November 2010

The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863 ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion of the North and ultimately turned the tide of war against the Confederacy.

Often referred to as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy", it was the war's bloodiest battle, with 51,000 casualties. It also provided President Abraham Lincoln with the setting for his most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address.

Visitors to Gettysburg National Military Park should begin at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center at 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg, where the park offers free information, a vast museum about Gettysburg and the Civil War, the Gettysburg Cyclorama, and a bookstore.

The film "A New Birth of Freedom", narrated by Morgan Freeman, is a central feature in the new center and orients visitors to the significance of Gettysburg. There is a fee for admission to the film.

The center also provides information on the numerous ways to tour the battlefield park. The park offers a self-guided auto tour. Tour route maps are available at the Visitor Center information desk at no charge.

The careful reconstruction of this historic building was completed in 1968 by the Eureka Schoolhouse Restoration Committee and the Vermont Historic Sites Commission. The building was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Beardsley who died shortly before the completion of the restoration. Architect Andrew Titcomb planned the restoration and utilized much of the original fabric to restore the building to its original appearance. Many period antiques were donated to appropriately furnish the structure which today reflects its eighteenth century heritage while offering information to visitors. Today this historic building is owned and maintained by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and is operated as an area attraction by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Knife River is made up of three large villages and is the site of the friendly relationship formed between the Indians and Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery, which arrived here in 1804 on their way to the Pacific Ocean. On the site, which is home to a diverse array of plants and animals, is a reconstructed earthlodge as well as authentic Indian artwork and crafts. The last weekend of July is host to the annual Northern Plains Indian Culture Fest.

There are many places to choose from when visiting this site. Demonstrations, guided tours, and exhibits on 19th century rural life are available at the Duvall Tool Museum. A blacksmith shop was built by volunteers in 2001 and based on an actual blacksmith shop built around 1880. There is also a musuem about tobacco farming in Maryland from its initial use by Native Americans and to the modern day, as well as two actual buildings from the era of interest: Duckett Cabin, which was used by a tenant farmer, and a Sears-Roebuck house from 1923 that was meant to serve rural workers.

The Coolidge Homestead is an important component of the activities of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation. It is also the centerpiece of the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth. The house was the setting for many significant events that affected the life and times of Calvin Coolidge. He moved there when he was four.

In addition to the homestead, visitors may tour the Plymouth Cheese Factory - established by the President's father - and sample the granular curd cheese produced there.

Other buildings open to the public include the Cilley General Store, the Post Office, the Wilder Restaurant (serving lunch), the church, several barns displaying farming tools of the era, the dance hall that served as the Summer White House, and the home where the future President was born.

The pioneers, dispatched by President Jefferson to explore the new land recently acquired from the Louisiana Purchase, arrived here in 1804 and made their winter camp two miles from Big Hidatsa. It was here that they met and enlisted the French trader Charbonneau and his Shoshone wife Sacagawea to join their westward expedition, departing in the spring of 1805 into truly unknown and uncharted lands. As an interpreter, Sacagawea played a large role in the success of the mission that tripled the size of the United States of America.

This museum located in a house built for James Wardrop in the early 1740s in the Georgian style, although an 1857 remodeling produced drastic changes. When the building was saved from demolition in 1986, however, its earlier appearance was restored. The tours of the house emphasize the lives of Wardrop's wife, Lettice Wardrop Thompson Sim, and those of 18th century women from all levels of society.

This foundation was established in 1971. The Preserve assumed ownership of the Asticou Azalea Garden in 1973 and the Asticou Terraces Trust in 2000. Guests are invited to enjoy the quiet and contemplative settings of these carefully maintained natural landscapes that have been treasured by residents and other visitors to the island over the past century.

Located in the heart of Memphis, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, is a dynamic cultural complex consisting of: 29 galleries, art classrooms, a print study room with over 4,500 works of art on paper, a research library with over 5,000 volumes, and an auditorium. Housed in part in the original Beaux-arts style building, a registered U.S. National Landmark, the Brooks’ facilities also include the Brooks Museum Store, the acclaimed Brushmark Restaurant, the Holly Court garden, and a grand terrace that overlooks the greens and trees of Memphis’ Overton Park.

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art enriches the lives of the diverse community through the Museum's expanding collection, varied exhibitions, and dynamic programs that reflect the art of world cultures from antiquity to present.

The Zeeland Historical Society founded the museum in 1976 in an adjoining house and store formerly owned by Dirk Dekker. The house was restored to its original 1876 style, and new artifacts are continuously being added to the collection. Items have been recently received from as far away as Borssele in the Province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.