Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site [PA]

Description

The Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site consists of Gloria Dei, also known as the Old Swedes' Church. The structure is the oldest church in Pennsylvania, having been completed in 1700. Nils Collins, pastor between 1784 and 1831, was a friend of Benjamin Franklin's. The cemetery includes the interment site of Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), known as the father of American ornithology.

The site offers exhibits and self-guided tours of the interior and cemetery. The website offers a cemetery guide. The church retains an active religious community. For this reason, the site may be closed to the public for religious services and ceremonies.

Georgetown Loop Historic Mining and Railroad Park [CO]

Description

An engineering marvel originally built in 1884, the Georgetown Loop railroad fulfilled the hopes of Georgetown citizens to become a prosperous settlement connected to Denver and points east. In connecting Silver Plume and Georgetown, towns over 2 miles apart, the tracks scaled an elevation of 640 feet over mountainous terrain, requiring trestles, cuts, fills, loops, and curves totaling 4.5 miles. Today the Loop is once again a popular tourist attraction and an uncommon way to see the Clear Creek Valley. Along the route visitors may stop for guided tours of a historic silver mine. The park is located on 978 acres and includes an 1884 depot, the Morrison Interpretive Center, two 1860s mines, an 1871 mill building, four reconstructed mine buildings, a locomotive maintenance building, the 1874 Pohle House, and a new rolling stock shelter.

A second, individual website for the park can be found here.

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

George Washington Carver National Monument [MO]

Description

The George Washington Carver National Monument presents the early life and impact of George Washington Carver (1864-1943). Carver conducted experiments with peanut farming which would eventually bolster the economy of the South, suffering from the downturn of the cotton industry. The site includes Carver's boyhood home, built in 1881; family cemetery; and birth site. Visitors to the site also learn about Carver's interests in rocks, wood carving, and art, among other hobbies.

The monument offers hands-on programs which focus on 19th-century life, nature programs, guided tours, Junior Ranger activities, a 3/4-mile nature trail, a fourth-grade art and essay contest, curriculum-based field trip programs, outreach programs for students, traveling trunks, and rental videos. The website offers an education packet, curricula, and suggested reading for students.

Deshler-Morris House [PA]

Description

The Deshler-Morris House, or Germantown White House, is the oldest official presidential residence. It was utilized by George Washington during the 1793 Philadelphia outbreak of Yellow Fever and the following summer.

The house offers exhibits and period rooms.

Women's Rights National Historical Park [NY]

Description

The Women's Rights National Historical Park is located in Seneca Falls, New York, and marks the site of the first public convention on women's rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and four other women called the convention in 1848. The park features a visitor center and is also home to a stop on the Underground Railroad, which is now open to visitors.

The park offers guided tours, exhibits, field trip programs, and special events. The website offers visitor information, historical information regarding the park, a calendar of events, and sample lesson plans and curriculum guides for teachers. In order to contact the park via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

Sequoyah's Cabin [OK]

Description

Sequoyah built this one-room log cabin in 1829 shortly after moving to Oklahoma. The cabin became the property of the Oklahoma Historical Society in 1936, and the cabin was enclosed in a stone cover building as a project of the Works Progress Administration.

The cabin offers tours.

Harry S Truman National Historic Site [MO]

Description

The Harry S Truman National Historic Site preserves the 1885 Queen Anne residence in which Harry S Truman lived between the ages of 22 and 88 (beginning in 1919); the Truman Farm Home in Grandview, Missouri, where Truman lived between 1906 and 1917; and several family homes. Collections consist of more than 53,000 artifacts. Truman (1884-1972) served as the 33rd President of the United States between 1945 and 1953. During this time he desegregated the military, approved nuclear weapon use on Japan, adopted the Marshall Plan, and witnessed the founding of the United Nations.

The site offers a 12-minute introductory slide presentation, tours of the Queen Anne residence, school tours of the Queen Anne residence, cell phone tours of the farm and Queen Anne sites, and Junior Ranger activities. Reservations are required for all school visits. The website offers four lesson plans, photo tours, an artifact of the month feature, and a list of the more than 1,100 books owned by Truman.

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial [IN]

Description

The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial consists of a visitor's center; the Lincoln Living History Farm; and the burial site of Nancy Hanks Lincoln (1784-1818), President Abraham Lincoln's mother, killed by milk sickness. The farm depicts 1820s pioneer life via costumed interpreters, farm animals, crops, herb gardens, and a reconstruction cabin. The farm is not original, but is based on facts known about Lincoln's childhood home and about life typical of the period. Demonstrations include arts, crafts, animal husbandry, farming, and gardening. Lincoln (1809-1865) lived in Indiana between 1816 and 1830, prior to moving to Illinois.

The site offers a 15-minute introductory film, exhibits, living history interpreters, trails, a traveling trunk, and Junior Ranger activities. The website offers audio files about several of Lincoln's family members, a teacher's guide, a lesson plan.

Lyndhurst [NY]

Description

Lyndhurst was one of the most famous examples of Gothic Revival architecture in 19th-century America and served as the New York home to former New York City mayor William Paulding, merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould, respectively. The site serves as a great example of money and power in the Gilded Age.

Lyndhurst offers 30-minute group tours and award-winning education programs (on-site or in-schools) designed to follow New York State standards of learning.