B & O Railroad Museum, Baltimore

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Take our word for it: the B & O Railroad Museum is one of the most interesting museums you will ever visit. The museum is located in the Mt. Clare neighborhood of Baltimore, where America’s railroad history began. It was at Mt. Clare that the first mile of long distance rail was laid. From there, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad would extend west to the first station stop at Ellicott’s Mills (itself now the site of a fine little railroad museum), and across the Appalachian Mountains, into the Ohio River Valley. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built the first major railroad yard at Mt. Clare, including the spectacular Roundhouse, which now holds the heart of the museum’s collection, consisting of historic steam diesel, and electric locomotives, as well as rare 19th and 20th century passenger and freight equipment. The museum’s wonderful collection of artifactsB and O Railroad includes textiles, lanterns, dining car china, silver, as well as communication devices, signals, and shop equipment. Also on display are hundreds of models ranging from early patent and prototype models to modern commercial model railroad kits. The museum includes the Hays T. Watkins Research Library, whose holdings include B&O Railroad business records, manuscript collections, maps, mechanical and engineering drawings, trade catalogues, periodicals, microforms, paper ephemera, as well as video tapes and motion picture films. Plan to take your time here, folks. And if you’re a railroad buff, we have to warn you that your loved ones may have trouble tearing you away. For a great day (or better, two days) of railroad history immersion, combine a visit to the B&O Railroad Museum with a trip to the Ellicott City B&O Railroad Station Museum in the nearby suburb of Ellicott City. Also, be sure to consult our information on the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

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Links B & O Railroad Museum

Edison National Historic Site, New Jersey

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The name Thomas Alva Edison is practically synonomous with “inventor.” For forty years, Edison worked in a laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, where he and his research colleagues created the motion picture camera, vastly improved phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound movies and the nickel-iron alkaline electric storage battery. Edison National Historic Site Edison’s research laboratory and his home, Glenmont. Among many other attractions, the site now features an exciting new audio preservation studio that will make it possible to transfer many of rarest and fragile historic sound recordings at the Edison laboratory from their original formats to a modern, archival-quality audio format.

Location and Directions

Links Edison National Historic Site

Lewis and Clark State Memorial, Camp Dubois, Illinois

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2013-04-29_11-47-55_959Arriving in St. Louis in December, 1803, Lewis and Clark were busily engaged in acquiring the final supplies needed for the voyage. It was their intention to make a winter camp at La Charrette, on the Missouri. The local Spanish authority, however, would not allow them to enter the Louisiana territory as he had not yet received official documents transferring title of the territory. The Captains were therefore forced to make camp on the east side of the Mississippi River, at the mouth of the Wood River. This camp was named Camp Dubois, and is also known as Camp Wood. The expedition spent the winter months training, preparing for the journey and running afoul of the Captains, as discipline during the first winter was lacking. The actual campsite has been destroyed by river channel migration. A monument to the camp is located in Lewis and Clark State Memorial Park.

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Links: Lewis and Clark State Memorial, Camp Dubois, Illinois

Jamestown Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia

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Jamestown, the site of the first permanent English colony in America, celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2007. The colony’s mere survival in its first years was a near-run thing: drought, disease, poor organization, and the hostility of the local Native Americans nearly brought Jamestown to the same fate as its short-lived predecessor at Roanoke. But mere survival was enough, and Virginia has been the fulcrum of American history ever since. Thomas Jefferson learned the philosophy that animated the Declaration of Independence at the College of William and Mary in nearby Williamsburg, and George Washington secured that independence across the peninsula at Yorktown. Jamestown settlers also bought “20 and odd Negroes” from a Dutch ship in 1619, and their Confederate descendants erected fortifications on the site of the old settlement during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. Changes to the landscape and the shoreline had long made the exact site of the Jamestown settlement uncertain, but four recent seasons of excavation have uncovered 170 feet of palisade line, the east bulwark, three large trash pits, and a building, all part of the original James Fort. Currently three institutions interpret Jamestown: the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the National Park Service, and Jamestown Settlement. Check the Web site above for activities related to the newest archaeological discoveries.

Location Information and Directions

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Jamestown Colonial National Historical Park
Jamestown Settlement

Fort Ticonderoga, New York

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The French hurriedly built the fort at Ticonderoga at the beginning of the last French and Indian War in 1755 at the portage between Lake George and Lake Champlain. The fort, which they called Carillon, was originally constructed of earthen ramparts with log facings. The timber was gradually replaced by stone. Despite withstanding the rash attack by James Abercromby in 1758 (Ambercromby ordered a frontal assault againstFt Ticonderoga well-entrenched positions in front of the fort without waiting for his artillery to be brought forward), the French were forced to abandon the fort in 1759. The British garrisoned it until after the American revolution, and it fell into ruins thereafter. The fort was grandly reconstructed in 1908, and has been maintained by a private, not-for-profit educational institution since 1909. There is a fine museum (and an excellent bookstore) in the site. In addition to its historical interest, Ticonderoga enjoys a picturesque setting above the lower end of Lake Champlain.

