Bennett Place [NC]

Description

This simple farmhouse was situated between Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's headquarters in Greensboro and Union General William T. Sherman's headquarters in Raleigh. In April 1865, the two commanders met at the Bennett Place, where they signed surrender papers for Southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. It was the largest troop surrender of the American Civil War.

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

Pond Spring: The General Joe Wheeler Home [AL]

Description

Once home to prehistoric Native Americans, Pond Spring is the post-Civil War home of General Joseph Wheeler, a Confederate major general, a U.S. congressman, and a Spanish-American War general. Following the Civil War, Wheeler became a national symbol for reunification and reconciliation. Wheeler's daughter, "Miss Annie Wheeler," served in three wars as a Red Cross nurse. The 50-acre site includes a dogtrot log house built around 1818, a circa-1830 Federal-style house, the 1880s Wheeler house, eight farm-related outbuildings, two family cemeteries, an African-American cemetery, a small Indian mound, a pond, a boxwood garden, and other garden areas.

The site offers tours by appointment.

Historic Latta Plantation [NC]

Description

Historic Latta Plantation is a historic cotton plantation, dating to circa 1800, and living history farm.

The plantation offers a 15-minute introductory video, guided house tours, self-guided grounds tours, educational programs, traveling trunks, home school programs, and summer camps. The website offers a teacher resource guides, suggested reading, historic games, instructions for making historic toys, and a virtual tour.

Mansfield Reformatory [OH]

Description

The Mansfield Reformatory, built in 1886 in accordance with plans by Levi T. Scofield (1842-1917), presents the history of criminal justice in Ohio. The architecture, including Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Queen Anne styles, was intended to inspire repentance and spiritual rebirth among the criminals it housed. Prior to the construction of the prison, the site served as a training camp for Civil War soldiers. The site includes a museum.

The reformatory offers guided tours and exhibits. The website offers virtual tours and a photo gallery, which includes historical images.

Pamplin Historical Park [VA] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:35
Description

The 422-acre Pamplin Historical Park commemorates Civil War history. The park location is that of the April 2, 1865 "Breakthrough," the battle which caused the evacuation of the Confederate capital at Richmond. The grounds include four museums, four antebellum homes, and living history sites. Constituting the primary draw of the park is the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, which presents the story of the common soldier involved in the Civil War. The three other museums cover plantation life; slavery in the United States (The Field Quarter); and the battle of April 2, 1865 (The Battlefield Center). The antebellum structures include the 1812 Tudor Hall Plantation house, once the headquarters of Confederate General Samuel McGowan (1819-1897), and the 1700s-era Banks House, Union Lt. General Grant's (1822-1885) headquarters following the battle. The park also offers trails among some of the nation's best-preserved Civil War fortifications.

The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier offers exhibits, life-size dioramas, films, interactive learning stations, an audio tour which makes use of the words of actual soldiers, and a multi-sensory battlefield simulation. The Field Quarter offers a film, an exhibit, heritage livestock, and reconstructed dwellings. The Military Encampment offers hands-on activities. The Battlefield Center offers a multimedia presentation and exhibits. The Banks house offers period rooms. The park also offers educational programs, Civil War Adventure camps, history day camps, interpretive trails, self-guided audio tours of the Breakthrough Battlefield and Tudor Hall plantation, guided battlefield and Tudor Hall tours, tours on a variety of subjects offered on request, interpreters in period costume, artillery and civilian skill demonstrations, and vending machines. Pre- and post-visit activities are available on the website.

Richmond Hill Historical Society & Museum [GA]

Description

The Richmond Hill Historical Society & Museum seeks to preserve and share the history of Richmond Hill and Bryan County, Georgia. To this end, the society operates a museum with displays covering the Colonial era, Revolutionary War, Civil War, and time of Henry Ford. The museum is located in a structure which previously served as the Henry Ford Kindergarten. This school was run by Ford (1863-1947), father of mass production, and his wife, who wintered in the area.

The museum offers exhibits.

Mary Todd Lincoln House [KY]

Description

The Mary Todd Lincoln House is the first site to have been restored in the memory of a First Lady. The 14-room Georgian home was originally built as an inn, completed in 1806, but entered the Todd family in 1832. Mary Todd (1818-1882) lived on this site for seven years (1832-1839). The current furnishings of the home are based on the inventory list of the property's auction following Robert S. Todd's death. Pieces displayed include those previously owned by the Todd and Lincoln families.

The house offers period rooms and tours for students.

Civil War Preservation Trust

Description

The Civil War Preservation Trust is America's largest non-profit organization (501-C3) devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields. The Trust also promotes educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war’s history and the fundamental conflicts that sparked it.

Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park [FL]

Description

Natural Bridge is the site of the second largest Civil War battle in Florida and where the St. Marks River drops into a sinkhole and flows underground for one-quarter of a mile before reemerging. During the final weeks of the Civil War, a Union flotilla landed at Apalachee Bay, planning to capture Fort Ward (San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park) and march north to the state capital. With a timely warning, volunteers from the Tallahassee area—Confederate soldiers, old men, and young boys—met the Union forces at Natural Bridge and successfully repelled three major attacks. The Union troops were forced to retreat to the coast and Tallahassee was the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi not captured by the Union. A reenactment of the battle is held at the park every March.

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

Sullivan-Johnson House [OH]

Description

The Sullivan-Johnson House presents the local history of Hardin County, Ohio. Collections include late 1800s Kenton toys and the Civil War medals of Jacob Parrot (1843-1908), the first recipient of the Medal of Honor. The home includes an 1890s parlor and paintings by Fred Machetanz (1908-2002).

The house offers exhibits, period room, and group tours.