Historical Societies Near Me in Bethania
North Carolina Transportation Museum
1 Samuel Spencer Drive, Spencer, NC
The N.C. Transportation Museum is a historic site, once home to Southern Railway's largest steam locomotive repair facility in the southeast, and a museum featuring all types of transportation history – railroading, automotive, aviation, and more.
Historic structures include Barber Junction Depot, an authentic train station built in 1898 that serves as the museum's Visitor Center. The Bob Julian Roundhouse is the largest remaining roundhouse in North America, and is home to locomotives, passenger rail cars, and a full-size replica Wright Flyer. The massive Back Shop, where steam locomotives were once completely overhauled, now houses rail cars of the past, antique automobiles, fire trucks, and the restoration of the Piedmont Airlines' Potomac Pacemaker DC-3. The Flue Shop houses the museum's Bumper to Bumper automotive exhibit.
International Civil Rights Center and Museum
134 South Elm Street, Greensboro, NC
Vision:
We seek to memorialize the courageous stand of the Greensboro Four as they launched, for posterity, the sit-in movement on February 1, 1960. We hope that the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, with its focus on the sit-in activities at the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960, will inspire the vigilance and fortify the spirit of all oppressed people to step forward in the on-going struggle for human freedom.
Mission:
The ICRCM seeks to ensure that the world never forgets the courage displayed by four young North Carolina A&T State College students, on February 1, 1960, and the hundreds and thousands of college and community youth in Greensboro, in the South and around the country who joined them in the days and weeks that followed which led to the desegregation of the Woolworth lunch counter and ultimately to the smashing of the despicable segregation system in the southern United States. The ICRCM seeks to preserve the legacy and the significance of that event by demonstrating why, in the current context, such inherently evil, institutionalized oppression has no place in the human race. The International Civil Rights Center & Museum exists as a testimony to courage and the potential of unified people on the right side of history to make change. The ICRCM will be a gift from the citizens of North Carolina to the nation and the world. We build this monument for their benefit.
Iredell Museums
134 Court Street, Statesville, NC
Mission:
Iredell Museums is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, promote and provide learning experiences in culture, heritage, science and the arts. The organization is the product of a merger of the Iredell Museum of Arts and Heritage and the Children's Museum of Iredell County that is bringing together art and artifacts of American heritage, evocative stories of Colonial life in Iredell County, local and unique art, and hands-on children's exhibits to create a new model for museum attractions in the region. The Iredell Museums envision becoming a regional center of creative exploration, teaching and inspiring a community of learners through interactive exhibits, collections, innovative programs and living history.
Mooresville Arts
103 West Center Avenue, Mooresville, NC
Mission Statement
The mission of Mooresville Arts is to be an advocate for the artist and to serve as an artistic and cultural resource for the Mooresville and Lake Norman community.
Levine Museum of The New South
401 S. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC
Welcome to Levine Museum of the New South!
Levine Museum builds a stronger, more equitable community by connecting people to Charlotte and to each other through history, culture, and celebration. Our exhibits and programs foster empathy, ignite dialogue, and inspire action.
Bechtler Museum Of Modern Art
420 S Tryon St, Charlotte, NC
Mint Museum Uptown
500 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC
Mint Museum Uptown houses the internationally renowned Craft + Design collection, as well as outstanding collections of American, contemporary, and European art.
Designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston, the five-story, 145,000-square-foot facility combines inspiring architecture with cutting-edge exhibitions to provide visitors with unparalleled educational and cultural experiences. Located in the heart of Charlotte’s burgeoning city center, Mint Museum Uptown is an integral part of the Levine Center for the Arts, a cultural campus that includes the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, the Knight Theater, and the Duke Energy Center. Mint Museum Uptown also features a wide range of visitor amenities, including the 240-seat James B. Duke Auditorium, the Lewis Family Gallery, art studios, a restaurant, and a museum store.
