November 2010

Enjoy the exhibits, collections of artifacts, grounds and gallery, research library, theatre and gift shops at the Old Slater Mill Historic Site. Slater Mill offers concerts, demonstrations, lectures, family programs, specialized tours, holiday programs and exhibits of fine craft and artwork. Take advantage of the cultural festivals, celebrations of the Blackstone River and unique event and meeting spaces.

During the 18th century, large plantations dotted the Narragansett shoreline from Wickford south to Point Judith and west to Connecticut. Richard Smith, Jr. was one of the first of the so-called Narragansett Planters. In 1948, a group of concerned citizens established the Cocumscussoc Association, which purchased the property in order to preserve and assure its use for public education. Because of their foresight, Smith's Castle remains today a Rhode Island and American treasure.

Just a short drive or a water taxi ride across Newport Harbor stands the largest coastal fortification in the United States. Visit this engineering and architectural masterpiece to see where the soldiers lived, enter the casemates, explore the tunnel system, and climb the bastions for breathtaking views. Consider renting the Fort with its 6-acre parade field or North lawn on the water for your special function. Watch for upcoming special events including military reenactments, music festivals, and classic vehicle shows.

The 115' A.J. Meerwald is an authentically restored 1928 Delaware Bay oyster schooner and the perfect venue for your special event or gathering. Join the MEERWALD crew in hoisting the sails or simply relax and enjoy an unforgettable sailing experience with up to 44 of your guests.*

The Meerwald ‘sspacious wooden deck, 23 feet wide by 85 feet long, provides a unique setting for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, reunions, fundraisers, company picnics, and other special occasions. Bring your own refreshments or have a catered event aboard the MEERWALD - the ship is available for 2 1/2 hour sails to a full day. Beer and wine are permitted onboard.

The A.J. Meerwald sails April through October from many ports throughout the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware tri-state area.

The Hermitage, a National Historic Landmark, is located on five acres of lawn shaded by centuries-old trees. The site is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The fourteen-room Gothic Revival home was built in 1847-48 from designs by William H. Ranlett for Elijah Rosencrantz Jr. The house incorporates portions of a historic 18th-century house.

The Hermitage is owned by the State of New Jersey and operated by the Friends of the Hermitage, Inc. The Friends of the Hermitage, Inc., a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, was founded in 1972 to restore, maintain, and interpret the site.

The mission of the Morris Museum is to elevate the cultural consciousness, excite the mind and enhance the quality of life by advancing the understanding and enjoyment of the visual and performing arts, natural and physical sciences, and humanities through exhibitions, performances and educational programs in a welcoming, inclusive and creative environment that responsibly uses all museum resources, including stewardship of a permanent collection.

During the Pleistocene age, which occurred during the last great Ice Age, enormous herds of herbivorous animals existed in the vicinity of what is today Big Bone Lick State Park. The area is recognized as the key to understanding the life of the Ice Age on the North American continent over 10,000 years ago. The mammoth and the mastodon were among the animals to visit the Lick. Ancestors of the sloth, bison and horse also frequented the area, which had vegetation and salty earth around the springs that the animals used to supplement their diet. The land was soft and marshy and many of the animals became mired in the bogs and died.

The springs there were known for their medicinal qualities and by 1821 Big Bone Lick was one of the most celebrated resorts in that part of the Ohio Valley. A large hotel was erected and named Clay House, in honor of Henry Clay, the famous statesmen from Lexington, Kentucky.

The Central Bethlehem Historic District is historically important beyond its current emphasis on the Moravian period of 1741 to 1844 considering the impact of industrialization and religious pluralism. The Moravian community functioned as a Utopian experiment, which allowed for cultural expression and religious adherence to a pietistic belief from German theologians emigrating from Europe to this part of Pennsylvania to bring Christianity to the Native Americans. Their communal way of life established extraordinary 18th-century industry and hand crafts in shared cooperative efforts. The various Moravian communal buildings, with 18th-century Germanic architectural elements, such as herringbone pattern doors, gambrel roofs with flared eaves, brick jack-arched windows and doors, tiled roofs, Germanic sloping-roofed dormers, parged stone walls, and deep-set windows represent the largest collection of Germanic style architecture in the United States.

The kilns were soon superseded by rotary kiln technology that required very little labor to operate. In 1904 the company shut down its vertical kilns and in the 1920s demolished the surrounding buildings and removed the upper 30 feet of the kilns. Lehigh County acquired the kilns in 1976 and launched a rehabilitation campaign. The restored and stabilized kilns now house a cement industry museum. Not only do these structures represent the transition in kiln technology from the bottle or dome kiln to the rotary kiln, but they stand as a fitting monument to the pioneering role of David O. Saylor, the Coplay Cement Company, and the Lehigh Valley area in the development of the American portland cement industry.

The Carbon County Jail in historic Mauch Chunk is an excellent example of 19th-century prison construction, as well as a reminder of the 19th-century labor-management conflicts in the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region. The jail could hold 29 prisoners. In 1875, the jail was crowded with miners, either Irish-born or the sons of Irish immigrants, who were accused of a series of murders on behalf of what the mine owners, railroad men, the prosecutors, anti-labor and anti-Catholic nativists, and the press described as an ominous terrorist conspiracy—the Molly Maguires.