Fort Vasquez Museum [CO]

Description

Visitors to the site of this 1835 fur-trading fort can follow the paths of founders Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette. The traders employed many of their mountain-man friends, including Baptiste Charbonneau and Jim Beckwourth, at their adobe outpost on the South Platte River.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and educational programs.

Blount Mansion Association [TN]

Description

Blount Mansion was the original home of William Blount, a signer of the US Constitution and the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory. Blount was also instrumental in helping Tennessee gain statehood status. The Blount Mansion was granted status as a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and today serves as a historic house museum, a museum of early American history, and a museum of local history.

The museum offers exhibits, guided tours, field trip programs designed to address state curriculum objectives, and special events. The website offers visitor information, a history of the mansion, and information regarding the programs offered by the mansion.

South Pass City State Historic Site [WY]

Description

South Pass City has a variety of interesting and educational activities for visitors throughout the summer. When the presence of volunteer staff permits, not only can visitors walk through each of the 17 restored and exhibited original structures, they can enjoy ice-cold sarsaparillas and a game of billiards on a restored 1860s period table, as well as hear the ring of a hammer on steel when the blacksmith shapes hot iron. Each day, one can shop in the historic Smith-Sherlock General Store or pan for gold in the clear waters of Willow Creek. In the Interpretive Center, visitors can also learn about other gold-producing methods that have been used around South Pass City throughout its history.

A second website for the site can be found here.

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

High Desert Museum [OR]

Description

The High Desert Museum presents the cultural, natural, and artistic histories of the High Desert, a region within southeastern Oregon. The site includes indoor exhibits, numerous wildlife enclosures, and a living history hall and 1880 homestead.

The museum offers a 15-minute introductory presentation, exhibits, period rooms, 30-minute to full-day guided tours, self-guided tours with pre- and post-visit activities, thematic school festivals, 30- to 90-minute outreach presentations, spring and summer camps, educator workshops, wildlife demonstrations and talks, 19th-century skill demonstrations, and a cafe. At least two weeks notice is required for group visits. Contact the museum for information on box or sack lunches.

LaGrange Plantation [MD]

Description

LaGrange Plantation is home to the Dorchester County Historical Society, which seeks to preserve and share the history of Dorchester County, Maryland. To this end, the society operates several museums and an archive. The circa 1760 Georgian Meredith House displays decorative arts pieces and artifacts pertaining to the seven Maryland governors from Dorchester County. The Nelid Museum presents local agricultural life from colonial times onward. The Goldsborough Stable presents transportation and trade artifacts. The workshop of Ron Rue, noted huntng decoy maker; a historic food storage structure and smokehouse; and a colonial-style herb garden are also on site.

The plantation offers exhibits, period rooms, and a historically styled garden. The website offers a video tour of the Nelid Museum.

Heritage Museum [MT]

Description

The Heritage Museum presents the history of Lincoln County, Montana. Exhibit topics include transportation, explorers, fur trappers, the Kootenai people, mining, logging, and the natural environment. Period rooms display 19th-century life.

The museum offers exhibits and period rooms. Tours can be arranged by appointment. The museum is only open during June, July, and August.

Ute Indian Museum [CO]

Description

The Museum lies on the original 8.65-acre homestead owned by Chief Ouray and his wife, Chipeta. Migrating from the mountains in the summer to river valleys in the winter, the Utes used the abundant plants and animals of the Uncompahgre River valley for food, clothing, and shelter. Built in 1956 and expanded in 1998, the museum offers one of the most complete collections of the Ute people. The grounds include the Chief Ouray Memorial Park, Chipeta's Crypt, and a native plants garden. Recently renovated and expanded, the museum now includes the Montrose Visitor Information Center, gallery space, classrooms, and a museum store. The museum complex includes shady picnic areas, walking paths, and a memorial to the Spanish conquistadors who traveled through the area in 1776.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and educational programs.

Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site

Description

Lincoln's New Salem preserves the site of New Salem village, where young Abraham Lincoln lived for six formative years, from 1831 to 1837. The centerpiece of Lincoln's New Salem is the imaginative recreation of the log village. Built in the 1930s and 1940s as a Civilian Conservation Corps program, the village features twenty-three historically furnished buildings, including several homes, stores, and tradesmen's shops, as well as a tavern, school, wool carding mill, and a saw- and gristmill. Scattered throughout the village are log barns and other outbuildings.

The site offers exhibits, a short film, living history interpreters, performances, lectures, and other recreational and educational events and programs.

Apache County Historical Society [AZ]

Description

The Apache County Historical Society chronicles the history of Apache County, from the original Indian tribes, through the pioneers in the 1880s, up to the modern day. The society runs a local history museum, which serves to showcase the society's holdings.

The museum offers exhibits, guided tours, and presentations. The website offers basic visitor information.

Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life [PA]

Description

Meadowcroft is the oldest site of human habitation in North America. The Museum of Rural Life is composed of three distinct attractions, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Meadowcroft Village, and the Prehistoric Indian Village. The Rockshelter is both an active archaeological site and museum, while the Village and Prehistoric Indian Village both are living history exhibits that give visitors a glimpse into rural life during the 19th century and the lives of the Eastern Woodland Indians during the 17th century respectively.

Meadowcroft offers guided tours, interpretive events, workshops, four field trip programs, and special events. The website offers information regarding upcoming events, visitor information, and a brief history of the site.