My Midwest Inflight Magazine » Bringing History to Life

The top 10 living history attractions in America. By Bret Love

1 OLD WORLD WISCONSIN

Eagle, Wisconsin
Located 40 miles west of Milwaukee and opened in 1976 to commemorate 200 years of American independence, the Old World Wisconsin museum is the largest outdoor museum in the world dedicated to the history of rural life. To build it, researchers traveled all over the state in search of historic farmhouses, outbuildings and small town structures, then dismantled and moved them piece by piece to the same sort of rolling prairie setting the early pioneers encountered on their westward expansion. Today, the museum has grown to include more than 60 historic structures, from ethnic farmsteads that include furnished houses and rural outbuildings to a crossroads village with its traditional institutions. Costumed craftspeople demonstrate blacksmithing, spinning, flax processing, wood stove cooking and hundreds of other daily tasks of late 19th- and early 20th-century life, while daily appearances by local tax assessor James Parsons, Swedish immigrant Maria Nielson and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate “Fighting” Bob La Follette offer visitors a chance to hear personal stories from the state’s history.

WEB SITE | www.wisconsinhistory.org/oww

2 COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

Williamsburg, Virginia
Founded in 1926 by the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., this colonial town’s restoration of historic buildings eventually encompassed more than 85 percent of the 18th-century capital city’s original area. Two hours south of Washington, D.C., Colonial Williamsburg stands today as the world’s largest living history museum, with 301 acres of restored, reconstructed and historically furnished buildings that authentically recreate Britain’s largest, wealthiest and most populous New World outpost. Hundreds of costumed interpreters bring the minutiae of pre-American Revolution reality to life, providing an educational overview of everything from the fashioning of firearms and the nature of 18th-century crime and punishment, to domestic living and medical practices, to the cultural traditions of the enslaved and free African-Americans who made up half of Williamsburg’s population. The result is an almost overwhelming historical experience that takes several days to explore, immersing visitors in the political, cultural and educational center in which the fundamental democratic concepts of the United States were nurtured.

WEB SITE | www.history.org

3 CONNER PRAIRIE LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM

Fishers, Indiana
Designed to recreate life on the American prairie during the 19th century, Conner Prairie Living History Museum boasts five different areas for visitors to explore and is located just six miles outside of Indianapolis. Liberty Corner offers a chance to observe life in a rural community circa 1886, with a schoolhouse, Quaker meeting house and Victorian-era farmhouse. Prairietown goes back another 50 years, recreating an 1830s pioneer village complete with stores, an inn, blacksmith shop and more, all populated by costumed interpreters. The Lenape Camp offers a glimpse of Native American life in 1816, including wigwams, corn grinding, tomahawk throwing and a trading post where you can chat with a costumed fur trader. The Conner Homestead is believed to be the first brick home in central Indiana, with free tours (included with general admission) that educate visitors about the home’s history and architecture, as well as the family who lived there. And the Pastport is a hands-on discovery area in which kids of all ages can milk a cow, play historic games, load and unload boats, and experience a slice of pioneer life.

WEB SITE | www.sdmaritime.org

4 THE MARITIME MUSEUM OF SAN DIEGO

San Diego, California
Founded in 1948, the Maritime Museum of San Diego grew out of the earlier efforts of a group of local historians and maritime enthusiasts who acquired the Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, in 1927. The fully restored Star of India is now part of the museum’s world-renowned fleet of historic vessels, which also includes a 1898 steam ferry; the 1904 steam yacht, Medea; the state’s official tall ship, the Californian; and the H.M.S Surprise, the replica of an 18th-century Royal Navy frigate featured in the film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Maritime’s “Living History” program puts students aboard the Star of India for a voyage of discovery, during which they are challenged with real shipboard activities led by crew members in costume. Running through the summer of 2007, the “Pirates of the Pacific” exhibit invites visitors aboard the H.M.S Surprise to view the Museum’s impressive collection of pirate artifacts, with costumed buccaneers on hand to provide an experience that’d make Capt. Jack Sparrow feel right at home.

