Museum of the City of New York [NY]

Description

The Museum of the City of New York presents the history of New York City and its people. Permanent exhibits offer artifacts and information relevant to New York's theatrical history, interior design, firefighting, maritime commerce, and toys made or used in the city. The collection consists of 1.5 million items in the following categories: decorative arts; prints, photographs, paintings, sculptures, and drawings of the city and/or its people; theater and Broadway; toys; and costumes and textiles.

The museum offers a 25-minute introductory multimedia presentation, exhibits, lectures, performances, guided school tours, educational programs, self-guided tours, summer programs, educator workshops, an after school architecture and urban planning program, and Saturday American history classes. Reservations are required for all school groups, guided or self-guided. Headsets and neck loops are available for hard-of-hearing visitors, and all films are captioned. The website offers materials for self-guided school groups.

Due to ongoing renovations, the fire engines are in storage; and the halls containing the exhibit New York Interiors (1690-1906) is currently closed.

Schroeder Saddletree Factory Museum [IN]

Description

For 94 years, workers at the Ben Schroeder Saddletree Company crafted tens of thousands of wooden frames for saddle makers throughout the United States and Latin America. It was the nation's longest lasting, continually operated, family-owned saddletree company. John Benedict "Ben" Schroeder, a German immigrant, started his business in a small brick workshop in 1878, though it grew to include a woodworking shop, boiler room and engine shed, a sawmill, a blacksmith shop, an assembly room, the family residence, and several outbuildings. After his death, Ben's family kept his dream alive by adding stirrups, hames for horse collars, clothespins, lawn furniture, and even work gloves to their line of saddletrees. The factory closed in 1972 and was left completely intact. Recognized by historians as one of America's premier industrial heritage sites, the Schroeder Saddletree factory has been restored to allow visitors to Madison to tour through this vintage workplace. Belts turn and the original antique woodworking machines spin into action. Sawdust is whisked from machines into the boiler room, where it once fueled the steam boiler that powered the equipment. Saddletree patterns hang, cobweb covered, from the ceiling.

The museum offers tours, demonstrations, and exhibits.

Jerome Historical Society and Mine Museum [AZ]

Description

The Jerome Historical society seeks to preserve and share the history of Jerome, Arizona, once known as the “Wickedest Town in The West.” To this end, the society operates a museum and an archival collection. The museum presents local history through displays covering mining history; gambling; the Chinese, Slavs, Italians, Russians, Mexicans, and Irish in Jerome; and other topics. Collection highlights include mining equipment and a Colt pistol used by Marshal Johnny Hudgens.

The society offers exhibits and archival access.

The Mariners' Museum [VA]

Description

The Mariner's Museum presents information and artifacts relevant to the field of maritime history. Highlights include more than 150 small vessels from over 36 countries; August F. Crabtree's miniature ships; displays on shipbuilding, cartographic, and navigational advancements between 1400 and 1700; the largest international maritime library in the western hemisphere; and the USS Monitor Center. The center includes a full-scale replica of the Monitor, the first U.S. Navy ironclad warship, used in the Civil War. The museum also owns and maintains a 550-acre park.

The museum offers exhibits, maritime science and history educational programs which complement state educational standards, scavenger hunts, distance learning programs, outreach speakers, lectures, research library access, research assistance, paddle boat rental, and fishing boat rental. Payment is required for research assistance. The website offers virtual exhibits, artifact of the month, and images for educational use.

Coastal Georgia Historical Society, Maritime Center, and St. Simons Lighthouse

Description

The Society operates both the St. Simons Lighthouse and the Maritime Center. The Lighthouse was built in 1872 and today presents and interprets the history and culture of coastal Georgia. The Maritime Center at the Historic Coast Guard Station researches, collects, and preserves artifacts, and other memorabilia and interprets events and information pertaining to the maritime history and marine ecology of the Georgia coast—such as the history of the U.S. Coast Guard Station, the evolution of Georgia's chain of barrier islands, and the Georgia marshland ecosystem—and to present related exhibitions, promotional activities, and educational programs of interest to the general public.

The society offers educational programs and occasional recreational and educational events; the center and lighthouse offer exhibits and tours.

Hanover Fire Museum [PA]

Description

The Hanover Fire Museum presents memorabilia relevant to the history of two local stations—the Hanover Fire Company #1 and Eagle Fire Company #2, as well as to the wider history of firefighting. Artifacts of note include an 1882 Silsby Steamer 550 GRM (a form of pump), a circa 1830 two cylinder piston hand pumper previously used in Baltimore, a circa 1770 Nushem grinder hand engine, and a working 1911 Gamewell Alarm Board.

The museum offers exhibits.

Victorville Fire Museum [CA]

Description

The Victorville Fire Museum presents a collection of firefighting equipment and memorabilia dating from the 1930s, as well as artifacts and information pertinent to the historical development of the Victorville Fire Department. The museum is housed in one of the city's earliest fire stations, Station No. 1.

The museum offers exhibits and tours.