Ulysses S. Grant is known as the victorious Civil War general who saved the Union and the 18th President of the United States. He first met Julia Dent, his future wife, at her family home, named White Haven. From 1854 to 1859 the Dents, Grants and an enslaved African-American workforce lived on the property.
Writer’s Homes
Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House
399 Lexington Road Concord, Massachusetts 01742
540 Broadway San Francisco, California 94133
William Cullen Bryant Homestead
207 Bryant Road Cummington, Massachusetts 01026
P.O. Box 126 Hillsboro, West Virginia 24946
Pearl S. Buck International 520 Dublin Road Perkasie, Pennsylvania 18944
Truman Capote and Harper Lee, Old Courthouse Museum
31 North Alabama Avenue Monroeville, Alabama 36460
413 North Webster Street Red Cloud, Nebraska 68970
Emily Dickinson Museum – The Homestead and The Evergreens
280 Main Street Amherst, Massachusetts 01002
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
1411 W Street SE Washington, District of Columbia 20020
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, Concord Museum
200 Lexington Road Concord, Massachusetts 01742
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Old Manse
269 Monument Street Concord, Massachusetts 01742
917 Old Taylor Road Oxford, Mississippi 38655
The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum
919 Felder Avenue Montgomery, Alabama 36106
122 Rockingham Road Derry, New Hampshire 03038
Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center
200 South Church Street Henning, Tennessee 38041
Joel Chandler Harris, The Wren’s Nest
1050 Ralph David Albernathy Boulevard Atlanta, Georgia 30310
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables
115 Derby Street Salem, Massachusetts 01970
The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park
200 Oak Park Ave Oak Park, Illinois 60302
Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center
1021 West Cherry Street Piggott, Arkansas 72454
Historic Hudson Valley 639 Bedford Road Pocantico Hills, New York 10591
Helen Hunt Jackson, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
215 S. Tejon St. Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903
Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum and Visitor Center (Historic New England)
5 Portland St. South Berwick, Maine 03908
Frances Parkinson Keyes, The Beauregard-Keyes House
1113 Chartres Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
Jack London State Historic Park
2400 London Ranch Road Glen Ellen, California 95442
Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site
105 Brattle Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Wadsworth-Longfellow House & Garden
489 Congress Street Portland, Maine 04101
780 Holmes Road Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201
Edna St. Vincent Millay Society at Steepletop
436 East Hill Road Austerlitz, New York 12017
990 Peachtree Street Atlanta, Georgia 30309
John Muir National Historic Site
4202 Alhambra Ave. Martinez, California 94553
Flannery O’Connor, Andalusia Farm
P.O. Box 947 Milledgeville, Georgia 31059
Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site
P.O. Box 280 Danville, California 95426
William Sidney Porter, O. Henry Museum
409 East 5th Street Austin, Texas 78701
203 N Amity St Baltimore, Maryland 21223
1914-16 East Main Street Richmond, Virginia 23223
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home
528 Lockerbie Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
1720 West Will Rogers Blvd. Claremore, Oklahoma 74017
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site
81 Carl Sandburg Lane Flat Rock, North Carolina 28731
1 Main Street Salinas, California 93901
77 Forest Street Hartford, Connecticut 06105
Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site
1205 Pleasant Point Rome City, Indiana 46784
77 Jefferson Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43215
Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
120 North Main Hannibal, Missouri 63401
351 Farmington Avenue Hartford, Connecticut 06105
Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library
The Emelie Building 340 N. Senate Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
227 South Main St. West Hartford, Connecticut 06107
1109 Pinehurst Street Jackson , Mississippi 39202
2 Plunkett St. Lenox, Massachusetts 01240
Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site and Interpretive Center
246 Old Walt Whitman Road Huntington Station, New York 11746
305 Whittier Road Haverhill, Massachusetts 01830
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, Walnut Grove
330 8th Street Walnut Grove, Minnesota 56180
Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum
3068 Highway A Mansfield, Missouri 65704
52 North Market Street Asheville, North Carolina 28801
http://americanwritersmuseum.org/affiliates/
http://americanwritersmuseum.org/
In Addition
The Walter Cronkite Memorial, St. Joseph, Missouri
Missouri Western State University
4525 Downs Drive
Spratt Hall Atrium
Saint Joseph, MO 64507
Monday-Friday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
https://wcm.missouriwestern.edu/
A Place Called Home
7400 Grant Road
St. Louis, MO 63123
https://www.nps.gov/ulsg/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm
SUBMARINES
The Civil War doesn’t usually bring submarines top of mind. It might surprise you to know that a number of submarines were used by both sides. In fact, the Confederates carried out the first ever submarine to attack to successfully sink an enemy ship.
