Museums of Old York [ME]

Description

The Old York Historical Society, as the Museums of Old York, was founded more than 100 years ago to preserve the history and artifacts of York, Maine. Originally referred to as Gorgeana, York is one of New England's earliest colonial settlements. It also has the distinction of being the nation's first chartered city (1641) and first incorporated city (1642). Offering 37 period room settings and several galleries housed throughout nine historic museum buildings, the Museums of Old York showcases a wealth of early New England art, architecture, and decorative arts. The exhibits focus on the stories of southern Maine's men, women, and children and the world they created and lived in from the earliest settlement in the 1600s to the present day. Historic structures include the 1834 Remick Barn, the 1750 Jefferds' Tavern, the 1745 Old Schoolhouse, the 1742 Emerson-Wilcox House, the 1719 Old Gaol, the 1747 Ramsdell House, the 1740s John Hancock Wharf, the 1867 George Marshall Store, and the 1730 Elizabeth Perkins House.

The museums offer exhibits, tours, living history demonstrations, classes, and other educational and recreational events.

Anderson Valley Historical Museum

Description

The Museum is centrally located a half-mile northwest of Boonville in the Con Creek Schoolhouse. Built in 1891, it taught children of lumberjacks and sheep farmers for almost 90 years before closing in 1979, when it was purchased by the Community Services District with an agreement that it would be leased to the Society for use as a museum. Today, the museum shares relics and information about Anderson Valley's colorful past, including the original native residents up to Boontling, the whimsical local language once spoken widely throughout the valley.

The museum offers exhibits.

Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center [OK]

Description

At noon on September 16, 1983, over 100,000 people raced into the Cherokee Outlet to claim a 160-acre homestead or town lot. The largest of the Oklahoma land runs, the Cherokee Outlet Land Run opened six million acres to settlement. By nightfall settlers’ camps dotted the prairie, and buildings were springing up in the newly settled towns. The new 24,000 sq. ft. Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, opening in the spring of 2011, will feature all new exhibits, a Temporary Exhibit Gallery to host traveling exhibits, a research center, a theater and a gift shop. Gracing the landscape of the building are replicas of the Phillips University columns and “The Homesteader” statute by the renowned western artist, H. Holden. The Heritage Center’s living history area, Humphrey Heritage Village, features a collection of four historically significant buildings including the only remaining 1893 U.S. Land Office, an 1896 school, a 1902 church and a 1905 home. The Center’s most prominent educational program is Turkey Creek School, providing 4th grade students from throughout the state the opportunity to experience a school day from 1910.

LeRoy Historical Society and Jell-O Gallery

Description

The Society operates the Jello-O Gallery, which presents exhibits related to the history of Jell-O, including a new exhibit that reflects Bill Cosby's influence over 30 years. Visitors can listen to entertainers Kate Smith, Jack Benny, and Lucile Ball as they promote the Jell-O product over the radio air waves and see television personalities Andy Griffith and Gomer Pyle along with Bill Cosby as they pitch Jell-O. The Gallery also houses an exhibit highlighting the evolution of transportation in the 20th century.

The gallery offers exhibits and tours.

Theatre Historical Society of America and American Movie Palace Museum

Description

THSA is the only organization in the U.S. which exclusively records and preserves the rich architectural, cultural and social history of America's theatres. Through its collections and publications, THSA makes available information on more than 15,000 theatres, primarily in the United States, and encourages further research in these areas. The Society also operates the American Theatre Architecture Archives and the American Movie Palace Museum. The Archives contain an extensive collection of photographs, slides, negatives, books, blueprints, clippings, videos, printed programs, and other material on historic theatres, primarily in the U.S. The Museum features exhibits of photographs, artworks, antiques, artifacts, and other memorabilia relating primarily to the "golden age of the movie palace."

The society offers annual tours; the archives offer research access; and the museum offers exhibits and tours.

Presque Isle County Historical Society and Museum [Michigan]

Description

The Society operates a museum, housed in the Bradley House—an early-20th-century, seven-bedroom, two-story, single-family bungalow built in 1914. This house was the home of the president of Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company, the largest industry in this community. The museum features three floors of exhibits, including the Bradley dining room, a Victorian music room, a 1900s bedroom, the Bertram sisters' millinery shop, and a county store. Other exhibits include a school room from the early 1900s, farm implements, household goods, woodworking and lumbering tools, and a maritime room.

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

Canyon County Historical Society and Museums

Description

The Society operates two museums, the Nampa Train Depot Museum and Our Memories Indian Creek Museum. The Depot Museum is housed in a 1903 train depot and displays exhibits exploring agriculture, Thomas Edison, railroads, shaving implements, and other subjects. The Our Memories Museum provides visitors a tour back into the past with rooms depicting various scenes from yesteryear.

The museums offer exhibits and tours.

Douglas County Historical Society and Watkins Community Museum of History [Kansas]

Description

The Douglas County Historical Society is responsible for the operation, preservation, and development of collections in the Watkins Community Museum of History. The Museum is housed in a building that was once the Land Mortgage Company and Watkins National Bank, constructed between 1885 and 1888; it displays exhibits on early settlement, toys, sports, and other local history topics.

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

Columbia County Historical Society, Museum, and Historic Houses [New York]

Description

The Society is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the history of Columbia County, NY. The Society owns and operates three historic properties, open to the public during the summer season, and a museum, open year-round. The Columbia County Museum, open to the public since 1985, was originally built as a Masonic Temple in 1916. Today it houses the Society offices, research library, collections storage, and exhibit space. Volunteers and staff organize educational programs and aid in genealogical research as well as many other activities. The Society also operates the 1820s James Vanderpoel House and the 1737 Luykas Van Alen House.

The museums offer exhibits, tours, and research library access; the society offers lectures and educational and recreational programs.