Arkansas Post National Memorial [AR]

Description

The Arkansas Post National Memorial commemorates the first European colony to be built in the Mississippi River Valley. The post was established by the French in 1686 on the site of a Quapaw village. Today the site presents its more than 300 years of social history. The post played a part in the fur trade, Civil War, and Revolutionary War—most specifically the 1783 Colbert Raid, the singular Revolutionary War military action to occur in Arkansas.

The site offers an introductory video, guided tours, self-guided tours, exhibits, musket and cannon demonstrations, Junior Ranger activities, educational programs, and outreach programs. Reservations are required for guided tours and all educational programming. The website offers a maze and word search.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore [NC]

Description

The Cape Hatteras National Seashore is located on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The National Seashore is home to many attractions, from the sandy beaches and maritime forests to the three lighthouses on the islands and two park visitor's centers. The Cape Hatteras lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the world, and is the only one of the three lighthouses open for climbing. However, the other two lighthouses have much to offer as the keepers' quarters are open to visitors and both feature visitor's centers with exhibits and guided tours.

The park offers exhibits, tours, field trips, and special events through the two visitor's centers, as well as miles of trails and beach for outdoor enthusiasts. The website offers a history of the park, information about the park's ecology, lesson plans for teachers, field trip information, and general visitors information. In order to contact the park via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

Cane River Creole National Historical Park [LA]

Description

The Cane River Creole National Park contains Oakland and Magnolia Plantations. Oakland Plantation, dating to circa 1821, was the home of Jean Pierre Emmanuel Prud'homme. The structure is French Colonial in style with bousillage construction. Magnolia Plantation was built in the 1830s for Ambrose LeComte. Styles include Greek Revival and Italianate. Collection highlights include the last U.S. cotton gin with a wooden screw press located on its original site.

Both plantations offer ranger-led tours, self-guided tours, painting workshops, musicians, storytellers, craftsmen, Junior Ranger activities, and picnic sites. The website offers videos and historic photographs.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park [NC]

Description

The Guilford Courthouse National Military Park commemorates the largest Revolutionary War battle fought in the Southern Campaign, the March 15, 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse. At the altercation, Major General Nathanael Greene led the American troops, while Lord Charles Cornwallis led the British. The battle was a success for the outnumbered British, who forced the Americans to retreat. However, the loss of roughly one-fourth of their force led Cornwallis and the British to abandon their attempts to overtake the Carolinas. Cornwallis is best remembered as the general who lost the American colonies. It is of note that Cornwallis fought in the revolution despite misgivings about the harshness of British rule over the colonies.

The park offers exhibits; a 32-minute introductory film; a 10-minute animated map program on battle tactics; a walking, biking, or driving self-guided tour with wayside exhibits; 28 monuments; Junior Ranger activities; interpretive talks; musket firing demonstrations; a scavenger hunt; and an educational program. The website offers digital exhibits, historic photographs and postcards, lesson plans, a teacher's guide to the American Revolution, a timeline of the Revolutionary War, and two films for rental. Visitors with visual impairment can participate in a 20-minute tactile map program.

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park [LA]

Description

The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park presents the history of the people and places most crucial to New Orleans' jazz legacy. Key figures include Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (1900-1971), Charles "Buddy" Bolden (1877-1931), "Papa Jack" George Vetiala Laine (1873-1966), and Sidney Bechet (1897-1959).

The park offers demonstrations, talks, live music, documentary films, two mp3 audio tours of the city, and lectures.

Capitol Hill Parks [DC]

Description

Capitol Hill Parks includes all parkland between the 2nd streets NE and SE and the Anacostia River. The four major parks in this space are the Folger Park, which contains numerous examples of historic architecture; Lincoln Park, which contains memorials to Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States, and Civil Rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955); Marion Park; and Stanton Park, which houses a statue of General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), the Revolutionary War leader who drove the British out of Georgia and the Carolinas in 1782.

The site offers tours upon request.

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site [VA]

Description

The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site consists of the 1883 home in which Walker resided between 1904 and 1934. The furnishings are original to the family, and the home is located in the community of Jackson Ward, the center point of African American business and social life in Richmond, Virginia circa 1900. Born just 2 years after the Civil War, she overcame the ethnic and gender limitations of society to become the first woman in the United States to charter a bank. Despite the low social status afforded to her as an African American during her time, Walker additionally ran a newspaper, greatly enhanced the scope of the Order of St. Luke, and eventually served as a bank president.

The site offers exhibits, hands-on activities and traveling trunks tailored to educational standards, guided tours, and Junior Ranger activities. Reservations are required for tours involving 10 or more people. The website offers a gallery of more than 100 historic photographs.

Dry Tortugas National Park [FL]

Description

The Dry Tortugas National Park consists of seven islands and the surrounding shoals and waters. First discovered in 1531 by Ponce de Leon, the Dry Tortugas are named after the then common sea turtles, or tortugas and the islands' lack of fresh water. The site includes Fort Jefferson. With its construction beginning in 1846, the invention of the rifled cannon rendered the fort ineffective; and construction ceased. The islands are notoriously difficult to navigate, and have been the site of centuries of shipwrecks.

The site offers guided tours, an orientation program, self-guided tours of Fort Jefferson, Junior Ranger activities, and a variety of outdoor activities. Note that the site is only accessible by boat or plane.

Cape Lookout National Seashore [NC]

Description

The Cape Lookout National Seashore is primarily a site for water recreation and nature viewing. However, the park does house the 1859 Cape Lookout Lighthouse, around which the staff organizes a number of interpretive programs.

The site offers a 26-minute film, a 16-minute version of the same film, talks, guided tours, and traveling trunks.

Fort Moultrie National Monument [SC]

Description

Fort Moultrie was one of the four major forts lining the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The fort was abandoned at the start of the Civil War by Union Troops in favor of Fort Sumter, which led to the first major action of the Civil War. Today, the fort has been restored to portray the major periods in its history, and visitors to the fort move steadily backwards from Fort Moultrie during World Wary II to the Palmetto-log fort of 1776.

The fort offers guided tours, interpretive activities, and field trip programs. The website offers basic visitor information, online historical documents, and a history of the fort. In order to contact the fort via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.