November 2010

The New Hall Military Museum, located in Carpenters’ Court, along Chestnut Street between 3rd and 4th Streets, is open year round, though hours vary by season.. Exhibits are self-guiding, though rangers are available to answer any questions. This building is a reconstruction of the one constructed by the Carpenters' Company in 1791 and originally used to house the office of the first Secretary of War, Henry Knox, and his staff. The building currently houses exhibits highlighting the founding of the United States Marine Corps and the Army and Navy Departments from the American Revolution through the last decades of the 18th century.

The exhibits at the Statue of Liberty are a tribute to the people who created her, to those who built and paid for her, to the ideals she represents, and to the hopes she inspires. The Statue of Liberty exhibit traces the history and symbolism of the Statue of Liberty through museum objects, photographs, prints, videos and oral histories. In addition to historical artifacts and descriptive text, full scale replicas of the Statue's face and foot are also on display.

The Torch Exhibit includes the original 1886 torch and much altered flame in the lobby. On the second floor balcony overlooking this torch is a display on the history of the torch and flame, explaining the various alterations through diagrams, photographs, drawings and cartoons.

Located on the corner of Chestnut and 5th Streets, Old City Hall is open year round, with hours varying by season. Visitors are admitted free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. A portion of the building serves as the security screening entrance onto Independence Square. Ranger led programs are offered. Built as the City Hall of Philadelphia, the building was used by the U. S. Supreme Court from the time the building was completed in 1791 until 1800 when the Federal Government was moved to Washington D. C.. The municipal government and courts occupied the building during the 19th century.

Constructed in 1787 - 1789 as the Philadelphia County Court House, this building served as the meeting place of the U. S. Congress from 1790 to 1800. The House of Representatives met on the main floor, while the Senate assembled upstairs. Among the historic events that took place here were the presidential inaugurations of George Washington (his second) and John Adams; the establishment of the First Bank of the United States, the Federal Mint, and the Department of the Navy; and the ratification of Jay's Treaty with England. During the 19th century, the building was used by Federal and local courts. The building, inside and out, has been restored as much as possible to the period of time when the building was the U.S. Capitol.

Located on the corner of Chestnut and 6th Streets. The building is open year round, though hours vary by season. Visitors are admitted free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Ranger led programs are provided.

San Juan National Historic Site includes forts San Cristóbal, San Felipe del Morro, and San Juan de la Cruz also called El Cañuelo, plus bastions, powder houses, and three fourths of the city wall. All these defensive fortifications surround the old, colonial portion of San Juan, Puerto Rico. El Cañuelo Fort is located at Isla de Cabras at the western end of the entrance to the San Juan Bay. These magnificent historic forts were built by Spanish troops beginning in 1539 with a tower at El Morro and La Fortaleza and took more that 250 years. Most of the walls we see today were added later in a period of tremendous construction from the 1760's -1780's.

Located on Chestnut Street, between 4th and 5th Streets, the newly installed "People of Independence" exhibit in the Second Bank includes 185 paintings of Colonial and Federal leaders, military officers, explorers and scientists, including many by Charles Willson Peale. Designed by William Strickland, this building, built between 1819 and 1824, is one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. The Second Bank was incorporated in 1816 and was one of the most influential financial institutions in the world until 1832, when it became the center of bitter controversy between bank president Nicholas Biddle and President Andrew Jackson. The bank ceased to exist in 1836 after Jackson vetoed the bill to renew its charter. The building continued for a short time to house a banking institution under a Pennsylvania charter. From 1845 to 1935 the building served as the Philadelphia Customs House.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization designated Cahokia Mounds a World Heritage Site for its importance to our understanding of the prehistory of North America.

According to archaeological finds, the city of Cahokia was inhabited from about A.D. 700 to 1400. At its peak, from A.D. 1050 to 1200, the city covered nearly six square miles and possibly 10-20,000 people lived here. Over 120 mounds were built through time, and most mounds were enlarged several times. Houses were arranged in rows and around open plazas, and the main agricultural fields lay outside the city. The site is named for a subtribe of the Illiniwek (or Illinois tribe, a loose confederacy of related peoples) - the Cahokia - who moved into this area in the 1600s and lived nearby when the French arrived about 1699.

Today, the park protects over 4,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. There are a number of cliff dwellings that can be toured during your visit to Mesa Verde National Park. Most of these can only be visited by taking a ranger-guided tour. Visitors can take a number of tours that explore the varied history of the area.

The Sauk Center home provided part of the inspiration for Sinclair's novel Main Street.

A National Landmark and Historic District, Fruitlands includes the original farmhouse that was the site of the 1843 Utopian experiment led by Transendentalist and eductational reformer Bronson Alcott. This land is also home to the world’s first Shaker Museum, a Native American gallery, and a fine art gallery.

Recognized as one of Fruitlands most valuable assets, the surrounding landscape reveals over 5,000 years of change. The events that played out on this stretch of northern Massachusetts terrain over the course of numerous centuries epitomized important evolutions of American environmental and cultural history. The Fruitlands Museum stewards seven collections consisting of more than 6,000 objects that attest to these transformations. Changing exhibits encourage diverse perspectives, provide new ways of looking at the familiar, excite visitors about the land, and inspire people to make singular discoveries about who we are as a people and a nation.