Courtesy Delaware Historical Society
Delaware History Museum and Old Town Hall
Wilmington, Delaware
Set in the heart of Willingtown Square, the Delaware History Museum and Old Town Hall tell a tale about the state’s varied history. The campus is owned and operated by the Delaware Historical Society and consists of seven historic buildings, including the Old Town Hall that was built in 1798 and is open for tours only by appointment. But the star of the show is the history museum, which is housed in a repurposed Woolworth’s Building.
“The museum provides the comprehensive overview of the state’s history,” said Scott Loehr, CEO of the Delaware Historical Society. “There really is a full menu of things to do. We have two major galleries, one of which changes exhibitions periodically; but there is a permanent gallery, and the exhibition in there is ‘Distinctively Delaware,’ and it provides you with sort of a soup-to-nuts experience of Delaware’s history, beginning with Native Americans and going up to the 1980s.”
Groups have tons to see and experience in the museum, from Grandma’s Attic with interactive imagination stations to artifacts and objects meant to engage and delight history buffs. The historical society works with groups to plan customized tours of the area.
“History is important,” Loehr said. “All of us should have a good understanding of where we come from individually and collectively as a state and as a nation. I think what the Delaware Historical Society does very well is that we engage our visitors with Delaware’s history.”
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Despite the fact that he was born nearly 25 years after the Confederate surrender, Gen. and President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s fascination with the Civil War never waned throughout his life and eventually led him to the purchase of his first and only home in Pennsylvania. Now known as the Eisenhower National Historic Site, the house sits adjacent to the site of the famous Battle of Gettysburg.
After relocating 37 times during his military career, Eisenhower and his wife purchased their Gettysburg home in 1950 and used the site as a retreat during Ike’s presidency and also as a place to host numerous world leaders, including Nikita Khrushchev, Charles de Gaulle, Winston Churchill and more.
“The Eisenhower home is very complete as a house museum,” said Carol Hegeman, supervisory historian at the Eisenhower National Historic Site and National Park Service veteran of more than 41 years. “We exhibit over 99 percent of the original possessions of the Eisenhowers, so visitors get an intimate glimpse of their life in Gettysburg.”
Most visitors arrive at the site on a shuttle bus that departs from the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center and wrap up their day of walking the battlefield with a short tour of the home site. All groups that arrive at the site get a guided tour of the grounds with a member of the park staff before being released to tour the Eisenhower home at their leisure.
“If groups have time, they can add the half-mile round-trip walk to the cattle barns to their visit,” Hegeman added. “Eisenhower took all the world leaders there to see his Angus cattle, but often, group schedules do not allow enough time for that part of the tour.”
