Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum [MA]

Description

Ventfort Hall is an Elizabethan-style mansion built in 1893 for Sarah Morgan, the sister of J. P. Morgan. Designed by the architects Rotch and Tilden, it is located in Lenox, Massachusetts, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home is also home to the Museum of the Gilded Age. Currently, the home is partially restored, and contains exhibits, presentations, and special events that give visitors a view into life during the Gilded Age.

The mansion and museum offer concerts, tours, exhibits, and presentations. The website offers a history of the mansion, along with visitor information and an events calendar.

MIT Museum [MA]

Description

The MIT Museum showcases current technologies and research being done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The museum houses a variety of exhibits and demonstrations that give visitors a glimpse into cutting edge technologies and innovations.

The museum offers exhibits, presentations, and programs that showcase current MIT research. In addition, the museum runs hands-on educational programs for local schoolchildren. The museum also offers individual and group tours of the museum. The website offers visitor information as well as information regarding upcoming events, presentations, and programs.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum [VT]

Description

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum preserves and showcases the maritime history of Lake Champlain, with a particular focus on the warships of the Revolutionary War. Today, the museum maintains a collection of full-size replica ships as well as a variety of exhibits which take visitors through the history of the Lake.

The museum offers guided tours of both the museum and the museum fleet, as well as field trip programs for all age groups, in-class outreach presentations, and teaching kits rentable for a small fee. The website offers visitor information, a history of the museum, an events calendar, and information on special programs and events.

Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust [MA]

Description

The Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust preserves the structures and history of Martha's Vineyard. The trust owns nine historic properties, including the 1672 Vincent House, the 1840 Dr. Daniel Fisher House, and 1843 Old Whaling Church.

The trust offers tours of the Vincent House, which is furnished to depict life and architecture on the island during the last four centuries, and the Fisher House and Whaling Church. The trust also operates the Flying Horses Carousel, open continuously since 1876. The website offers visitor information, historic information regarding the island, and virtual tours of several properties.

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.

Enfield Shaker Museum [NH]

Description

The Enfield Shaker Museum is located in the "Great Stone Dwelling," the largest Shaker building in the world. Built in 1841, it served as a dwelling for Shakers until it was sold in 1927. Today, visitors can tour the building and its grounds for a view into Shaker life during the 19th century.

The museum offers exhibits, special programs, concerts, guided tours, and craft demonstrations, as well as a collection of Shaker furniture, tools, clothing, photographs, and agricultural implements. School tours may be customized for any grade level. The website offers visitor information, a history of the museum, a photo tour of the museum and surrounding village, and a calendar of events.

Winslow Crocker House

Description

In 1936, Mary Thacher, an avid collector of antiques, moved the house of a wealthy 18th-century trader and land speculator, Winslow Crocker, to its present location. Considering that Cape Cod in the 18th century was a region of small farms and fishing ports, the Winslow Crocker House is surprisingly elaborate, with rich paneling in every room. Miss Thacher remodeled the interior in order to provide an appropriate early American backdrop for the display of her collection. Woodwork was stripped, smaller-paned windows installed, and a fireplace rebuilt to contain a beehive oven. The result is a colonial Cape Cod house with a 20th-century flavor. Miss Thacher's collection of furniture, accented by colorful hooked rugs, ceramics, and pewter, presents a thorough survey of early American styles, from Jacobean, William and Mary, and Queen Anne, to Chippendale.

The house offers tours.

Battleship Cove [MA]

Description

Battleship Cove is the largest collection of historic naval ships in the world. The cove boasts four large World War II-era battleships, along with a collection of smaller boats and naval helicopters.

The cove offers a variety of tours which can be adapted to any age group, a collection of naval ships available for tours, and a small museum with naval history exhibits. The website offers historical information regarding all of the cove's ships, visitor information, and an events calendar.

Blithewold Mansion and Gardens [RI]

Description

Blithewold is one of the finest garden estates in New England. Visitors' explorations of Blithewold will include a dozen different gardens, specimen trees, and a 45-room English-style manor house, all chronicling a rich social history of the lives of one family over a span of more than 100 years.

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