Hickory Museum of Art
243 Third Avenue North East, Hickory, NC
History
Paul Austin Wayne Whitener was the founder and first director of the Hickory Museum of Art. In 1935, the Hickory native and Duke University football player, spent the summer in Little Switzerland, North Carolina. It was there he met his future wife, Mildred McKinney Whitener Coe, and his career path would make a dramatic turn. He watched Mickey paint a mountain landscape and thought he would like to try his hand at it. Paul was a natural, and it was there his passion for art was born. Paul's artistic talent advanced rapidly. He enrolled in the Ringling Museum of Art's summer school in Little Switzerland, and later studied under notable artists, Wilford Conrow, Frank Herring and Donald Blake.
Paul's desire to share his own growing appreciation of art prompted him to announce his intention to start an art museum in Hickory, North Carolina, where he had been raised. Area residents shared his vision and in 1944 Paul Whitener's dream was realized, and the Hickory Museum of Art was established. Today, it is the second oldest art museum in North Carolina. Paul served as the first director until his death in 1959. Mickey became the director after his death and served in that position until 1995.
In 1986, the Hickory Museum of Art moved into its current location in the Arts and Science Center of Catawba Valley, initially built as Claremont High School. Our exhibitions feature our Permanent Collection of American Art and works borrowed from private collectors and other institutions. Click on the exhibitions tab on the left to see what is currently on display at the Museum. You can also learn more about what art HMA collects and features.Â
Mint Museum Randolph
2730 Randolph Road, Charlotte, NC
Located in what was the original branch of the United States Mint, Mint Museum Randolph opened in 1936 in Charlotte’s Eastover neighborhood as North Carolina’s first art museum.
Today, in a beautiful park setting, intimate galleries invite visitors to engage with the art of the ancient Americas, ceramics and decorative arts, and European and African art, among other collections.
Resources include a reference library with over 18,000 volumes, a theater featuring lectures and performances, and a museum store offering merchandise that complements both the permanent collection and special exhibitions.
The Schiele Museum Of Natural History
1500 East Garrison Boulevard, Gastonia, NC
Mission:
The Schiele Museum of Natural History is committed to inspiring curiosity and understanding of science and the natural world through exceptional educational programs, exhibits, and research.
Ackland Art Museum
101 South Columbia Street, Chapel Hill, NC
Mission:
The Ackland Art Museum collects, preserves, and presents great art to educate, inspire, and engage the University and its regional, national, and international audiences in free and open inquiry.
Since 1958, the Ackland Art Museum has been one of North Carolina's most important cultural resources. With free admission to all, the Ackland Art Museum presents more than a dozen exhibitions every year, offering a wide stylistic range of art, from contemporary American photography to European master paintings, video installations to Early Modern portraits. The Ackland’s holdings – over 16,000 works of art – include significant collections of European masterworks, twentieth-century and contemporary art, African art, North Carolina pottery, and folk art. In addition, the Ackland has North Carolina’s premier collections of Asian art and works on paper (drawings, prints, and photographs). The Museum's second floor Study Gallery is a dynamic space that exhibits art installed specifically for use by University classes. The Ackland has a vibrant and active program and event schedule offering music, films, gallery talks, and other activities on weekends and during the Museum's extended Thursday evening hours.
Kidzu Childrens Museum
201 South Estes Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
Mission:
To inspire children and the adults in their lives to learn through play.
Museum of Life And Science
433 West Murray Avenue, Durham, NC
The Museum Life and Science’s mission is to create a place of lifelong learning where young children to senior citizens embrace science as a way of knowing about themselves, their community and their world.
A must-see indoor/outdoor science park, the Museum features aerospace, biomechanics, data technology, geology, physical science, small science (for young children), weather, Carolina wildlife, discovery rooms, an outdoor nature park with train ride and farm animals and Magic Wings Butterfly and Bayer Crop Science Insectarium.
A private nonprofit organization, approximately 70% of its operating budget is from earned income: program fees, admissions, membership and corporate and foundations support. Durham County tax dollars help maintain the facility as a trust for Durham residents. The NC General Assembly also provides support though the Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative.
North Carolina Museum Of Art
2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC
Mission:
The North Carolina Museum of Art stewards and shares the people’s art collection and inspires creativity by connecting our diverse communities to cultural and natural resources.
