Cape May Point State Park and Lighthouse [NJ]

Description

The 157-foot-high lighthouse is still an aid to navigation. Visitors who climb the 199 steps to the top of the lighthouse are rewarded with a panoramic view of the Cape May peninsula. The first known lighthouse at Cape May was built in 1823. By 1847 a new lighthouse was erected on a high bluff; however, due to the encroaching sea and poor building design it was eventually dismantled. Built in 1859, the current lighthouse used the original bricks of the 1847 lighthouse. Also on the site is a World War II bunker, built as part of the Harbor Defense Project of 1942.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational events.

CSS Neuse State Historic Site and Governor Caswell Memorial [NC]

Description

Glimpses into two of the U.S.'s wars can be found in one historic site within the city of Kinston. Here visitors can explore the celebrated life of Richard Caswell, the first governor of the independent state of North Carolina. They can also see up close the remnants of the ironclad gunboat CSS Neuse, a product of the Confederate Navy's ill-fated attempt to regain control of the lower Neuse River and retake the city of New Bern during the Civil War.

The site offers a short film, exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Surratt House Museum [MD]

Description

Built in 1852 as a middle-class farm house for the family of John and Mary Surratt, the historic Surratt House also served as a tavern and hostelry, a post office, and a polling place during the crucial decade before the Civil War. During the war, it became a safehouse in the Confederate underground system which flourished in Southern Maryland. Today, the museum presents a variety of programs and events, recapturing the history of the mid-19th-century life and focusing on the web of the Lincoln assassination conspiracy and the involvement of the Surratt family.

A second website, maintained by the Surratt Society, can be found here.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, research library access, and monthly recreational and educational events.

George Washington Foundation, Historic Kenmore, and Ferry Farm [VA]

Description

The Foundation operates two historical sites, Historic Kenmore and Ferry Farm. Built by George Washington's sister, Betty Washington Lewis and her husband Fielding Lewis, Kenmore, a 1775 Georgian-style mansion, reflects the pre-Revolutionary War wealth and status of the Fredericksburg merchant. Lewis lost his fortune due to his patriotic support of the war but the house he built remains. Ferry Farm is the boyhood home of George Washington. Augustine Washington moved his family to this property in 1738, when his son, George, was six years old. George received his formal education during his years here, and forged friendships in the neighborhood that lasted the rest of his life. In 1754, George moved to Mount Vernon while his mother, Mary Ball Washington, stayed on at the farm until 1772, when she moved to Fredericksburg.

The foundation offers educational programs and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events); Kenmore offers tours; Ferry Farm offers exhibits and tours.

Lee-Fendall House Museum [VA]

Description

The Lee-Fendall House is an excellent resource for teachers of American and local history. The history of the Lee-Fendall House began in 1784, when Revolutionary War hero “Light Horse Harry” Lee, father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee sold the property to his cousin, and follows our nation’s struggles and successes from its early years as a republic through the tumultuous Civil War years when convalescing Union soldiers were housed here and into the 20th century when labor leader John L. Lewis bought the house. A beautiful collection of Lee family heirlooms and other period pieces produced by Alexandria craftsmen help to tell the story of early Victorian family life in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

The house is open for tours where guests are able to explore the stunningly restored house and award-winning gardens. Special events and lectures are regularly scheduled. Youth and scout programs can be arranged.

Fort Stark Historic Site [NH]

Description

Fort Stark State Historic Site is located on a peninsula historically called Jerry's Point on the southeast corner of New Castle Island. It overlooks the Piscataqua River, Little Harbor, and the Atlantic Ocean. Fort Stark was named in honor of John Stark, commander of New Hampshire forces at the Battle of Bennington (1777). It is one of seven forts built to protect Portsmouth Harbor. A visitor center, located in the old mines building, is open by appointment only.

The site offers exhibits, open by appointment.

Castle Air Museum [CA]

Description

Castle Air Museum presents history through the display of restored historic aircraft. Visitors can stand under the wing of a Convair RB-36H Peacemaker, a Boeing B-52, or of many other planes.

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

Phelps-Hatheway House and Garden [CT]

Description

The luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by two wealthy 18th-century Connecticut Valley families—until their fortunes collapsed—is displayed in the Phelps-Hatheway House and Garden. Merchant Shem Burbank built the house in 1761. As a Tory sympathizer, his business suffered during the American Revolution. In 1788 he sold the house to Oliver Phelps, who in 1794 flaunted the riches earned from land investments in western New York by adding a wing, an architectural masterpiece that still features original Paris-made wallpaper. Eight years later Phelps left Suffield, bankrupted by his failed land schemes. The house is furnished with outstanding 18th-century Connecticut furniture and landscaped with formal flower beds. The Hatheway family owned the house throughout the 1800s, accumulating an attic full of artifacts that document life during that century.

The house offers tours.

Sam Houston Memorial Museum [TX]

Description

The museum is dedicated to the life and times of General Sam Houston, former Governor of Tennessee, victor over Santa Anna in the Texas War of Independence, first President of the Republic of Texas, Senator from the State of Texas, and Governor of the State of Texas. It includes both traditional museum spaces and exhibits and historical structures.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational events.