Hickory Hill [GA]

Description

Hickory Hill served as the home for Tom Watson, the divisive US Senator from Georgia. Watson, although elected as a democrat, soon was one of the senate's biggest advocates for southern black farmers. Today, Hickory Hill serves as a historic house museum which chronicles the life and times of Thomas Watson.

The home offers field trip programs, guided tours, summer camps, and exhibits on Thomas Watson. The website offers a biography of Watson, visitor information, a calendar of events, and resources for teachers including curriculum guides and worksheets.

Brucemore [IA]

Description

The Brucemore Mansion, located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was home to three wealthy Iowa families, the Sinclair, Douglas, and Hall families. The home was built in 1884, and today stands as a historic house museum.

The home offers exhibits in the attached visitor center, guided tours, field trip programs, special events including concerts and interpretive activities, and summer camps. The website offers visitor information, a history of the home, a collection of essays for students, and an events calendar. In order to contact the mansion via email, use the "contact us" link located at the top of the webpage.

Historic Brattonsville [SC]

Description

Historic Brattonsville consists of the Bratton farm, which has been carefully restored and now serves as a historic house musum and living history center. Historic Brattonsville preserves the history of the farm from its role in the revolutionary war through its days as a large, rural farm run by slave labor. The museum also has a special focus on African American history.

Historic Brattonsville offers exhibits, guided tours, field trip activities, children's activities, and occasional special events such as family days and presentations. The website offers visitor information, a history of the farm, an events calendar, and information regarding the programs offered by the farm.

The University of Akron Hower House [OH]

Description

The Hower House was completed in 1871. Designed in the Second Empire Italianate style, the floor plan of the home would become known as the Akron Sunday School Plan, as it would be featured in churches across the United States. Today, the Tower House serves as a historic house museum, and is one of the best preserved examples of its architectural style in the country.

The home offers guided tours and an annual Victorian Fair. The website offers a history of the home, visitor information, and information regarding upcoming events.

Berkeley Plantation [VA]

Description

Berkeley Plantation is the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791), Governor of Virginia and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) or "Old Tippecanoe", ninth President of the United States. The plantation lands were also the site of the first official Thanksgiving in 1619 and of the composition of "Taps" in 1862. The structure itself is Georgian in style and dates to 1726. Collections include 18th-century decorative arts, Civil War artifacts, and paintings by Sydney King.

The plantation offers house tours led by guides in period dress, period rooms, exhibits, an audio-visual program, self-guided tours of the grounds, and guided student tours. Student tour topic options include the life of children in the 18th century, William Henry Harrison, and Civil War Major General George McClellan (1826-1885) and Harrison's Landing circa 1862.

Rensselaer County Historical Society [NY]

Description

The Rensselaer County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Rensselaer County, New York. To this end, the society operates the 1827 Hart-Cluett House, a Federal-style townhouse. Collections include furnishings, fine arts, decorative arts pieces, costumes, textiles, vernacular artifacts, and military artifacts.

The society offers exhibits; lectures; walking tours; scavenger hunts; hands-on outreach programs; educational programs; library access; Girl Scout programs; camps; and guided tours of the Hart-Cluett House , exhibits, and/or local architecture. Reservation are required for school groups.

Chatillon-DeMenil House [MO]

Description

The Chatillon-DeManil House was originally constructed in 1848, and expanded in 1861. Today, it houses the largest permanent collection of artifacts from the 1904 World's Fair. The original owner, Henri Chatillon, served the St. Louis American Fur Company as both a guide and trapper. The second owner, Dr. Nicolas N. DeMenil, practiced medicine. He is responsible for the structure's current Greek Revival appearance.

The mansion offers guided tours.

Lehigh County Historical Society [PA]

Description

The Lehigh County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. To this end, the society operates a museum, six historical sites, and a research library. Collections include more than 35,000 artifacts and close to 3 million archival documents. Historical sites include the 1770 Trout Hall, the 1756 Troxell-Steckel Farm, the 1893 Claussville One-room School, Haines Mill, the 1868 Lock Ridge Furnace, and the 1893 Saylor Park Cement Kilns.

The society offers exhibits; guided tours; archival and library access; and outreach living history presentations, slide shows, and videos. Interactive school tours include pre- and post-visit material, and were developed in accordance with state educational standards. The society can provide boxed lunches upon request.

Farmers' Museum [NY]

Description

The Farmer's Museum is an outdoor historical museum which presents the rural heritage of the U.S. Key features include an 1840s village, heritage gardens, and the Lippitt Farmstead. The farm site includes heritage breeds of sheep, turkeys, and cattle, as well as a farmhouse, barns, a granary, a hop house, a smokehouse, and a poultry house. An interactive 1910 county fair is on the grounds on a seasonal basis. Collections consist of over 23,000 artifacts including wallpaper, textiles, and a particularly strong showing of historical woodworking tools.

The museum offers period rooms, gardens, hands-on activities, demonstrations, historic skill workshops, lectures, educational children's programs, a children's interpretation program, and guided tours for groups. Two weeks advance notice is required for group tours. The website offers a museum blog.

Frank Lloyd Wright's The Westcott House [OH]

Description

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) built The Westcott House in 1908 as a Prairie Style residence. Wright pioneered the Prairie Style (1893-circa 1917) as a means of connecting architecture with the natural landscape. Features include bands of windows, open floor plans, and emphasis on horizontal line—the horizontal echoing the Midwestern horizon and considered to be symbolic of freedom and domesticity. Wright is known for designing the totality of his works—from the architecture to the interior finishes and furnishings—in order to create a designed immersion environment. The Westcott House is the only Prairie Style dwelling in Ohio.

The house offers an 8-minute introductory video and a 45-minute guided tour. Reservations are highly recommended; and are necessary for tours in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, French, Polish, Swedish and ASL. The second floor is not accessible by wheelchair.