November 2010

The Hermosa Beach Historical Society aims to preserve the rich young heritage of Hermosa Beach.

White County Heritage Museum celebrates the rich history of the highland region of Tennessee through various permanent and temporary exhibits.

With the rich heritage and history of White County, for many years the idea of creating a Heritage Museum lay dormant until spurred into action by the 2006 White County Bicentennial Committee. After great public interest during the yearlong Bicentennial Celebration and the availability of the former White County Public Library building the museum location was determined.

Opening on March 21, 2010, the German-American Heritage Museum of the USA will tell the story of all Americans of German-speaking ancestry.

Founded in 1891 and now into its second century of service, the Washington State Historical Society boasts 3 facilities dedicated to the history of the state and region.

Begin your journey through Washington with an architectural masterpiece: designed by Charles Moore and Arthur Andersson, the 106,000 square foot Washington State History Museum building stands proudly on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma. The museum boasts soaring spaces and dramatic archways that invite you into a history experience full of colors, textures, sights, and sounds.

The State Capital Museum and Outreach Center is located in the historic Lord Mansion, seven blocks south of the capital campus in Olympia. The museum is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history and culture of Washington and features two floors of exhibits.

Exhibits on regional Native American history and on Olympia as Washington's capital bring area history alive. A series of provocative temporary exhibits encourages visitors to examine history through different cultural, social, and political lenses. Gracious lawns and ethnobotanical gardens featuring native Northwest flora surround the museum.

The Civil War came to the doorstep of the Wills home in 1863. During the Confederate occupation of the town, Wills saw “a group of rebels with an axe break open the store door” of one of his tenants. All the while, local citizens huddled in his cellar. In the office on the first floor, David Wills performed many of the duties of today’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, Centers for Disease Control, and an American Red Cross in the battle’s aftermath. David Wills arranged for the cemetery’s consecration and Lincoln’s visit, gathered and warehoused supplies for the wounded; and fought for compensation for the farmers who suffered losses during the battle.

Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited the battlefield with Wills on July 10, 1863 and was shocked by its condition. He designated Wills as state agent, charged with seeing to the proper burial of Pennsylvania’s dead. At a meeting of state agents in Wills’ house several days later, the idea of establishing a permanent national cemetery for all Union dead was advanced. Governor Curtin approved and gave Wills the authority to carry it out.

Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the 1763 Georgian home and business headquarters for Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Dept. [Six Nations].

As the largest single landowner and most influential individual in the settlement of the Mohawk Valley, Sir William Johnson had prestige and leadership which extended beyond the region. His genius in dealing and trading with the Indians had a lasting impact on their relationship with the English, and influenced England's victory in the struggle for control of North America. Johnson had won a pivotal victory for the English at Lake George in the French and Indian War and had received a title of baronetcy as a result of that victory. He was also appointed British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department.

He had received land grants, including the Kingsborough Patent, a 55,000 acre grant in an area west of his houses and land holdings along the Mohawk River where he had built Fort Johnson in 1749.

The South County Historical Society boasts several late 19th century dwellings, a schoolhouse, and the former meeting place of the International Order of Odd Fellows.

The Heritage House was built in the late 1800's. Records show that the house was sold to Charles A. Pitkin in 1895. In 1906 the house was sold to Dr. H. S. Walters and was known as "Dr. Walter's Sanatorium".

In 1948 after many owners, the house was changed into a duplex and the Travis and Roundtree families were the occupants. In 1961 the Roundtree's sold the house to the Travis's. Then in 1976 the house was sold to the City of Arroyo Grande and was used as a daycare center. It also housed the City Recreation Department. The Historical Society acquired the house in 1997 and did major restoration work to turn it into a visitor's center and museum. A gazebo and garden were added to provide a beautiful setting for weddings and other social events.

The 7-acre historical park of Price House, located in close proximity to Price's Canyon, features the history of several original structures from the first settlement of Pismo.

Vaquero Juan Miguel Prais ran cattle on Rancho Pismo as mayordomo before purchasing the land and settling his wife Maria Andrea Carlon and their young family into old adobes on the rancho - just as California became a state. As American statehood settled over California, John Michael Price readopted his English name and language, established Rancho del Pismo, and founded the town of Pismo.

The old ranch grounds feature the restored Price Home, a replica Chumash Indian village, remnants of original structures of Pismo, and several trails.

In conjunction with the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Oldfields Estate was once home to businessman and philanthropist J.K. Lilly of the pharmaceutical giant.

A National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Oldfields Lilly House & Gardens is an elegant 26-acre estate on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. At the heart of Oldfields is Lilly House, the mansion that was once the home of J.K. Lilly Jr., the late Indianapolis businessman, collector and philanthropist. Lilly House is a historic house museum and has been restored to its 1930s splendor. Percival Gallagher, of the acclaimed landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers, designed Oldfields' magnificent gardens and grounds in the 1920s.

One of the 10 oldest general art museums in the country, the Indianapolis Museum of art boasts a collection of over 50,000 works of art.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art offers visitors an inclusive view of creativity through its collection of more than 54,000 works of art that span 5,000 years of history from across the world's continents. Encompassing 152 acres of gardens and grounds, the IMA is among the 10 largest encyclopedic art museums in the United States, and it features significant collections of African, American, Asian, European and contemporary art, as well as a newly established collection of design arts. The collections include paintings, sculpture, furniture and design objects, prints, drawings and photographs, as well as textiles and costumes.