November 2010

Steeped in the rich history of its region, the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum presents life-size displays that depict the everyday challenges settlers faced opening a new territory. Throughout the museum displays familiarize visitors with the different aspects of daily life for the settler. From children attending a one-room schoolhouse to the Sunday social at the old country church to the heat of the blacksmith's shop, there is something for everyone to learn and enjoy at the Museum.

Through displays of equipment and materials, photos and paintings, and an array of historical artifacts, the museum offers visitors a journey through time and the rich cultural heritage of agriculture and agrarian life in West Tennessee. The museum's collection was established by Tom McCutchen, known as the father of Tennessee No-Till, and the first superintendent of the Milan Experiment Station.

Wynnewood is the largest extant log structure in Tennessee. It was built in 1828 by A. R. Wynne, William Cage, and Stephen Roberts as a stagecoach inn on the Nashville-Knoxville Road. In 1834 Wynne purchased his partners' interests and moved his family into the inn, where he resided until his death in 1893. Throughout Wynne's lifetime, guests were received at the house, attracted partially by the reputed medicinal powers of the mineral waters and the scenic beauty of the area.

The mineral springs at Wynnewood are part of the sulfur lick discovered in 1772 by Isaac Bledsoe, a Virginia long hunter. Today the spring waters still flow and visitors may see the site where Thomas Sharp ("Big Foot") Spencer spent the winter of 1778-79 in a hollow sycamore tree. Wynnewood will be close for 2-3 years to repair damage caused by a recent tornado.

Hampton is the story of people -- enslaved African Americans, indentured servants, industrial and agricultural workers, and owners. It is also the story of the economic and moral changes that made their lifestyles obsolete.

There is a tour of the mansion every hour, a 40 minute presentation of the grounds including a slaves quarters, and self-guided explorations of the farm (including the farmhouse on weekends), as well as of the gardens, grounds, stables, and family cemetery. The site also gives special events to tell a rich history of its former inhabitants.

Located near Gettysburg Battlefield, this site was the home of the 34th President, Dwight Eisenhower.

It served as the weekend retreat and meeting place with world leaders for President Dwight Eisenhower. Visitors can begin with a 15 minute orientation tour which shows how the site was used by Eisenhower. Also available is a tour of the home on the site, where little has changed since Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, lived there. Visitors who wish to explore on their own can take self-guided tours of the grounds, which includes the President's putting green and garage, or explore his farm or the skeet range. Lastly, the Reception Center holds exhibits which trace Eisenhower's life from his boyhood in Abilene through his retirement.

The Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area tells the whole story of the Civil War, emancipation, and Reconstruction. Its focus includes national battlefields as well as historic houses, museums, cemeteries, churches, towns, and neighborhoods significantly associated with the state's diverse Civil War heritage. The historic area encompasses four Civil War battlefields, the home of Andrew Jackson, and famed Jubilee Hall at Fisk University.

The Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore runs this museum about the Jewish community in Maryland and its history.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland is one of the country's leading centers for exhibits on Jewish history and culture. The museum has two galleries that host changing exhibits of local and national interest. It combines art, rare objects, historical photographs, oral histories, videos, and hands-on activities in engaging, informative exhibitions. Each exhibit created or hosted by the museum reveals new perspectives on the Jewish experience in Maryland and beyond.

Mary Packer Cummings willed the mansion and all its contents to the county in 1912 and the home has been open to the public since 1956. Tours lead visitors through the library, drawing room, entrance hallway, dining room, ladies parlor, kitchen, spiral staircase, and cupola, among other areas of the sprawling home. The mansion also hosts special events.

To help retain the story of Maryland's westernmost county, this museum was established by the Garrett County Historical Society. The museum has acquired many artifacts with significance to the locality, often by donation items. Artifacts from the Civil War, Native Americans, the USS Garrett County can all be found at the museum, as well as early firearms and period clothing, among other things.

Ulysses S. Grant is known as the victorious Civil War general who saved the Union and the 18th President of the United States. Few people know about his rise to fame or his personal life. He first met Julia Dent, his future wife, at her family home, named White Haven. Today, that home commemorates their lives and loving partnership against the turbulent backdrop of the nineteenth century. The site offers tours of the house and grounds and will soon offer living history programs.

The Laboratory and home of Thomas Edison, stopped in time, continue to teach a new generation.

At the corner of Main Street and Lakeside Avenue in West Orange, New Jersey stands a group of red brick buildings. To the passing motorist the buildings betray little evidence of their glory days and of the people who worked inside. A short distance away is Glenmont, Thomas Edison's estate. Together, the laboratory and residence preserve the work and character of America's foremost inventor, Thomas Edison and the family, friends and business associates who played a key role in his success.

Visitors can spend a morning or afternoon exploring the estate of Thomas and Mina Edison called Glenmont. Thomas Edison purchased this grand estate for his new bride Mina Miller Edison in 1886.  It is here that the Edisons raised their children, entertained friends, family and Edison business associates.  Guests can wander the grounds and see why Thomas and Mina loved their home.