Location Information and Directions

 

Links: Fort Ticonderoga

Villa Louis, Wisconsin

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Villa Louis is considered to be one of the most authentic, restored Victorian-era mansions in the country. It was built in 1870 by the prominent Dousman family, descendants of a pioneering fur trader with John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. DSC04512The Italianate-style mansion sits atop a mound in Prairie du Chien overlooking the Mississippi River. The site itself is steeped in history. It is the location of a Hopewellian mound, and at various times the French, British and Americans maintained a military presence here. Villa Louis has been meticulously restored to its Victorian décor and splendor. Many of the Dousman family’s original furnishings and artwork remain in the house. Visitors can browse through this house and marvel at the richly upholstered, ornate furniture, and countless statuettes, mirrors, chandeliers, candles and other opulent items that fill the spaces with Victorian excess. The site is owned and operated by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Location Information and Directions

Links: Villa Louis

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site,Texas

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Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site is the only unit of the National Park Service with a primary focus on the U.S.-Mexican War. It is also one of the very few historic sites associated with the life and career of Zachary Taylor, twelfth president of the United States. (Believe us, we’ve looked.) Taylor’s victories at Palo Alto and at Buena Vista in present-day Mexico led him the presidency in 1848. Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site recounts the entire Mexican War–including the details of its origins and the broad range of consequences. In an effort to turn a scene of conflict into a place of bi-national exchange and understanding, all research and interpretation conducted by the park reflects perspectives of both the United States and Mexico.

Location Information and Directions

Links: Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site

Fort Robinson State Park, Nebraska

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Fort Robinson was established in 1874 to guard the Red Cloud Agency, where Sioux Indians under the leadership of Chief Red Cloud had settled under treaty with the U.S. government. The fort was the site of several dramatic incidents in the last years of the Plains Indians wars. In May 1877, Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse and 900 followers surrendered at Fort Robinson, and settled on the reservation. Just a few months later, Crazy Horse was arrested and brought into the fort, where he was stabbed in a scuffle and died several hours later. In 1879, Cheyenne chief Dull Knife and his tribe left their reservation in the Indian Territory and sought to take refuge with Red Cloud on his reservation. They were intercepted by troops from Fort Robinson and detained there. After several days, the Indians broke out with the use of weapons they had hidden, and 64 of the 149 Indians who fled the fort were killed in fighting over the next two weeks. (This incident is depicted in John Ford’s great film, “Cheyenne Autumn.”) The fort was in operation until 1948. Fort Robinson State Park now includes a museum housed in the fort’s former headquarters, with displays of both Indian and U.S. army artifacts. Other fort buildings have been restored and furnished with period pieces, including the adobe officers’ quarters, the guardhouse, blacksmith shop, and adjutant’s office (where Crazy Horse died).

Location Information and Directions

Links: Fort Robinson State Park

Ninety Six National Historic Site, South Carolina

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The settlement of Ninety Six got its unusual name from traders in the 1700s because they mistakenly believed it be 96 miles from the Cherokee village of Keowee in the upper South Carolina foothills. During Ninety Six’s early days, there was considerable trouble with local Indians. In 1760, Cherokees twice attacked the fort that protected the settlement at Ninety Six. By the the time of the American Revolution, the village at Ninety Six had 12 houses and a newly constructed courthouse and jail. Ninety Six was the site of a famous siege during the Revolution. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene with 1,000 patriot troops staged the longest (yet unsuccessful) siege of the Revolutionary War against 550 loyalists who were defending Ninety Six. The historic site sponsors an historic reenactment event, called Revolutionary War Days, every year. Participants dress in period attire and depict military and camp life activities. They also demonstrate 18th century skills such as bayonet competition and tomahawk throwing competition.

Location Information and Directions

Links: Ninety Six National Historic Site

Mark Twain House, Connecticut

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In 1871, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (known to legions of high school English students as Mark Twain) relocated from Buffalo, New York, to Hartford, Connecticut, to be near his publisher, Elisha Bliss, whose American Publishing Company was located in Connecticut’s capital. Twain, with his wife Olivia and infant son Langdon, first rented a house on Forest Street in Nook Farm, on the western side of Hartford. In 1873, the family had a house built in a Nook Farm neighborhood that included Harriet Beecher Stowe. (Stowe’s restored home is located across the lawn from the Twain House and is also open to the public as a museum.) Twain published Life on The Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) during the period when the family lived in this home. In 1891, they moved to Europe. The Mark Twain House opened as a museum in the 1960s under the auspices of the Mark Twain Memorial, a private, non-profit organization that still owns and operates the museum. The house contains many pieces of Clemens family furniture, including Twain’s Venetian bed and his billiard table.

Location information and directions

Links: Mark Twain House