Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park [NV]

Description

The Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park is one of Carson Valley's first and largest ranches. The ranch was home to German immigrant Heinrich Friedrich Dangberg, who founded the site in 1857. A local businessman, rancher, and politician, Dangberg started his ranch with just a log cabin. At the time of his death in 1904, he had created a 20,000 acre ranching empire that his sons expanded to 48,000 acres. More than five acres of the ranch are now owned by Douglas County and managed by Nevada State Parks. The county and state are restoring the original buildings, including a main house, a stone cellar, a laundry building, a carriage house, a garage, and a bunkhouse. These buildings and original artifacts are on display.

The site offers tours.

Goliad State Park and Mission Espíritu Santo State Historic Site [TX] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:37
Description

The park contains a refurnished replica of Mission Nuestra Senora del Espíritu Santo de Zuniga, reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The mission was originally established in 1722 near Matagorda Bay and moved to its present site in 1749. This mission was the first large cattle ranch in Texas, supplying its own needs and those of Spanish colonial settlements as far away as Louisiana. The park also contains General Ignacio Zaragoza's Birthplace, Plaza, and Amphitheater, which are located near Presidio La Bahia. General Zaragoza assumed command of the rag-tag Mexican Army and welded it into a staunch fighting force, which met and defeated the French on May 5, 1862, in the Battle of Puebla, which led to Mexico's independence from France.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Cedar Hill State Park and Penn Farm Agricultural History Center [TX]

Description

In 1854, John Anderson Penn settled in the rugged cedar-covered hills of southwest Dallas County—an area known as the Cedar Mountains. Today, remnants of the original Penn Farm survive intact in the confines of Cedar Hill State Park. Penn Farm Agricultural History Center pays tribute to the disappearing Texas family farm and affords a glimpse into agrarian history as farm machinery took the place of the horse and mule almost a century ago. It includes reconstructed and historic buildings from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

San Felipe State Historic Site [TX] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:37
Description

Twelve acres of this park are set aside in honor of the area's past. Located on the Brazos River, adjoining the old ferry site and a part of the Commercio Plaza de San Felipe, this is the site of the township of San Felipe, the seat of government of the Anglo-American colonies in Texas. It was here Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas," brought the first 297 families to colonize Texas under a contract with the Mexican Government. From 1824 to 1836, San Felipe de Austin was the social, economic, and political center, as well as the capital of the American colonies in Texas. Due to the many historic events that occurred here, the community acquired the reputation "Cradle of the Texas Liberty." San Felipe was the home of Austin and other famous early Texans; the home of Texas's first Anglo newspaper (the Texas Gazette, founded in 1829); the home of the postal system of Texas origination; and the setting for the beginning of the Texas Rangers.

The site offers tours.

Old Sacramento State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Old Sacramento State Historic Park is a cluster of noteworthy, early Gold Rush commercial structures. Historic buildings include the 1849 Eagle Theater; the 1853 B. F. Hastings Building, once home to the California Supreme Court; and the 1855 Big Four Building. Old Sacramento's historical significance comes from it being the western terminus of the Pony Express postal system, the first transcontinental railroad, and the transcontinental telegraph. With over 50 historic buildings, Old Sacramento has more buildings of historic value in its 28 acres than any area of similar size in the West.

A second website for the park can be found here.

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

Fort Richardson State Park, Historic Site, and Lost Creek Reservoir State Trailway [TX]

Description

Fort Richardson was established in November 1867 and was named in honor of General Israel B. Richardson, who died in the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War. The fort was the northernmost of a line of Federal Forts established after the Civil War. The soldiers arrived in Jacksboro in 1866 with orders to establish a fort at Buffalo Springs, 20 miles north of Jacksboro. Due to unhealthy conditions at Buffalo Springs and the constant Indian raids, the fort was abandoned. The soldiers returned to Jacksboro and eventually received orders to establish a fort on the South Bank of Lost Creek. Expeditions sent from Fort Richardson arrested Indians responsible for the Warren Wagon Train Massacre in 1871 and fought Comanches in Palo Duro Canyon. The Fort was abandoned in May 1878.

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