WEB SITE | www.connerprairie.org

5 STONE MOUNTAIN ANTEBELLUM PLANTATION

Stone Mountain, Georgia
Like a picture postcard culled straight out of a scene from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind, Stone Mountain Park’s Antebellum Plantation and Farmyard offers a sampling of the sights, sounds and smells of the pre-Civil War South. The self-guided tour includes 19 historically restored buildings and the formal gardens. Roaming are costumed actors, from Southern belles to farmhands, who pass on stories of the region’s timeless traditions. In the Farmyard, kids can pet the animals while professionals teach them about animal behavior and their role on plantations of the 19th century. Located 30 minutes from Atlanta.

WEB SITE | www.stonemountainpark.com

6 OK CORRAL

Tombstone, Arizona
On October 26, 1881, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and Virgil and Morgan Earp fought the Clantons and McLaurys in the most famous gunfight in American history. Today, visitors can explore the O.K. Corral as it appeared in the 1880s, including a daily re-enactment of the 30-second showdown that left three cowboys dead and two others wounded. Inside the museum, located three hours outside of Phoenix, is C.S. Fly’s photo gallery, which features photos of life in Tombstone in the 1880s, as well as portraits of Apache chief Geronimo.

WEB SITE | www.ok-corral.com

7 PLIMOTH PLANTATION

Plymouth, Massachusetts
From Disney’s Pocahontas to the 2005 epic film The New World, the story of the Mayflower’s landing at Plymouth Rock, the pilgrims’ interactions with the Wampanoag tribe, and their struggles to survive in the face of widespread disease and famine have been well documented. But none of these stories can adequately prepare visitors for the myriad sights and sounds located 40 miles south of Boston at Plimoth Plantation, which recreates Plymouth as it was in the early 17th century. In the 1627 Pilgrim Village, costumed colonists welcome you to a small farming town filled with timber-framed houses, well-tended livestock and fascinating townspeople. Get a completely different perspective at the Wampanoag Homesite, where descendants of a tribe who have lived in this area for more than 12,000 years educate visitors about traditional Wampanoag family life as well as the arrival of the English from an indigenous point of view. Board the Mayflower II, a detailed reproduction of the original ship, and learn about maritime travel. You can also explore the Nye Barn, where the Plantation helps conserve rare and heritage-breed livestock from around the world.

WEB SITE | www.plimoth.org

8 GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT VERNON ESTATE & GARDENS

Mt. Vernon, Virginia
Encompassing more than 8,000 acres and divided into five farms, George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate had long since fallen into disrepair when the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association purchased it in 1860. Now the 500-acre estate is a designated National Historic Landmark. Surrounded by deep woods, rolling meadows and groves of trees, the self-contained community includes everything from Washington’s mansion and greenhouse to the kitchen and stables, all populated by costumed interpreters. Visitors can stroll through four gardens, hike the Forest Trail and explore a four-acre working farm that includes a re-creation of our founding father’s 16-sided treading barn. Located just 15 minutes outside of Washington, D.C.

WEB SITE | www.mountvernon.org

9 MYSTIC SEAPORT

Mystic, Connecticut
Founded in 1929, this maritime museum, located an hour from Hartford, explores the historic relationship between America and the sea, and in particular the Mystic River’s 400-year legacy as a center of shipbuilding. More than 600 vessels were constructed in the area between 1784 and 1919, and today the museum stands steadfast as a testament to the nation’s rapidly disappearing seafaring traditions.

WEB SITE | www.mysticseaport.org

10 GREENFIELD VILLAGE

Dearborn, Michigan
When automotive pioneer Henry Ford was forced to move his childhood home due to the construction of a new road, he decided to restore it and refurnish it to match his boyhood recollections. The project was so well-received that he decided to save other local buildings, and the result was Greenfield Village, located 70 minutes outside of Flint, Michigan. Henry Ford’s Model T district features Ford’s home, a replica of his first factory and a restored Model T.