German Village Society [OH]

Description

The German Village Society seeks to preserve and share the history of working class German Village, a historic neighborhood within Columbus, Ohio. Many of the structures, purchased from Revolutionary War veteran John McGowan, belonged to German immigrants. The society operates a visitor's center. Exhibits topics include preservation, immigration, and brewing.

The center offers an introductory video and exhibits. The society also offers guided tours of the neighborhood. Advanced notice is required for tours.

Mansfield Reformatory [OH]

Description

The Mansfield Reformatory, built in 1886 in accordance with plans by Levi T. Scofield (1842-1917), presents the history of criminal justice in Ohio. The architecture, including Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Queen Anne styles, was intended to inspire repentance and spiritual rebirth among the criminals it housed. Prior to the construction of the prison, the site served as a training camp for Civil War soldiers. The site includes a museum.

The reformatory offers guided tours and exhibits. The website offers virtual tours and a photo gallery, which includes historical images.

Berea Historical Society [OH]

Description

The Berea Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Berea and Middleburg Township, Ohio. To this end, the society sponsors the Mahler Museum & History Center, housed within an 1854 sandstone residence. The History Center includes exhibits and the historical Gray's Candy Kitchen, while the museum focuses on period rooms. The history of Berea is largely dependent on the discovery of area sandstone veins.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, guided tours, and an archival resource room.

Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve [SD]

Description

The Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve consists of 1,500 acres dedicated to the memory of original homesteader Stephen Searl Adams. While the preserve's primary function is nature education, the restored Lamont Country Schoolhouse, Stavenger Lutheran Church, Brusseau log cabin, and the Shay-Adams Home are open to visitors. Topics covered in the visitor's center include the voyage of Lewis and Clark.

The homestead offers period rooms and exhibits.

Ohio Historical Society and Center

Description

Inside this unique structure, the Ohio Historical Society offers visitors a museum experience of Ohio's past and an Archives/Library that provides rich resources for genealogists and other researchers. The Center serves as the headquarters for the Ohio Historical Society and is the flagship museum of the Society's network of over 50 historic sites and museums.

The other historic sites and museums overseen by the Society are listed individually in this database.

The center offers exhibits, educational programs, lectures, research library access, and educational and recreational events.

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.

Northern Indiana Center for History [IN]

Description

The Northern Indiana Center for History includes a 38-room Victorian mansion and gardens, a cottage interpreted with 1930s interiors, a children's museum, and galleries covering local and Notre Dame history. The mansion, known as Copshaholm, was owned by J.D. Oliver, president of Oliver Chilled Plow Works. Built in 1895-96, the architecture is Romanesque Queen Anne in style, and the interior furnishings are original. Highlights include works by Bartolozzi (1725-1815), famed Italian engraver, and American sculptor Lorado Taft (1860-1936). The Dom Robotnika, erected in the 1870s, is an example of quarters like those in which factory workers from the Oliver Chilled Plow Works might have lived. Other offerings include archives, the Kidsfirst Children's Museum, the Ernestine M. Raclin Gallery of Notre Dame History, and the Voyages Gallery of Local History.

Copshaholm offers an introductory video and guided tours. The society also offers a variety of themed educational programs, covering the fur trade, Civil War, and cabin life in the 1830s. Tours are also available in the Dom Robotnika, the Worker's Home; the Kidsfirst Children's Museum; Voyages: Exploring the History of the St. Joseph River Valley; and the Ernestine M. Raclin Gallery of Notre Dame History. School programs and tours meet state educational standards.

Brown County Historical Society [WI]

Description

The Brown County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Brown County, Wisconsin. To this end, the society operates the Hazelwood Historic House Museum. This structure was built in 1837 by Morgan L. Martin, who served as president of the state convention which drafted the Wisconsin state constitution in 1847, and today houses 10 period rooms of Victorian-era artifacts.

The society offers guided tours of the house and of the historic Astor Neighborhood.

Lemont Area Historical Society [IL]

Description

The Lemont Area Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Lemont, Illinois. The society's headquarters is in the "Old Stone Church," which served as the home of the Lemont Methodist Episcopal Church between 1861 and 1970. This building also houses a museum, which contains a recreated historical general store, livery stable, school room, and medical office. The society library offers archival materials.

The society offers exhibits, tours of the museum and historic downtown Lemont, and a library. The website offers historic photographs.

Stonefield [WI]

Description

Stonefield preserves and displays Wisonsin's agricultural and dairy heritage. Locations on-site include the State Agricultural Museum, which displays farm tools, machinery, and models; a recreated 1901 farmstead; a recreated rural farming village with more than 30 locations; the 1879 estate of Governor Nelson Dewey (1813-1889), first governor of Wisconsin; and the Stonefield Depot. Collection highlights include a Rumley Oil Pull; an 1896 McCormick Auto Mower, the oldest tractor in the U.S.; and the first rubber tire tractor.

The museum offers exhibits and self-guided tours. The farmstead offers self-guided tours, tours by costumed interpreters, and period rooms. The village offers period businesses and demonstrations of broom making, carpentry, and blacksmithing. The estate offers guided tours by costumed interpreters, self-guided tours, and period rooms. The depot is open for annual events. The site offers picnic facilities and snack sales. Field trips require reservations, and meet Wisconsin educational standards.