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List

Top 10 Museums Run by the National Park Service

December 23, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Some National Park Service units stick with the “go outside and play” philosophy, but these selected parks do a great job of interpreting human and natural history inside a museum. You might recognize some names from our Top 10 National Historical Parks, National Monuments, and National Historic Sites. We previously created a Top 10 list of our favorite museums at the 63 National Parks.

10. Colonial National Historical Park (Virginia)

An indoor French frigate makes Yorktown a must-visit museum

9. Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (Ohio)

Follow the Aviation Trail to the Wright Brothers cycle shop and National Parachute Museum

8. Fort Necessity National Battlefield (Pennsylvania)

An excellent museum interprets the start of the global French and Indian War in 1754

7. Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (Missouri)

A balanced look at a controversial U.S. President housed in his former barn

6. Statue of Liberty National Monument (New York-New Jersey)

Ellis Island and Lady Liberty (new museum opened in 2019) make an unforgettable day trip

5. Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania)

The museum opened in 2008, and pay extra for the excellent film and the Cyclorama painting

4. Fort Stanwix National Monument (New York)

A superb use of videos and kiosks to provide four different characters’ perspectives on the events of the American Revolution in Upstate New York

3. Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (Alabama)

Two entire airplane hangars full of aircraft and displays about these Civil Rights pioneers

2. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Oregon)

The best natural history museum in the entire National Park Service system

…and finally our #1 museum at a National Park Service site:

1. Andersonville National Historic Site (Georgia)

Visiting the National Prisoner of War Museum is a powerful experience

Honorable Mentions

Dinosaur National Monument (Colorado-Utah)

An indoor mountainside full of dinosaur fossils makes this place special

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site (New York)

The bottom floor of this historic home in downtown Buffalo has been turned into a modern museum with interactive exhibits

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park (Maryland)

This museum operated by Maryland State Parks opened in 2017 to explain this incredible woman’s life

Hopewell Culture National Monument (Ohio)

A small museum, but the artifacts are wonderfully displayed (and it has a great film)

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (District of Columbia)

Like New York’s Women’s Rights NHP, this museum makes you think about modern issues

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site (North Carolina)

This museum will help you solve the mystery of the “Lost Colony” of 1590

Georgia

Fort Frederica National Monument

December 17, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The colony of Georgia was established by James Oglethorpe to be an alcohol-free utopia open to commoners in debtors’ prison back in England. The aristocrats quickly discarded those ideals and introduced slavery after founding a town on the Savannah River in 1733. That same year, to the south the Spanish constructed Fort Mose as a sanctuary to slaves who fled the British. In response, Oglethorpe created Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, with a palisade and 10-foot wide moat around the entire town. Further, he led an unsuccessful siege of St. Augustine, Florida in 1740. The Spanish retaliated, but were defeated at Bloody Marsh despite owning a two-to-one advantage in soldiers.

Highlights

Museum, ruins of colonial fort, Bloody Marsh Battle Site

Must-Do Activity

Fort Frederica’s regiment was disbanded in 1749 and the town was abandoned within a decade when it was mostly destroyed by fire. Today, visitors can walk the ruins underneath picturesque live oak trees draped in Spanish moss. Fort Frederica National Monument is part of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor that honors the unique traditions brought by slaves from West Africa and retained over the centuries on these isolated Atlantic coastal islands. Cooking gumbo with okra, weaving sweetgrass baskets, and using the word “guber” for peanut are all examples of how the Gullah/Geechee culture has survived into modern times.

Best Trail

A self-guided tour passes excavated foundations of the town underneath Spanish moss-draped live oak trees. During our visit in 2016, Hurricane Matthew had knocked down trees closing some of the trails.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The British established Fort Frederica to stop Spanish encroachment from Florida into their American colonies. The town that formed around the fort peaked at a population of 1,000. Today it is a beautiful setting with tabby wall ruins and Spanish moss-draped trees.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/fofr/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None, there is no longer a toll for the F.J. Torras Causeway that accesses St. Simons Island.

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Jekyll Island State Park offers camping 13 miles southeast of Brunswick, Georgia.

Cumberland Island National Seashore (Georgia)

Fort Caroline National Memorial (Florida)

Explore More – Fort Frederica was named for which member of the British royalty?

Arkansas

Arkansas Post National Memorial

December 12, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Arkansas Post National Memorial is in the southeastern section of its namesake state near the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. The French first settled this area in 1686 in order to trade with a large village of Quapaw Indians. From 1763-1800 the fort was controlled by the Spanish, who were attacked by the British here in 1783 in what became known as the Colbert Incident, considered one of the final battles in the American Revolution.

Highlights

Museum, film, ruins, cannons, wildlife, fishing

Must-Do Activity

Following the Louisiana Purchase, the post briefly served as the territorial capital, then that moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1821. It fell into decline until Fort Hindman was built during the Civil War, after which time much of the shoreline was washed away by the Arkansas River. There are not many human structures left to see at the site, but the bayou offers great opportunities for birdwatching.