On February 17, 1864, the 40-foot long H.L. Hunley crept up on a union blockade in the outer harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The Hunley’s 8-man crew crammed into the hull less than 4 feet wide and just over 4 feet tall. They manually cranked a propeller to sneak up on their target at night.
As the sub had repeatedly sunk during deadly trial runs, the crew was ordered not to fully submerge. Still, they kept a low enough profile to avoid detection until it was too late for the enemy. Their mission: stick a “spar torpedo” to the hull of the Union sloop USS Housatonic. They had no sonar and no self-propelled torpedoes. They simply had 90 pounds of black powder on the end of a 22-foot-long wooden stick.
After ramming the spar into their target, the submarine crew tried to get to a safe distance before detonation. Housatonic crew members spotted the sub and began shooting at it with rifles and pistols. The metal tube was just 100 feet away when the blast went off.
Exactly what happened next is unclear, but the Hunley sank yet again, taking all 8 submariners to the bottom of the harbor. Some historians speculate the submarine was damaged by the blast. Some say it was accidentally rammed by another Union vessel coming to rescue Housatonic sailors. Others contend that the Hunley crew simply ran out of oxygen.
The Hunley was pulled up from the bottom of the sea in the year 2000. It is currently being studied and renovated by a conservation team in a custom-built freshwater tank. If you happen to be in North Charleston, South Carolina, on a weekend you can take a tour of the conservation laboratory and see the sub for yourself.
Steak Houses
Delmonico’s opened in 1837 in Manhattan’s Financial District. The steakhouse calls itself America’s “first fine-dining restaurant,” and executive chef Billy Oliva continues that tradition with a modern
The Baked Alaska is another reputed Delmonico’s first. This dessert, an ice cream cake covered in toasted meringue, is still a popular treat at the steakhouse. Noah Fecks
Keens, which opened in 1885, is another classic NYC steakhouse. Keens Steakhouse
The Legendary Mutton Chop is the most famous dish at Keens; a two inch-thick, 26-ounce piece of meat served with an au jus sauce spooned over the top. Keens Steakhouse
The Keens Aged Prime Porterhouse can be ordered for two or three people to share. This cut is served on a sizzling platter with the bone sticking straight up in the air. Keens Steakhouse
Charlie Petrossi opened Charlie’s Steak House in New Orleans in 1932. The restaurant remains true to its original mission, offering steak and a cold drink in a decidedly unpretentious environment. Dryades Entertainment
Chicago’s Gene & Georgetti opened in 1941, and three-quarters of a century later the steakhouse continues to be a family-run business. Over the years, celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope have eaten here. Gene & Georgetti
Las Vegas’ Golden Steer Steakhouse may not be the oldest steakhouse in America (it opened in 1958), but it is certainly a classic. It has been a hangout for mobsters and celebrities over the years, including Sammy Davis Jr. who was welcomed there when he wasn’t at other establishments because of his race. Chris Wessling
Two friends opened Jess & Jim’s in 1938. This Martin City, Mo. steakhouse is just south of Kansas City, and serves prime beef that is hand cut daily. Michael Mihalevich
Texas seems like an obvious choice for a good steak. Cattlemen’s has been serving them up in the Fort Worth Stockyards District since 1947. Nowadays, if you can’t make it in, you can visit the restaurant’s website and have a steak shipped to your home. Cattlemen’s Steakhouse
