The Lenape Camp offers a glimpse of Native American life in 1816, including wigwams, tomahawk throwing and a trading post where you can chat with a costumed fur trader. Prairietown goes back another 50 years, recreating an 1830s pioneer village complete with stores, an inn, blacksmith shop and more. Liberty Corner offers a chance to observe life in a rural community circa 1886, with a schoolhouse, Quaker meetinghouse and Victorian-era farmhouse. READ MORE: How Oysters are Restoring the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Photo courtesy of Conner Prairie CONNOR PRAIRIE LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM (Fishers, Indiana)ĭesigned to recreate life on the American prairie during the 19 th century, the Connor Prairie Living History Museum boasts five different areas for visitors to explore. Along the way, it immerses visitors in the political, cultural, and educational center in which the fundamental democratic concepts of the United States were nurtured.

The result is an almost overwhelming historical experience that takes several days to explore. Hundreds of costumed interpreters bring the minutiae of pre-American Revolution reality to life.Ĭollectively, they provide an educational overview of everything from the fashioning of firearms and the nature of 18 th century crime and punishment, to the cultural traditions of the enslaved and free African-Americans who made up half of Williamsburg’s population. Today Colonial Williamsburg stands as the world’s largest living history museum, with 301 acres of restored, reconstructed and historically furnished buildings that recreate Britain’s largest, wealthiest and most populous New World outpost. Rockefeller Jr., the restoration of this colonial town’s historic buildings eventually encompassed more than 85% of the 18 th century capital city’s original area. COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG (Williamsburg, Virginia)īegun in 1926 by the Reverend Dr.

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