Fort Humboldt State Historic Park [CA]

Description

This remote military post was established in 1853 to assist in conflict resolution between Native Americans and gold-seekers and settlers who had begun flooding into the area after the discovery of gold in the northern mines. Fort Humboldt was formally abandoned in 1870 and rapidly fell into decay. Today, only the hospital building remains out of the original fourteen structures. It is now a historical museum dedicated to telling the story of the Fort and the Native American groups, including the Wiyot, Hoopa and Yurok of this region. In the 1980s the Surgeon's Quarters was reconstructed and there are plans for its establishment as a period house museum. In 2001 an historic herb and vegetable garden was recreated adjacent to the Hospital. The park also includes a Logging Museum and open air displays of historic 19th- through mid-20th-century logging equipment including the Dolbeer Steam Donkey, "Lucy"; the Bear Harbor Lumber Company's Gypsy Locomotive #1; and the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company's #1 "Falk" locomotive.

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

Devil's Den State Park [AR]

Description

This National Historic District holds what has been called the most complete example of Civilian Conservation Corps park architecture. Selected as a park site in the 1930s, Lee Creek Valley provided the native wood and stone that the Civilian Conservation Corps used to craft the park's CCC/Rustic Style buildings and structures that include a native stone dam, a unique pavilion/restaurant, cabins in several styles and sizes, roads, trails, stone walls, bridges, and the iconic Yellow Rock Overlook.

The site offers exhibits.

Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park [FL]

Description

Located near the mouth of the St. Johns River, this site was an important military position during the Civil War, allowing access to the inland areas of Florida's east coast. There was never an actual fort on Yellow Bluff, but an encampment that was fortified and equipped with large guns for protection. Constructed in 1862, the site was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War and—at its peak—housed over 250 soldiers. The site has a T-shaped earthworks and covers about 1.3 acres.

The park offers occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Gillette Castle State Park [CT]

Description

Atop the most southerly hill in a chain known as the Seven Sisters, William Hooker Gillette, noted actor, director, and playwright, built this 184-acre estate, the Seventh Sister. The focal point of his effort was a 24-room mansion reminiscent of a medieval castle.

A second website for the site, maintained by the Friends of Gillette Castle, can be found here.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site [WY]

Description

At the Fort location the visitor will find an interpretive center with exhibits, videos, and self-guided tours of the fort and outlying sites. The fort tour leads the visitor through the site to building locations, archaeological remains, and interpretive signs pinpointing the surrounding historic landmarks. A Civilian Conservation Corp Cabin has been refurbished to depict the quarters of an Officer's wife and a Non-Commissioned Officer's Quarters. The two satellite sites of Fort Phil Kearny are the Fetterman Fight and the Wagon Box Fight battlefields. Maps to the sites and interpretation are available at the Visitor Center. At both battlefields, the visitor will find an interpretive trail which leads through the battle providing both Indian and White perspectives of the conflict. The visitor can go to the actual locations of the skirmish lines and Indian charges and see the weapons and personnel involved.

A second website for this site can be found here.

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

California Citrus State Historic Park

Description

This park preserves some of the rapidly vanishing cultural landscape of the citrus industry and tells the story of this industry's role in the history and development of California. The park recaptures the time when "Citrus was King" in California, recognizing the importance of the citrus industry in southern California. In the early 1900s, an effort to promote citrus ranching in the state brought hundreds of would-be citrus barons to California for the "second Gold Rush." The design of the park is reminiscent of a 1900s city park, complete with an activity center, interpretive structure, amphitheater, picnic area, and demonstration groves. The land contained within the park still continues to produce high-quality fruits.

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

Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park is a three-story, 26-room Victorian house museum that stands as a memorial to John and Annie Bidwell. John Bidwell was known throughout California and across the nation as an important pioneer, farmer, soldier, statesman, politician, and philanthropist. Annie Ellicott Kennedy Bidwell, the daughter of a socially prominent, high-ranking Washington official, was deeply religious, and committed to a number of moral and social causes. Annie was very active in the suffrage and prohibition movements.

The park offers a short film, exhibits, and tours.

Governor's Mansion State Historic Park [CA]

Description

California's executive mansion, popularly known as the Governor's Mansion, was built in 1877 for Albert and Clemenza Gallatin. Albert was a partner in the Sacramento hardware store of Huntington & Hopkins. The State of California purchased the house from Joseph and Louisa Steffens to use as a home for California's first families in 1903 for $32,500. Victorian architecture was somewhat out of style by then, but the house was suitably impressive, conveniently located, and comfortable. Today's guests see marble fireplaces from Italy, gold-framed mirrors from France, and exquisitely handcrafted hinges and doorknobs, all of which are reminders of the Gallatins and the Victorian era. Outside some of the Mansion's abundant vegetation includes flowers, shrubs, and trees dating back to 1877. When visitors look behind the grape-stake fence and see Governor Brown's swimming pool built in 1959, they are reminded that the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park is really a walk through time.

The park offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.