How many have heard of Ingram's Pioneer Long Cabin Village in Illinois? This is a prvately operated collection of some 17 pre-Civil War era log cabins with some crafts in the Fall. A low key non-touristy place it seems. Location is just off I-57 about 20 mi. N of Salem.

I have enjoyed New Salem State Park near Springfield as well as Sturbridge Village in
Mass. and others.

Who has one to recommend?

ozarksbill

I have not heard of this but it
sounds very interesting! I would
like additional information if possible.

There's Waterloo Village in NJ (not too far from the PA border..."waterloovillage.org"). They have lots of planned activities throughout the year.

Have you thought about making the trip to Gettysburg, PA (they re-enact the famous battle every year in July and there are graveyards, horseback tours of the battle fields, demonstrations, etc). Also, Lancaster County (aka Amish Country) isn't too far from there.

There's also historic Williamsburg in VA...never been there but have heard it's very interesting.

Hope these ideas are helpful to you!
Christina

A google search came up with this website www.iplcv.com

Sandy

We really enjoyed the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia. This is a living history museum, depicting what the farms were like in Germany, Northern Ireland, England, and frontier Virginia at the time of early American settlement.
www.frontiermuseum.org/

There's a small logging Museum near Bangor Maine, Leonards Mills which has some special activity days. When the guys who helped restore the saw mill are there, they can answer any question. My FIL enjoyed the display of old chain saws, some of which he was very familiar with. College teams do a wood chopping competition. Sometimes a Lombard log hauler is on display.
There's a small farm museum in NH, Musterfield Farm in North Sutton. They have several demonstraton days during the year. The one we like the best is Old Farming Days when many old skills are demonstrated, there's a revolutionary war encampment, and antique tractors, trucks and equipment on display. Kids can try out stilts and hoop rolling. The 4-H kids navigate an obstacle course with their oxen. The former owner collected a few buildings so there is an old school house etc on the property. It's very low key and not well publicized. Some of the people doing the demonstrating i.e. oxen shoeing, still do that kind of work. The farm is a very beautiful piece of land in a very small New England village. A caretaker still maintains a large truck garden and there's a small farmstand open all summer. You also have some retired people who just like to demonstrate old skills like rope-making.