November 2010

Located in Smyrna, Tennessee, The Sam Davis Home was built along the banks of Stewarts Creek in 1820. This historical home and museum rest on 160 acres of farmland just outside of the Nashville area. The two-story home is characteristic of a Southern, upper middle-class family of those times.

A trip to the Sam Davis Home begins with a documentary video about the life of Sam Davis and a visit through the museum. Trained staff offer guided tours through the nine room main house, the original kitchen, smokehouse, overseer's office, and privy. Authentic Middle Tennessee slave dwellings can also be seen on the site.

Bradford was by all means an upstanding citizen, serving at one point as the Deputy Attorney General of Washington County. However, when the the new nation faced its first crisis, he chose sides at odds with the government. In 1794, Pennsylvania whiskey makers found themselves hard-pressed by unfair taxes and refused to pay, prompting President Washington to order 13,000 federal troops to quell the rebellion in the western frontier of the state, centered in Washington County. When Bradford learned of his impending arrest, he fled to present day Louisiana, building a home there in 1797, where his family soon joined him. Eventually he was pardoned for his role in the rebellion.

In 1959, the home was restored back to its original 18th century design, including its magnificent mahogany staircase and fine wooden interiror, as well as a secret tunnel discovered during restoration that is thought to have served as a means of escape if the wealthy house ever came under attack.

The house offers tours, changing exhibits, and several other special events.

The words of Thomas Jefferson, some written more than 200 years ago, have shaped American ideals. Today, many of these impressive, stirring words adorn the interior walls of his memorial. The interior of the structure, which was modeled after the Roman Panthenon, contains a bronze statue of Jefferson and passages of from his writings engraved on the walls.

This site of the 1982 World's Fair is landscaped with waterfalls and other natural scenes.

Once the site of the 1982 World's Fair, this incredible park includes miles of lawn, acres of flowers, cascading waterfalls, placid streams, and many more gifts of natural beauty create an inviting environment for festivals, performances, meetings, conferences, or a quiet moment for personal reflection. The park is also the home of the Knoxville Convention Center.

A 318 acre tract of land was patented to Nicholas Hempstead and John Walley in 1687, and by the middle of the 19th century it had grown into a successful Quaker village, but after the Civil War it slowly disintegrated due to leasing out and selling of all the village's operations. The gristmill remained in operation until 1961, and Friends of Jerusalem Mill was put together in 1985 to restore and preserve the area. Today the main attraction is the living history program, done on Sundays, which shows how many tasks were completed during the 18th century, including fire cooking, woodworking, and blacksmithing.

The Historic Annapolis Foundation rescued this property from demolition in the 1960s. It had been used as the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence before changing hands multiple times in the 19th century, even being used as part of Carvel Hall, a hotel. Today there are 45-minute tours of two floors of the home, available every hour, and visitors can also stroll through the gardens.

Thomas Stone was just one member of a prominent Maryland family: his great-grandfather was given acreage in 1658 and began the family line, and his two brothers fought in the Revolutionary War. His home was in fact in the family until 1936. Today, the mansion still stands and has been restored after a 1977 fire, and visitors can also see exhibits at the Visitor Center, as well as Thomas Stone's grave site and many outbuildings. Overall there are 322 acres of trails for visitors to guide themselves on a tour of the grounds.

In the midst of Washington, D.C., a city of grand memorials to national leaders and significant events, stands an unassuming building commemorating the daily lives of ordinary Americans who made this city, and this nation, unique. The Old Stone House, one of the oldest known structures remaining in the nation's capital, is a simple 18th century dwelling built and inhabited by common people. Its beautiful English garden is a popular and restive oasis in the busy shopping district of Georgetown. The house itself is a popular museum to everyday life of middle class colonial America.

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, lived at this site from his birth on October 27, 1858 until he was 14 years old. The reconstructed house contains five period rooms, two museum galleries and a bookstore. Roosevelt's original birthplace was demolished in 1916. After Roosevelt's death in 1919, the site was purchased by the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association, rebuilt and decorated with many of its original furnishings by Roosevelt's sisters and wife.

The area has been inhabited since Native Americans lived here until the 17th century. In 1805, an Irish immigrant, Samuel de Butts, built a home, Mount Welby, where he and his wife lived until his death in 1843. The area was later used by St. Elizabeths Hospital as a therapeutic farm, and in 1959 it was entrusted to the National Park Service. Today there are a wide range of activites for visitors, including trails, self-guided tours of the farm and historic buildings, and regularly scheduled events, which include living history demonstrations.