Grayson County Historical Society and Museum [KY]

Description

The Grayson County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Grayson County, Kentucky. To this end, the society operates a museum and research library within the circa 1814 Jack Thomas House. The society also operates the 1835 Buchanan Log Cabin, which houses home and farm tools. Highlights within the cabin include a handmade loom, over a century in age.

The society offers exhibits, tours of the Buchanan Log Cabin, and research library access.

Mount Clare Museum House [MD]

Description

The 1760 Georgian colonial Mount Clare Museum House once served as a plantation residence. The site was home to Charles Carrol (1737-1832), U.S. Senator and Barrister. The majority of the collection's 3,000 18th- and 19th-century pieces of furniture, artworks, decorative arts, and other artifacts are on display within the home. The site is primarily used to interpret 18th-century plantation life—that of the owners, slaves, and indentured servants.

The house offers an introductory video, tours, Scout and elementary school student tours with optional activities, outreach programs on 18th-century children's life for students, day camps, and research library access. Appointments are required for research library access and student programming. The second floor of the residence is not wheelchair accessible. The website offers the introductory video, activities, and lesson plans.

USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial [NC]

Description

Standing majestically across from downtown Wilmington, the battleship USS North Carolina beckons visitors to walk her decks and envision daily life as well as the fierce combat her veterans faced in World War II. The first fast battleship to join the American fleet during the war, she was then considered the world's greatest sea weapon. The North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific, earned 15 battle stars, and was home to 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men.

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

Friendship Firehouse Museum [VA]

Description

The Friendship Fire Company was established in 1774, and was the first volunteer fire company in Alexandria. The current firehouse was built in 1855, remodeled in 1871, and renovated in 1992. The Engine Room on the first floor houses hand-drawn fire engines, leather water buckets, axes, sections of early rubber hose, and other historic fire-fighting equipment. An exhibition discusses the development of firefighting technology and other fire companies that have served the citizens of Alexandria. The second floor Meeting Room is furnished the way it was during the late 19th century, the real heyday of Friendship as a community organization. On view here are various ceremonial objects such as parade uniforms, capes, banners, and other regalia. George Washington's association with the Friendship Fire Company, honored by members for over 200 years, is symbolized by several images of him throughout the museum.

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

Poverty Point State Historic Site [LA]

Description

The 200-acre Poverty Point State Historic Site preserves Native American earthworks dating from between 1650 and 500 BC. The mounds of a 3/4-mile diameter partial octagon, six rows deep, are believed to have served as shelter foundations. Goods from throughout the United States suggest that the inhabitants were part of an extensive trade network. A museum is located on site.

The site offers exhibits, guided tours, tram tours, educational programs a 2.6-mile hiking trail, and a picnic area. The website offers a link to an informative video.

Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Inc. [TN]

Description

The Beck Cultural Exchange Center in Knoxville, TN, is located in the Beck family home. The Becks were leaders in Knoxville's black community from the 1920s through the 1960s, and the center was established in 1975 in honor of their contributions to eastern Tennessee African-American culture.

The center offers exhibits on African American culture, guided tours, after-school programs for local students, and research resources. The website offers general information regarding the center, visitor information, and access to the center's research resources.

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library [VA]

Description

The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, located at the site of Woodrow Wilson's birth in Staunton, VA, provides a museum and memorial for the presidency and life of Woodrow Wilson. The library consists of a museum, which takes visitors through Wilson's life, and a vast research library, which offers all papers from Wilson's presidency.

The library offers field trip programs, guided tours, galleries and exhibits, and educational outreach programs. The website offers resources for teachers, visitor information, a brief biography of Woodrow Wilson, and online access to the library.

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum [VA]

Description

Gadsby's Tavern Museum consists of two buildings, a circa 1785 tavern and the 1792 City Hotel. The buildings are named for Englishman John Gadsby who operated them from 1796 to 1808. Mr. Gadsby's establishment was a center of political, business, and social life in early Alexandria. The tavern was the setting for dancing assemblies, theatrical and musical performances, and meetings of local organizations. George Washington enjoyed the hospitality provided by tavernkeepers and twice attended the annual Birthnight Ball held in his honor. Other prominent patrons included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Marquis de Lafayette. Visitors are invited to take a moment to journey back to the 18th-century tavern and hotel where famous historical figures and everyday people dined and slept and learn about the history, architecture, decorative arts, social customs, food, and clothing of a past era.

The museum offers tours, educational programs, classes, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Wynnewood [TN]

Description

Wynnewood is the largest extant log structure in Tennessee. It was built in 1828 by A. R. Wynne, William Cage, and Stephen Roberts as a stagecoach inn on the Nashville-Knoxville Road. In 1834, Wynne purchased his partners' interests and moved his family into the inn, where he resided until his death in 1893. Throughout Wynne's lifetime, guests were received at the house, attracted partially by the reputed medicinal powers of the mineral waters and the scenic beauty of the area. Today the spring waters still flow and visitors may see the site where Thomas Sharp ("Big Foot") Spencer spent the winter of 1778–79 in a hollow sycamore tree.

The site offers tours.