November 2010

Built in 1820 only one year after Alabama became the 22^nd State of the Union, Ivy Green is a simple, white clapboard home design in typical Southern architecture. The main house is of Virginia cottage construction, with four large rooms on the first floor bisected by a wide hall. Each room boasts an individual fireplace. Upstairs are three rooms connected by a hall. Having survived untouched through the ravages of the Civil War, Ivy Green is maintained to the smallest detail in its original state.

Since 1954 Helen Keller's birthplace has been a permanent shrine to the "miracle" that occurred in a blind and deaf seven-year old girl's life. At that time Ivy Green was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Playwright William Gibson's epic drama, "The Miracle Worker" is performed on the grounds of Ivy Green each year on weekends from early June through mid July.

The Roundhouse Railroad museum has one of the most extensive collections of rolling stock and machinery in Georgia. Seven interactive exhibits are on display of historic railroad structures. The locomotive and rolling stock collection is constantly growing. In the center of the museum, a large turntable has been refurbished to operate for visitors to see. The museum is operated by the Coastal Heritage Society of Georgia.

Sagamore Hill is a destination for tens of thousands of visitors each year. People who appreciate history really enjoy visiting the site. It provides a fine example of a well-preserved 19th century house, is the only presidential site on Long Island, and is a showcase for one of America's best-loved, larger-than-life personalities. The site is significant in other ways as well. Its eighty three acres of forested areas, meadows, salt marsh and beach are home to birds, small mammals, turtles, frogs and insects. Paths and a nature trail provide a wonderful place to walk with your family or a pet and to enjoy the scenery.

One of the main attractions of the museum is a full-scale replica of a Wright Brothers flyer.

This Federal-style structure housed the city's meeting chambers, offices and jail and served as the headquarters and gathering place of civic organizations and included a subscription library. The death of George Washington was observed there in 1799, as were receptions and dinners for the Marquis de Lafayette and President Andrew Jackson. Henry Clay's body was laid in state there in 1851. The restored Old Town Hall provides space for exhibitions, programs and special events throughout the year.

The museum contains 11 full-scale dinosaurs displayed in a Triassic-Cretaceous time continuum and 3 full-scale dinosaurs outside. The exhibit includes a real Triceratops skeleton and one of the best Triceratops skulls ever found. The most recent exhibit focuses on meteorites and related specimens.

Built in 1801 by the son of one of Delaware's signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Read House exhibits the height of Federal grandeur. Many of the rooms in the house have been restored to their 1920s appearance, when the house was owned by the Laird family. In addition to a tour of the house, visitors may also schedule special visits and group tours featuring costumed interpreters, open-hearth cooking demonstrations, and walking tours of the New Castle historic district.

Enjoy a new perspective on WWII at the Richard I. Bong WWII Heritage Center, complete with first-person narratives and the rare, carefully restored P-38 Lightning.

Visitors to the heritage center will find it on the Lake Superior bayfront, where shipyards built ships and transported locally mined iron ore for the World War II effort. The center tells about WWII through the eyes of the participants, both on the home front and the battle front. The main exhibit features a rare restored P-38 Lightning fighter plane, complete with all the markings from Dick Bong’s famous P-38 “Marge,” displayed in a Southwest Pacific jungle setting. Additional interactive exhibits tell the story of WWII through memorabilia, photographs and personal stories. Towards its mission as an educational resource, the center includes a theater for educational films and videos, a classroom for visiting school groups and a research library.

Since the beginning of America’s existence, education has always been considered as one of the keys to social, political and economical acceptance for African Americans. Tuskegee Normal School was established by the state of Alabama, influenced by a former slave and a former slave owner to educate newly freed people and their children. The Normal school, later Institute, became a beacon of hope for African Americans to reach their goal of acceptance. The school officially opened on July 4, 1881 in the African American Methodist Episcopal Zion Church under the auspices of religion. This date was chosen to commemorate the independence of a Nation and the freedom of a forgotten people. Booker T. Washington became the first principal of a newly formed school at the age of twenty-six. He later hired individuals like George W. Carver and Robert Taylor to help lead the institute to its world-renowned status.

Magnificently sited on a commanding hilltop, Belle Mont is one of early Alabama’s crowning architectural achievements. It is also one of the outstanding Palladian-style houses in the Deep South. Mystery shrouds the source of the design, but tantalizing clues suggest the direct influence of President and gentleman architect Thomas Jefferson. Rescued from ruin in the 1980s, it is now undergoing a phased-restoration.