Elgin Area Historical Society [IL]

Description

The Elgin Area Historical Society supports its own museum dedicated to local history. Exhibit topics include Early Elgin, Elgin Road Races, Elgin Architecture, the Hiawatha Pageant, and the Elgin Watch Factory and Industry. The Museum is housed in a historical 1856 building known as the Old Main.

School groups of all ages can take an educational tour of the museum while completing a scavenger hunt. Groups can also upgrade to the Grand Tour which includes hand-on educational activities for each of the museum's five exhibits. The museum also offers programs with specific topics including cooking, architecture, Native Americans, pocket watches, and pioneers. Travelling trunks can also be reserved.

White Hall State Historic Site [KY]

Description

White Hall State Historic Site was first built in 1798 and remodeled in the 1860s. The original home was a two-story Georgian structure, but during the remodeling in the 1860s, the home was rebuilt in Italianate style and greatly enlarged. The house was home to the Clay family, including the noted emancipationist Cassius Clay and his daughter, Laura Clay, who was the first woman to be nominated by a major party for US President.

The home offers guided tours, field trip programs, and exhibits that showcase artifacts from the Clay family. The website offers a photo gallery of the home, a calendar of events, visitor information, and a history of the home.

Aycock Birthplace [NC]

Description

Charles B. Aycock was born into a simple, rural home in 1859. In 1900 he was elected governor of North Carolina and dedicated his life to improving public education in the state. An 1893 one-room schoolhouse, moved to the site of his birthplace, underscores Aycock's commitment to education. This typical 19th-century family farm includes the main house, separate open-hearth kitchen, corn crib, and smokehouses.

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

Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate [KY]

Description

The Ashland estate consists of an 18-room mansion, outbuildings, exhibit space, formal gardens, and walking trails. Henry Clay (1777-1852) temporarily quelled the regionalism which eventually led to attempted secession, helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, served as Speaker of the House, supported South American governments, and introduced the Amicus Brief. Clay was also a Senator, Secretary of State, lawyer, farmer, and horseman. The structure itself was completed circa 1812, in the Federal style. Rebuilt in 1857 by later family members, the home is still similar to its original appearance but now includes Italianate, Victorian, and Greek Revival elements.

The estate offers one-hour guided mansion tours, period rooms, thematic and general guided tours for students, exhibits, self-guided outbuilding tours, gardens, trails, and a cafe. It is advisable to schedule as far in advance as possible for school visits. The website offers pre-visit handouts, a trivia game, and suggested reading lists for students.

Anderson House [DC]

Description

The 1905 Anderson House is a Beaux Arts mansion, which served as the residence of Larz Anderson III (1866-1937), diplomat and Ambassador to Japan, and his wife Isabel (1876-1948), author of travel memoirs, poetry, and family histories. The interior favors English and Italian elements. The collection strength is artifacts of the Revolutionary War. The house is the headquarters of the Society of Cincinnati, a society interested in Revolutionary War history.

The house offers period rooms, exhibits, guided tours, and monthly artifact presentations and talks. Reservations are required for groups of ten or more. Tours are offered in several languages, and can be tailored to specific interests given advance notice.

Hazelwood Historic House Museum [WI]

Description

The Hazelwood Historic House Museum is a Greek Revival residence furnished in the 1880 through 1899 Victorian styles. Home owner Morgan L. Martin (1805-1887) served as state convention president at the time the Wisconsin state constitution was drafted.

The museum offers house tours and neighborhood tours. Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more. Tour options include added refreshments.

Washburn-Norlands Living History Center [ME]

Description

The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center depicts 18th- and 19th-century rural life in the state of Maine. Norlands was originally the Washburn family home. This family included a Senator, Secretary of State, congressmen, governors, and founders of the Washburn-Crosby Gold Medal Flour Company. Structures include a one-room schoolhouse, mansion, meeting house, and library.

The site offers living history interpreters, period rooms, guided building tours, self-guided grounds tours, curriculum-based interactive programs for students, outreach programs for schools, hands-on activities, overnight programs, and picnic tables.

House in the Horseshoe [NC]

Description

In spring and summer, bright flowers surround this plantation house named for its location on a horseshoe bend in the Deep River. The house (circa 1770) was owned by Philip Alston, whose band of colonists seeking independence from Britain was attacked here in 1781 during the American Revolution by British loyalists led by David Fanning. Later, four-term governor Benjamin Williams lived in the house, which now features antiques of the colonial and Revolutionary War eras.

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

Floyd County Museum [IA]

Description

The Floyd County Museum presents historical and modern agricultural and industrial prairie life in Floyd County, Iowa. Highlights include tractors; 19th-century tools; and artifacts related to women's suffrage leader Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (1859-1947), founder of the League of Women Voters. Period rooms include a circa 1900 drug store setting and a country schoolroom. The collection focuses on the years 1850 through 1950. The museum is located within a historical laboratory building. Charles City, where the museum is located, is best know as the site of the first gasoline-powered tractors.

The museum offers exhibits and period rooms.

Manship House Museum [MS]

Description

The Manship House Museum preserves the Gothic Revival "cottage villa" of Charles Henry Manship (1812-1895), mayor of Jackson, Mississippi during the Civil War and ornamental painter by trade. Restored to period, the residence serves as a site to share the history of the Manship family. The museum offers annual exhibits about weddings and mourning customs circa 1888.

The museum offers exhibits and period rooms.