The Milton House Museum

Description

"Pioneer, Joseph Goodrich, came to Prairie du Lac, as Milton was called then, in 1838, looking for a better place for his family to live. He chose prairie land at the intersection of two Indian trails and built a small frame home. In the years to come, this prairie crossroads became heavily traveled and this seemed a good place for an inn. All were welcome under Joseph's roof, but not all of his guests traveled by stagecoach or train. Some were spirited into his care by the Underground Railroad.

Visit us--have a look back into the past."

Roseau County Historical Society and Museum [MN]

Description

The Roseau County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Roseau County, MN. To this end, the society operates a museum of local history. Exhibit topics include the military, the Ojibwe, immigration, and natural history.

The society offers exhibits, research library access, and research assistance. A fee is charged for research library access and for research conducted upon request. The website offers historical photographs.

Wayne County Historical Society and Prairie Trails Museum [Iowa]

Description

The Society operates the Prairie Trails Museum. The large main brick building of the Museum houses 25,000 artifacts in five galleries covering over 21,000 square feet and the range of the area's history. The red Heritage Barn contains an extensive collection of early farm artifacts displayed in interpretive exhibits.

The museum offers exhibits, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Oberlin Heritage Center [OH]

Description

The Oberlin Heritage Center consists of three historic sites—the 1866 Monroe House, 1884 Jewett House, and 1836 School House. The center's goal is to preserve and share the history of Oberlin, OH, including its role in abolitionism, the Underground Railroad, women's rights movements, temperance, education, and the aluminum industry. The Italianate Monroe House was home to General Giles W. Shurtleff, leader of the first African American Civil War regiment from Ohio. The School House has been restored to a pioneer era appearance. The school offered lessons to all students, regardless of wide-spread segregation, as early as 1836. The Jewett House was owned by chemistry professor Frank Fanning Jewett and his wife Frances Gulick Jewett. The couple published works on public health, and rented living space to Oberlin College students.

The center offers guided house tours, group tours, guided history walks, step-on guides for bus tours, and research center access. The research center is open by appointment only, and it offers oral histories in addition to archival materials. Tours are approximately 75 minutes long. Reservations must be made at least one month in advance for groups of 10 or more. History walks are available by reservation only. Audio amplifiers are available. The historic homes are partially wheelchair accessible. The website offers historical photographs; historic games, crafts, and recipes; 1800s children's stories; information on the intersection of the heritage center and state educational standards; and suggested class activities.

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.