November 2010

Military historians note that of all the Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields in the US, the Hubbardton Battlefield most resembles the period in which the battle took place. Bring your flag to be raised over the Hubbardton Battlefield and receive a certificate. Children may enjoy the colonial dress-up basket and colonial games.

Chimney Point on Lake Champlain in Vermont is one of the earliest, mostly intensely settled, and most strategic sites in the Champlain Valley, with human habitation going back as far as 7,500 years. Exhibits and special events present the story of the three early cultures in the Chimney Point area — Native American, French colonial, and early American. These little known facets of Vermont history are presented through archaeological artifacts left behind, contemporary arts and traditions kept alive by their descendants, and the historic building and spectacular setting on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain.

In 1976 these buildings were moved to the 500 block of Market Street from various sites throughout Wilmington to save them from demolition. The four structures were built when mercantile and shipping activities were prevalent along the Christina River and grain mills lined the banks of the Brandywine. Willingtown Square is named after Thomas Willing, who in 1731 laid out the village that was to become the city of Wilmington. The houses found in Willingtown Square have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The four buildings are the Cook-Simms House (1778), The Coxe Houses (1801), the Jacobs House (1748) and the Jacob and Obidiah Dingee Houses (1771, 1773).

The Touro Synagogue was dedicated in 1762, and serves an active congregation today. The congregation was founded in 1658 by Sephardim who fled the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal and were searching for a haven from religious persecution in the Caribbean. Today, the synagogue celebrates not only their story, but serves to honor all who came to this shore seeking to worship freely.

The museum explores not only the history of North Dakota's human settlement, but also its prehistoric residents. The museum is home to a rare mummified dinosaur as well as an assortment of other artifacts from the time period. Also explored in the temporary and permanent exhibits are Native American history and colonial settlement.

The collection of the Baxter County Heritage Museum includes the following: Historic school records from all 68 school districts in Baxter County, drawn from the office of the County Superintendent of Schools, which no longer exists; records from old stores; some court records; a Native American collection, including information on the Trail of Tears across Baxter County; a collection of railroad memorabilia; a collection of hospital equipment from Rollins Hospital; a collection of military uniforms and pictures of Baxter County military personnel.

The museum also boasts a large collection of genealogy book sand other materials from Baxter and Marion Counties, as well as records from many areas of the United States.

Soaring more than 300 feet above the lovely streets of Old Bennington, a striking stone monument marks the site of a critical military supply depot. In the late summer of 1777, the Continental Army beat a hasty retreat toward Bennington. British and Hessians pursued, but were badly in need of supplies. The Americans, carrying what is believed to be the first American flag into battle, defeated them before they could reach the supply depot at Bennington. The British were forced to proceed to Saratoga without the supplies, where they met a stunning defeat that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War.

Today, visitors may ride an elevator to the top of the Bennington Monument for panoramic views of the valleys and rolling hills of Vermont, Massachusetts and New York.

Discoveries from the Sea Shipwreck Museum was founded with the goal of recovering and preserving Delaware's maritime heritage. The shipwreck museum opened in July of 1995 and is an ever-changing exhibit that expands and diversifies with the acquisitions of new artifacts as they are recovered. The collection of shipwreck and recovered artifacts at the museum is one of the largest in the Mid-Atlantic and contains shipwreck artifacts both regional and worldwide. The current location houses about 10,000 artifacts at all times, while the other 80% are rotated throughout museum exhibits around the world, with the long- range goal of expanding facilities to exhibit the entire collection at one location.

Established as a Delaware State Park in 1951, Fort Delaware State Park is on an island that visitors reach by ferry. Once there they explore the fort, which was originally built to protect Wilmington and Philadelphia, but during the Civil War became a prison for Confederate POWs. The fort was in federal hands until the State of Delaware bought it in 1947. Visits will be marked mostly by living history demonstrations.

Though today Rockville, MD, is a bustling suburb of the nation's capital, it was but a small rural town when Upton Beall built this Federal-style home in 1815. Serving in a position of prominence as Montgomery County's Clerk of the Court, Beall hoped that the house's luxurious interior and Flemish-bond brick facade would impress his contemporaries and guarantee his elevated stature in a society that increasingly concerned itself with respectability and social display. Even today, the Beall-Dawson House stands as a monument to America's long tradition of architectural splendor.