Fort Mose Historic State Park [FL]

Description

The power politics of 18th-century England and Spain reached across the Atlantic to the Florida frontier. In 1738, the Spanish governor of Florida chartered Fort Mose as a settlement for freed Africans who had fled slavery in the British Carolinas. When Spain ceded Florida to Britain in 1763, the inhabitants of Fort Mose migrated to Cuba. Although nothing remains of the fort, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for its importance in American history.

The park offers tours.

Pictograph Cave State Park [MT]

Description

The Pictograph, Middle, and Ghost cave complex was home to generations of prehistoric hunters. Over 30,000 artifacts have been identified from the park. A short paved trail allows visitors to view the rock paintings, known as pictographs, that are still visible in Pictograph Cave, the largest of the three. Interpretive signs tell the story of Montana's first professional archaeological studies and excavations.

A second website for the site can be found here.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park [CA]

Description

The Park is the site of a water-powered grist mill that was built in 1846. It was once the center of social activity as Napa Valley settlers gathered to have their corn and wheat ground into meal or flour. The owner of the mill was Dr. Edward Turner Bale. He received the property in a land grant from the Mexican government and lived near the site until his death in 1849. The mill remained in use until the early 1900s. The mill and its 36-foot water wheel are protected as a state historic landmark and have been partially restored. A trail connects the historic park to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. Additionally, the park includes the site of the first church in the Napa Valley as well as the Pioneer Cemetery.

The park offers exhibits, tours, and demonstrations.

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park secures for the people and makes available for their observation, inspiration, and enjoyment, the gold discovery site and its environs as an accurate portrayal of the story that unfolded at the time of the discovery and Gold Rush. The park's interpretive program primarily embraces the period from 1847 through 1852, but also shows the town of Coloma as it developed. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is the place where James W. Marshall found flecks of gold in the tailrace of the sawmill he was building for himself and John Sutter. This discovery in 1848 changed the course of California's and the nation's history. Visitors can see a replica of the original sawmill and over 20 historic buildings including mining, house, school, and store exhibits. Visitors have the opportunity to try panning for gold in the American River and enjoy hikes and picnics under the riparian oak woodlands. Overlooking the river canyon, where the gold discoverer rests today, visitors ca see California's first historic monument, the statue of James Marshall pointing at his gold discovery site .

The park offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, living history events, and other recreational and educational events.

Old Davidsonville State Park [AR]

Description

Established in 1815 on the banks of the Black River, this important frontier town had Arkansas Territory's first post office, courthouse, and land office. When bypassed by the Southwest Trail from St. Louis to Mexico, the town began to fade, and was virtually unoccupied by the 1830s. Because there has since been little disturbance, archaeologists have recently uncovered the town three inches below ground. Finds include corners of buildings, streets, and a volume of artifacts, which are currently at the University of Arkansas being catalogued and preserved.

The site offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events.

Columbia State Historic Park [CA]

Description

The town's old Gold Rush-era business district has been preserved, with shops, restaurants, and two hotels. Visitors have the chance to time-travel to the 1850s, imagining life when gold miners rubbed shoulders with businessmen and the other residents in Columbia. Visitors can experience a bygone era watching proprietors in period clothing conduct business in the style of yesterday. There are opportunities to ride a 100 year-old stagecoach, pan for gold, or tour an active gold mine.

The park offers exhibits, tours, living history events, educational programs, and educational and recreational events.

Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion Historic Site [NH]

Description

The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion is the former home of New Hampshire's first royal governor, Benning Wentworth. The rambling, forty-room mansion which overlooks Little Harbor is one of the most outstanding homes remaining from the Colonial era. Its stateliness and impressive interior and furnishings reflect aristocratic life in Portsmouth in the 1700s.

The site offers tours and exhibits.

Skylands Manor, Ringwood Manor, and State Botanical Garden [NJ]

Description

Skylands Manor, with its English Jacobean architecture common in the English countryside 400 years ago, was designed by John Russell Pope for Clarence McKensie Lewis, a stockbrocker and civil engineer. Built in the 1920s, it is constructed of native stone and half-timbers. The weathered stone facade of this 44-room mansion blends into the landscape. The mansion contains rooms with antique paneling as well as new American Oak paneling and large windows, some of which contain 16th-century stained glass medallions. Moulded plaster ceilings and an elaborately carved staircase add the finishing touches to this impressive country house. Ringwood Manor, which was home for a succession of well-known ironmasters for nearly 200 years, sits comfortably on a low hill. Iron production in this area began in the 1740s. In the mid-19 century, Ringwood Manor was owned by Abram S. Hewitt, America's foremost ironmaster. Dedicated in 1984, the State Botanical Garden is the culmination of two eras of landscape architecture under the direction of Francis Lynde Stetson, owner of Skylands from 1891—1922. The garden contains an extensive variety of plants, including evergreens and deciduous trees and shrubs in specialty areas.

A second website specifically for Ringwood can be found here.

A second website specifically for Skylands and the State Botanical Garden can be found here.

The sites offer tours and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Fort McKavett State Historic Site [TX]

Description

Originally called Camp San Saba because it overlooks the headwaters of the San Saba River Valley, Fort McKavett State Historic Site was established by five companies of the Eighth Infantry in March 1852 to protect frontier settlers and travelers on Upper El Paso Road. The camp was later renamed for Captain Henry McKavett, killed at the battle of Monterey on Sept. 21, 1846. The fort was abandoned in March 1859 and reoccupied in April 1868. By 1880, the fort was no longer needed and it was again abandoned on June 30, 1883. Gen. William T. Sherman once called Fort McKavett "the prettiest post in Texas."

The site offers tours.

Olompali State Historic Park [CA]

Description

The park overlooks the Petaluma River and San Pablo Bay from the east-facing slopes of 1,558-foot Mount Burdell. The name "olompali" comes from the Miwok language and may be translated as "southern village" or "southern people." The Coast Miwok inhabited at least one site within the area of the present-day park continuously from as early as 6,000 BC until the early 1850s. Olompali contains "kitchen rock," a large boulder used as a mortar in which early people ground acorns and seeds into a fine flour for food preparation. Many women would gather near such grinding rocks to prepare food and socialize.

The park offers exhibits and tours.