of the few true Southern-style plantations to survive the Civil War. The home was built in 1805, and eventually grew to over 2,000 acres, manned by 300 slaves. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and today serves as a historic house museum. The home is furnished with period furnishings, and contains copies of diaries and other personal records from the tenants.

The home offers tours, interpretive programs and events, and special tours for field trips. The website offers a history of the site, visitor information, links to nearby attractions, and a virtual tour.

Rail Depot Museum [OR]

Description

The Rail Depot was built in 1882 per the wishes of Captain John Harlow, founder of Troutdale. Today, the depot serves as a rail museum, owned and operated by the Troutdale Historical Society. The Depot is in much the same condition as it was in 1907, when it was rebuilt following a fire.

The Depot offers self-guided tours and a display of railroad artifacts. The website offers a brief history of the Depot, as well as visitor information and a Depot photo gallery that contains 12 photographs of the Depot.

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park is the site of California’s largest "hydraulic" mine. Visitors can see huge cliffs carved by mighty streams of water, results of the gold mining technique of washing away entire mountains to find the precious metal. Legal battles between mine owners and downstream farmers ended this method. The park also contains a 7,847 foot bedrock tunnel that served as a drain. The visitor center has exhibits on life in the old mining town of North Bloomfield.

The park offers exhibits, tours, and occasional educational and recreational events.

Hudson River Maritime Museum [NY]

Description

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is the only museum in New York State focusing exclusively on the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries, and the industries that developed around it.

The museum offers both indoor and outdoor exhibits on Hudson maritime history, special events, guided tours of the museum, and boat rides to the historic Roundout Lighthouse. The website offers visitor information, information regarding school tours, and an events calendar.