East Tennessee Historical Society and Museum [TN]

Description

The East Tennessee Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the unique history of Eastern Tennessee and its people. To this end, the society operates the Museum of East Tennessee History. Permanent exhibits include a historical overview off the area, addressing the Cherokee, frontier life, the Civil War, the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the Tennessee Valley Authority, country music, and the Civil Rights Movement. The museum also presents a recreated early 20th-century streetscape, including period dentist and drug store settings and an original streetcar.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, genealogy workshops, school tours and scavenger hunts, curriculum-based programs, curriculum-based outreach programs, and educator workshops and summer institutes. The website offers lesson plans and genealogy resources for use in the classroom.

Smallwood State Park Retreat House [MD]

Description

Smallwood's Retreat is the 1760 home of General William Smallwood, the highest ranking Revolutionary War officer from Maryland and three-time governor. From this site, Smallwood operated a tobacco plantation, which at one point held 56 slaves and indentured servants, until his death in 1792. The interior is supplied with 18th-century furniture which matches the estate inventory.

The site offers period rooms and tours led by costumed interpreters. Tours are available April 27th through October seventh.

Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm [MI]

Description

The Rochester Hills Museum presents the history of the greater Rochester, MI, area. The museum sits on a family property dating back to 1823. Original structures on site date to between 1840 and the early 1900s, with the exhibits located within a 1927 dairy barn. Topics covered include industry, settlement, agriculture, and culture.

The museum offers exhibits. The website offers a virtual exhibit.

Worthington Historical Society [OH]

Description

Worthington Historical Society preserves the unique and colorful history of Worthington, Ohio, which was formed by westward-bound settlers from Western Connecticut. The society maintains four separate attractions, the Orange Johnson House Museum, the Old Rectory, the Doll Museum, and a society Library.

Each of the society's properties offers guided and self-guided tours, along with exhibits and occasional special events. The website offers a history of Worthington, visitor information, and an events calendar.

Fort Pitt Museum [PA]

Description

Situated in the recreated Monongahela Bastion at Point State Park, the Fort Pitt Museum commemorates the strategic importance of the Forks of the Ohio during the Great War for Empire in which British, French, Colonial, and Native American forces struggled for control of North America. Through exhibits and programs, the museum also addresses the important role of Fort Pitt during the American Revolution and the early development of the city of Pittsburgh. The site presents tours, exhibits, educational programs, and publications to broaden understanding of the significance of the area known as "the Point." In meeting this goal, Fort Pitt Museum closely examines the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the various military fortifications established on the site, the many cultures that influenced the development of the region, and the importance of the fur trade and other early commerce.

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

Catoctin Furnace [MD]

Description

The Catoctin Iron Furnace operated from 1776 until 1903, and is located in Cunningham Falls State Park. The furnace site was once a booming industrial complex and community, and utilized the surrounding woodlands for fuel provision. Today, the state park encompasses both the old furnace and the surrounding landscape, and offers visitors an impressive variety of outdoor activities, from hiking to fishing. In addition, visitors can explore much of the Catoctin Furnace historic site.

The site offers visitor information and maps for the state park, along with a fairly detailed history of the furnace.

George Washington Carver National Monument [MO]

Description

The George Washington Carver National Monument presents the early life and impact of George Washington Carver (1864-1943). Carver conducted experiments with peanut farming which would eventually bolster the economy of the South, suffering from the downturn of the cotton industry. The site includes Carver's boyhood home, built in 1881; family cemetery; and birth site. Visitors to the site also learn about Carver's interests in rocks, wood carving, and art, among other hobbies.

The monument offers hands-on programs which focus on 19th-century life, nature programs, guided tours, Junior Ranger activities, a 3/4-mile nature trail, a fourth-grade art and essay contest, curriculum-based field trip programs, outreach programs for students, traveling trunks, and rental videos. The website offers an education packet, curricula, and suggested reading for students.

Oklahoma Territorial Museum

Description

The Museum, through artifacts, photographs, and paintings tells the story of Oklahoma's territorial period. The facility covers approximately 10,000 square feet divided between two floors. The first floor presents exhibits embracing the first land run in the territories and the events leading up to the day, April 22, 1889. Exhibitions also cover the territorial lifestyle, including the homesteader and the urban aspect. Items related to territorial government, transportation, education, entertainment, and the statehood experience are presented in the second floor exhibits. Attached to the museum is the Historic Carnegie Library of Guthrie. Built in 1902, it hosted many important political and social events in early Oklahoma history and still houses its original furnishings.

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

Goliad State Park and Mission Espíritu Santo State Historic Site [TX]

Description

The park contains a refurnished replica of Mission Nuestra Senora del Espíritu Santo de Zuniga, reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The mission was originally established in 1722 near Matagorda Bay and moved to its present site in 1749. This mission was the first large cattle ranch in Texas, supplying its own needs and those of Spanish colonial settlements as far away as Louisiana. The park also contains General Ignacio Zaragoza's Birthplace, Plaza, and Amphitheater, which are located near Presidio La Bahia. General Zaragoza assumed command of the rag-tag Mexican Army and welded it into a staunch fighting force, which met and defeated the French on May 5, 1862, in the Battle of Puebla, which led to Mexico's independence from France.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Cedar Hill State Park and Penn Farm Agricultural History Center [TX]

Description

In 1854, John Anderson Penn settled in the rugged cedar-covered hills of southwest Dallas County—an area known as the Cedar Mountains. Today, remnants of the original Penn Farm survive intact in the confines of Cedar Hill State Park. Penn Farm Agricultural History Center pays tribute to the disappearing Texas family farm and affords a glimpse into agrarian history as farm machinery took the place of the horse and mule almost a century ago. It includes reconstructed and historic buildings from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.