List of open-air and living history museums in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of open-air and living history museums in the United States.

Ecological and environmental living museums[edit]

Farm museums[edit]

Alabama

Alaska

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Waterloo Farm Museum


Minnesota

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Living transportation museums[edit]

Military forts and posts[edit]

The list of forts lists both historical, preserved and currently operational military posts. Not all are open to the public. Some of those open to the public will have living history guides.

Battery Gunnison, a US Army Coast Artillery Battery at Fort Hancock, New Jersey, is being restored to its 1943 configuration by the Army Ground Forces Association, a non-profit living history organization, and is open for tours throughout the year.[16]

Renaissance faires[edit]

Other open-air and living history museums[edit]

Arizona

Arkansas

California

The Watts Towers Watts

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

East Grand Forks Heritage Village, East Grand Forks, Minnesota
Village of Yesteryear, Owatonna, Minnesota

Missouri

Montana

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

A museum interpreter explains aspects of a 19th-century apothecary in Old Salem

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

  • Museum of the American West, Lander

See also[edit]

Museum name Town State Type Summary
Alabama Constitution Village Huntsville, Alabama Alabama Living 1819 life, includes a law office, print shop, land surveyor's office, post office, cabinetmaker's shop and residence
Landmark Park Dothan Alabama Living 1890s living history farm and village
Pioneer Living History Village Phoenix Arizona Living Late 19th-century town
Sharlot Hall Museum Prescott Arizona Open-air Includes special living history programs for mid-1860s
Ozark Folk Center Mountain View Arkansas Living State park with traditional crafts and music
Columbia State Historic Park Columbia California Living Mid-to-late 19th-century Gold Rush town
Empire Mine State Historic Park Grass Valley California Living Late 19th-century living history tours, gold mine complex
Heritage Square Museum Montecito Heights, Los Angeles California Living Covers different periods; includes eight historic structures, a train car, and a trolley car
Leonis Adobe Calabasas California Living 1880s California ranch
San Dieguito Heritage Museum Encinitas California Local history Offers family living history programs on special days
Stein Family Farm National City California Farm website, focus is rural life from 1900 to 1920
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site Otero County Colorado Living Reconstructed 1840s adobe fur trading post on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail
Fort Uncompahgre Living History Museum Delta Colorado Living website, 1820s fur trading post
Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, Garden of the Gods Colorado Springs Colorado Living Depicts life in four time periods: American Indian area in 1775; 1860s Galloway Homestead; 1880s Chambers Home and Ranch; 1907 Edwardian Country Estate
South Park City Fairplay Colorado Open-air Mid-19th-century recreated mining town
Mystic Seaport Mystic Connecticut Living 19th-century maritime village with historic ships and buildings
Barberville Pioneer Settlement Barberville Florida Open-air/living Late 19th- to early 20th-century rural life, 18 structures 1879 - 1926 http://www.pioneersettlement.org
Bellevue Plantation Tallahassee Florida Farm Part of the Tallahassee Museum
Castillo de San Marcos St. Augustine Florida Living Colonial fort
Cracker Country Tampa Florida Open-air Late 19th- to early 20th-century rural life, includes thirteen original buildings dating from 1870 to 1912
Fort Clinch State Park Fernandina Beach Florida Living 19th-century fort with period re-enactors
Lake Kissimmee State Park Lake Wales Florida Living Includes Cow Camp, an 1876 cattle camp
Mission San Luis de Apalachee Tallahassee Florida Living Reconstructed 17th-century Spanish mission and Apalachee village
Morningside Nature Center Gainesville Florida Farm Includes 1870s farm
Silver River Museum Silver Springs Florida Open-air Includes restored or "newly built" 19th-century farm buildings with a special living history event
Agrirama Tifton Georgia Farm website, includes five areas: a traditional farm community of the 1870s, an 1890s progressive farmstead, an industrial sites complex, rural town, Peanut Museum, and the Georgia Museum of Agriculture Center
Westville Lumpkin Georgia Living Recreates an 1850 working town with over 30 buildings
Kona Coffee Living History Farm Captain Cook Hawaii Farm Depicts the daily lives of early Japanese immigrants during the period of 1920-1945
Polynesian Cultural Center Lā'ie Hawaii Living
Kline Creek Farm Winfield Illinois Farm Late 19th-century farm
Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site Lerna Illinois Living 1840s farmstead with three historic houses
Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site New Salem Illinois Living 1830s village
Macktown Living History Education Center Rockton Illinois Living website, 1830 - 1846 village
Naper Settlement Naperville Illinois Living 19th-century museum village


References[edit]

  1. ^ Riley's Farm Living History Tours
  2. ^ Panhandle Pioneer Settlement Living History Museum
  3. ^ Old Cowtown Museum
  4. ^ Norlands Living History Center
  5. ^ "Colonial Michilimackinac".
  6. ^ "Home". historicwhitepinevillage.org.
  7. ^ Historic Cold Spring Village
  8. ^ Bethpage Village
  9. ^ B Street Living Permaculture Museum
  10. ^ Pennsylvania Plantation
  11. ^ "Home". thisistheplace.org.
  12. ^ "Home". awhc.org.
  13. ^ "Home". wheelerfarm.com.
  14. ^ Colonial Williamsburg
  15. ^ Matthews Living History Farm Museum
  16. ^ "Army Ground Forces Association". www.armygroundforces.org. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  17. ^ Four Mile Historic Park
  18. ^ Vermilionville Cajun and Creole Folklife Park
  19. ^ "Historic St. Mary's City". Archived from the original on 2000-12-04. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  20. ^ Pinecrest Historical Village
  21. ^ "Rhinelander Wisconsin". Retrieved 15 December 2013.