Sharlot Hall Museum [AZ]

Description

The Sharlot Hall Museum site consists of a central museum center and several historic buildings, including the 1864 Governor's Mansion, the 1934 Sharlot Hall Building (the museum's main exhibit space), the 1875 Fremont House, the 1877 Bashford House, the 1863 home Fort Misery, and a 1937 automobile-repair garage (which houses the museum's vehicle collection).

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Arthurdale Heritage and New Deal Homestead Museum [WV]

Description

Visitors to Arthurdale, WV can revisit the 1930s. Established in 1933, by the United States government, Arthurdale is the nation's first New Deal Homestead Community. Created through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, the community provided a new chance at life for residents of West Virginia who were suffering from the Great Depression. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt served as the empathetic force behind the community, which became known as "Eleanor’s Little Village" because of her interest. Today, Arthurdale is a National Historic District that features 160 of the 165 original homesteads. The New Deal Homestead Museum is a multi-building museum comprised of a forge filled with original tools, a service station reminiscent of a bygone era, the historic Center Hall, the original federal government administration building, and a fully restored Arthurdale homestead.

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

Stephen A. Douglas Tomb

Description

This scenic park south of downtown Chicago is the burial place of distinguished statesman Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813–1861). The Douglas Monument Association was organized in 1861 to build a suitable memorial at the gravesite. In 1864 the Association adopted the design of Illinois sculptor Leonard W. Volk. During operating hours visitors may enter the Tomb and view the sarcophagus containing the Senator’s remains. Staff are available to provide information concerning Douglas and aspects of the Tomb’s history.

The tomb offers interpretative staff available to answer questions and occasional commemorative events.

Bourne Historical Society and Center, Aptucxet Trading Post, and Briggs-McDermott House [MA]

Description

The Society is housed in the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, built in 1897 by Emily Howland Bourne as a town library and as a memorial to her father, Jonathan Bourne, for whom the town was named. The Society also manages the Aptucxet Trading Post and the Briggs-McDermott House. The Trading Post recreates the first trade house built in 1627, by Plymouth Colony, located on the south bank of the Manomet (Monument) River, which is now part of the Cape Cod Canal. The Pilgrims traded with the Indians and the Dutch from New Amsterdam (New York City), thus having a source of income by which their debt to the London backers of their expedition to the New World could be repaid. The Trading Post site also houses Gray Gables Railroad Station, built for the personal use of President Grover Cleveland during the years of his presidency (1893–1896). The Greek Revival-style Briggs-McDermott House has been restored and furnished to reflect the period from 1840 to 1910, an important time for the Briggs family and Bourne.

The society offers lectures and occasional recreational and educational events; the center offers tours, exhibits, and research library access; the Trading Post offers tours; the Briggs-McDermott House offers exhibits and tours.

Woodrow Wilson House [DC]

Description

The Woodrow Wilson House is a national historic landmark and house museum that focuses on President Woodrow Wilson's "Washington Years" (1912–1924). The museum promotes a greater awareness of Wilson's public life and ideals for future generations through guided tours, exhibitions, and educational programs. The museum also serves as a community preservation model and resource, dedicated to the stewardship and presentation of an authentic collection and property.

The site offers a short film, tours, exhibits, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Mount Vernon - George Washington's Estate and Gardens [VA]

Description

Mount Vernon was the beloved home of George and Martha Washington from the time of their marriage in 1759 until General Washington's death in 1799. He worked tirelessly to expand his plantation from 2,000 acres to 8,000 and the mansion house from six rooms to 21. Visitors are invited to tour the Mansion house and more than a dozen outbuildings including the slave quarters, kitchen, stables, and greenhouse. They can stroll four different gardens, hike the Forest Trail, and explore the "George Washington: Pioneer Farmer" site, a four-acre working farm that includes a recreation of Washington's 16-sided treading barn. George and Martha Washington rest in peace in the tomb where wreathlaying ceremonies are held daily, and the Slave Memorial and Burial Ground is nearby.

The site offers multimedia presentations, exhibits, tours, demonstrations, educational programs, river cruises, research library access, and recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Ash Lawn-Highland, Home of James Monroe [VA]

Description

Ash Lawn-Highland is an historic house museum, 535-acre working farm, and performing arts site. President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe of New York, owned Ash Lawn-Highland from 1793 to 1826 and made it their official residence from 1799 to 1823. After the Monroes' death, the name of their farm was changed from "Highland" to "Ash Lawn"; today both names are used.

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

Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site

Description

Lincoln Log Cabin preserves the site of the last home and farm of Abraham Lincoln's father and stepmother, Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln. The Lincolns moved to the farm in 1837. Featured at the site are two living history farms that portray recreated agricultural practices as they existed in 1840s Illinois—the Thomas Lincoln Farm and the Stephen Sargent Farm. About 10 acres of period crops are cultivated, along with a hay field. Animals include teams of working oxen and horses, several sheep, and hogs similar to the razorbacks with which 1840s Illinois farmers were familiar.

The site offers exhibits, living history demonstrations, a short film, and educational and recreational programs and events.

William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum [OH]

Description

The Stark County Historical Society is dedicated to collecting and preserving the significant materials and records related to the history of Stark County and the presidential history of William McKinley. Through the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum, the Society serves as an educational center of history and science and offers interpretive exhibitions and educational programs for the local community and its expanding global audience.

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