Limberlost State Historic Site [IN]

Description

The Limberlost State Historic Site interprets one of the homes of author, photographer, naturalist, and illustrator Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924). Topics covered include Stratton-Porter's life, her writings, and the swamp surrounding Limberlost. The Limberlost swamp stretches over 13,000 acres, and was known circa 1900 for its multitude of dangers—natural and human. The residence itself is an 1895 Queen Anne cabin. Today, the interior holds Victorian and Arts and Crafts period rooms. Stratton-Porter was the author of numerous popular novels and nature books, including Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost.

The site offers period rooms, guided house tours, and hiking trails. Group tours, school tours, outreach programs, and educational materials for rental are all available with advance notice. The website offers a list of state educational standards relevant to the site.

Smokey Bear Historical Park [NM]

Description

The Smokey Bear Historical Park was created to memorialize a North American black bear cub. Found in the Capitan Mountains in 1950, the cub had survived a 17,000-acre forest fire; and was dubbed Smokey. Smokey Bear eventually became a national symbol of forest fire prevention. Although the character Smokey Bear had existed previously, the actual cub became his legally authorized face. The park presents topics such as the purpose of forest fires, forest health, and the interactive between natural and urban environments. Sites include Smokey Bear's gravesite and the Village of Capitan's first train depot.

The park offers indoor and outdoor exhibits, a 10-minute introductory film, a gravesite, a playground, and a picnic area. The website offers children's activities, coloring pages, and a Smokey Bear song and play.

Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site [SC]

Description

Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site commemorates the site at which English settlers landed in 1670. From there, they established a settlement which would eventually birth the plantation system, the Carolina Colony, and a major maritime commerce center. The site includes a 12-room museum; a 17th-century replica maritime vessel, the trading ketch Adventure; a natural habitat zoo; reconstructed fortifications; and 80 acres of gardens. The zoo houses animal species which lived in South Carolina circa 1670.

The site offers interactive exhibits; musket, cannon, and open hearth cooking demonstrations; hands-on activities; guided and self-guided educational programs which correspond to state educational standards; audio tours; gardens; interpretive trails; and picnic areas. Strollers and wheelchairs are available for use on site.

Maturango Museum [CA]

Description

The Maturango Museum presents the geology and cultural and natural histories of the Northern Mojave Desert. Artifacts on display include mammoth and bison fossils, items from the Native American populations of California, a Sidewinder missile, and local minerals. The grounds hold a desert garden.

The museum offers exhibits, a hands-on children's area, a garden, lectures, concerts, and an art gallery.

Little Buffalo State Park [PA]

Description

Little Buffalo State Park contains an operating gristmill, a historic covered bridge, a historic farmhouse, a narrow gauge railroad trace, and a historic railroad car.

The site offers environmental education programs, hands-on activities, guided walks, campfire programs, teacher workshops, outdoor activities, and picnic sites. Reservations are required for group visits. Please do not bring firewood into the park. This is to avoid introduction of invasive species.

Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm [PA]

Description

The 100-acre Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm presents the daily life of the Pennsylvania German family who lived on the farm between the 1760s and 1913. A farmhouse, originally erected in the 1760s; spring house; cabin; replica circa 1893 schoolhouse; a circa 1850 barn; and nine other structures complete the site's outfit of buildings. Creatures and crops located on site include rabbits, horses, chickens, goats, mules, cows, sheep, pigs, turkeys, flax, wheat, corn, rye, and potatoes.

The farm offers guided tours, hands-on period skill learning, educational programs, home school programs, costumed living history interpreters, children's summer programs, workshops on historical crafts and skills, outreach programs, and a picnic pavilion. Outreach program options include a visit from one of the farm's sheep or chickens. The website offers pre-visit information for teachers, post-visit activities, a farm animal sponsorship program, and a virtual tour.

Hanford Mills Museum [NY]

Description

The more than 70-acre Hanford Mills Museum presents the history of millwork and its cultural and technological influences on society. The site includes the 1843 Hanford Mill, as well as a woodworking shop, hardware shop, gristmill, feed mill, sawmill, and water wheel used to create electrical power. In total, 16 historic structures are located on site. The Hanford Mill is one of the last remaining mills from the 19th century.

The museum offers a 15-minute film; exhibits; tours; nature trails; children's summer apprentice workshops; and educational programs on the historic mill, the science of the mill, ice harvesting, community relationships, the process of creating a product from raw lumber, industrialization, and the harvesting and processing of grain. The website offers a glossary, descriptions of programs and corresponding state educational standards, historic photographs, and resource links, pre- and post-visit activities.

Collier Memorial State Park [OR]

Description

Collier Memorial State Park has an outdoor camping focus but also has one of the finest Logging Museums in the country. The outdoor museum features more than 75 pieces of antique logging and railroad equipment as wells as a Pioneer village.

The outdoor museum offers free, self-guided tours. There are no educational programs designed for school groups. Wagon rides and costumed interpreters may be offered, check before making reservations.

Hampton Plantation State Historic Site [SC]

Description

The Hampton Plantation State Historic Site presents the stories of slavery within the plantation system, the plantation life of African Americans post-emancipation, Lowcountry (coastal South Carolina) rice production, and colonial architecture. The 274-acre site includes an 18th-century Georgian plantation home and kitchen building.

The site offers guided tours, educational programs, interpretive trails, and a waterway canoe tour. The website offers transcriptions of letters written by plantation inhabitants.

San Diego Maritime Museum [CA]

Description

The San Diego Maritime Museum presents one of the world's strongest collections of historic vessels. Highlights include an 1898 steam ferry, the Berkeley; a 1904 steam yacht, the Medea; a B-39 Soviet attack submarine; and the 1863 Star of India, the world's oldest active ship. Replicas include the HMS Surprise, an 18th-century Royal Navy Frigate used in the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and the Californian, a mid-1800s revenue cutter. Exhibits include the ages of sail and steam, the Navy, navigation and surveying, and the tuna industry.

The museum offers one- or two-hour historic cruises on the 1914 Pilot; overnight and day history role playing educational programs; science programs; an educational sailing program aboard the Californian; guided museum tours; exhibits; tours of the Star of India, HMS Surprise, B-39 Submarine, Berkeley, and the Medea; and world cruises led by historians. The website offers information for children; virtual tours of the Star of India, Berkeley, HMS Surprise, and Californian; and numerous videos. All tours require reservations.