Best Trail

A trail passes Park Lake through the Old Townsite to shoreline views of Post Bayou and the Arkansas River. A trench dug by the Confederate army during the Civil War is also visible from the trail and a side road north of the visitor center.

Instagram-worthy Photo

There are plenty of cannons around to pose with, but Tiff was most excited about the original location of The Arkansas Gazette newspaper that started right here in 1819 and is still printed today in Little Rock (which is where she grew up with Wondon).

Peak Season

Spring and fall when there are less mosquitoes.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/arpo/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Camping is not allowed within the park, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages campgrounds at Pendleton Bend and Merrisach Lake Park.

Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas)

Natchez Trace Parkway (Mississippi-Tennessee)

Explore More – Following the 1863 Civil War battle to take the fort, how many Confederate soldiers were taken prisoner?

North Carolina

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

December 5, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

In Manteo, North Carolina, the Outer Banks islands protect Albemarle Sound, where Roanoke Island can be found. If that name sounds familiar, it is because it was here that Fort Raleigh became the first English settlement in North America. First scoped out in 1584, its original inhabitants all left with Sir Francis Drake after supply ships failed to arrive. The 117 colonists that came in 1587 actually wanted to settle further north on Chesapeake Bay, but their captain left them here instead. John White soon sailed back to England to get aid, but an ongoing war with the Spanish Armada kept him away until 1590. Upon his return he found the fort deserted, the buildings stripped, and a fencepost marked “CROATOAN” (the name of nearby island). White was thwarted in his attempt to land on Croatoan Island by a hurricane, so to-this-day nobody knows the true fate of the colonists.

Highlights

Museum, site of first British colony in America, Lost Colony Outdoor Drama

Must-Do Activity

The National Park Service museum has excellent displays, including the videos of Sir Walter Raleigh (the fort’s namesake) in the Elizabethan Room. It offers all the theories on happened to the settlers so visitors can decide what they believe. “The Lost Colony” did lend its name to an outdoor musical performed most nights throughout the summer within the boundaries of Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Best Trail

The Thomas Hariot Nature Trail provides views of the reconstructed earthen fort, musical theater, and Albemarle Sound. Hariot was a scientist who searched Roanoke Island in 1585 for precious metals and made drawings of the local flora and fauna.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Waterside Theatre has hosted the outdoor symphonic play “The Lost Colony” every summer since 1937.

Peak Season

Summer beach season when the musical theater has performances

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/fora/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None, except for tickets to the Lost Colony Outdoor Drama. Admission is also charged at the adjacent Elizabethan Gardens.

Road Conditions

All roads paved.

Camping

There is a private campground nearby, but we recommend you reserve a campsite near the beach within beautiful Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Related Sites

Cape Hatteras National Seashore (North Carolina)

Wright Brothers National Memorial (North Carolina)

Colonial National Historical Park (Virginia)

Scott inside of a Elizabethan Room at Fort Raleigh

Explore More – What was the name of the baby girl born at Fort Raleigh, famous as the first child born of English parents in the Americas?

Florida

Fort Caroline National Memorial

December 2, 2019 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

After a failed settlement by persecuted French Protestants (Huguenots) in 1562, two years later a group of 200 soldiers, artisans, and a few women established a colony at the mouth of the St. Johns River (east of present-day Jacksonville, Florida). Led by René de Goulaine de Laudonnière, they hurriedly assembled the triangular Fort Caroline, named for King Charles IX. In 1565, Jean Ribault arrived with 600 more settlers and soldiers. After learning the Catholic Spanish had established a base to the south at St. Augustine, Ribault set sail for a surprise attack, only to be shipwrecked by a hurricane. The unprotected Fort Caroline was easily captured by the Spanish, who executed 140 of its 200 inhabitants. The Spanish then killed the majority of the 250 French marooned at Matanzas Inlet, which gained its name from these “slaughters.”

Highlights

Museum, reconstructed fort, Hammock Trail, Ribault Monument

Must-Do Activity

The National Park Service (NPS) administers Fort Caroline National Memorial (established in 1950) as a unit of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (established in 1988). Start your visit at the NPS museum, which provides information on the indigenous Timucuan, as well as the European colonization efforts. After walking the Hammock Trail to see the reconstructed fort, drive to the nearby Ribault Monument, a replica of a stone column left by Jean Ribault at the mouth of the St. Johns River on May 2, 1562.

Best Trail

Within this 139-acre National Memorial, the Hammock Trail visits the reconstructed fort along the St. Johns River. Starting from two parking lots south of Fort Caroline Road several trails explore Spanish Pond and the Theodore Roosevelt Area of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The actual site of the original fort has never been found (and is probably underwater), but you can tour a one-third scale reconstruction of the triangular structure based upon a drawing from 1564 by French artist Jacques le Moyne. The French got a measure of revenge in 1568 when they attacked and burned Spanish-controlled Fort Caroline, but they could not take St. Augustine and never colonized Florida again.