Vision:
To be a vital cultural resource for the entire state and a national leader in creating a welcoming experience of belonging and joy.
North Carolina Museum Of Natural Sciences
11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC
Mission:
The mission of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is to enhance the public's understanding and appreciation of the environment in ways that emphasize the natural diversity of North Carolina and the southeastern United States and relate the region to the world as a whole.
North Carolina Museum Of History
5 East Edenton Street, Raleigh, NC
Mission:
The Division of State History Museums collects and preserves artifacts and other historical materials relating to the history and heritage of North Carolina in a local, regional, national and international context to assist people in understanding how the past influences the present. The division interprets history through exhibitions, educational programs and publications available to the visitor on-site or through distance-learning technologies.
History:
While visiting Boston in the early 1880s, Raleigh News and Observer publisher Samuel A'Court Ashe marveled at that city's past. Everywhere he looked he saw its story. After returning home, Ashe began an editorial campaign to encourage the saving of North Carolina's history so that others, natives and visitors, could learn of the lives our ancestors lived.
Two events evolved out of this campaign. First, one of Ashe's colleagues, city editor Frederick Augustus Olds, the "father" of the North Carolina Museum of History, began collecting objects from North Carolina's past. He traveled all across North Carolina picking up pieces of the state' s history and listening to the stories associated with each item. Second, a gallery of history was set up in 1898 in the State Museum (now called the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences) in the old Agriculture Building.
Olds had soon developed a sizable private collection and suggested that his collection and the historical material in the State Museum be combined to establish a state historical museum. On December 5, 1902, Olds's private collection and the State Museum's collection were merged and opened to the public as the Hall of History. Olds wrote, "There are thirty-seven [cases] which to be sure are very completely filled while much of the space on the walls is occupied by pictures." The cases were mothproof, dustproof and had double safety locks.
In 1914 the North Carolina Historical Commission took over the Hall of History and assigned it a twofold purpose: to teach the history of North Carolina and to preserve historical material. The hall moved into its second home in the State Administration Building, now known as the Ruffin Building, at the intersection of Morgan and Fayetteville streets. These new quarters occupied two large halls on the second floor. But it became obvious very quickly that even this new space would not be adequate for the items of North Carolina's past.
In 1939 the Hall of History moved to the newly constructed Education Building on the corner of Edenton and Salisbury streets. For the very first time, a space had been designed for the museum. Offices and galleries occupied one wing on the first floor and some basement storage was available. With the new space came goals for more attractive exhibits, improved lighting and a better arrangement of artifacts as well as a new emphasis on the care and organization of artifacts. The staff used more progressive exhibition techniques, better cataloging procedures and more specialized collecting areas. They also placed more emphasis on educational programs.
Over the next two decades, with the growth of its collection, the expansion of its exhibit area and the increase of its staff from one staff person to twelve by 1960, the Hall of History no longer fit the image of a "hall." So, on July 1, 1965, it became the North Carolina Museum of History. By the middle of August 1968, its move to the new $3 million Archives and History/State Library Building at 109 East Jones Street was under way. More than 91,000 items were moved during the next eighteen months. The mezzanine exhibits opened in late 1973, completing the galleries in that building.
John D. Ellington became administrator in 1974. His vision for the museum was "to reestablish public awareness of the North Carolina Museum of History as a primary research resource and as an educational institution." The North Carolina Museum of History Associates, Inc. (Associates) a support group for the museum, was founded in 1975.
The Associates became instrumental in finding more space for the museum. In 1985 the museum staff suddenly was faced with the exciting challenge of planning a brand new structure. The new building would be part of a "cultural center" within the state government complex sandwiched between the historic state Capitol, our past and the Legislative Building, our future.
Enthusiastic supporters attended a gala groundbreaking event on June 16, 1988, when digging of the famous "hole" began. Talk about the hole, the largest ever dug in Raleigh, dominated conversation all summer. Trucks hauled countless loads of red dirt up a very steep incline and carried them away. The large hole eventually became three underground parking levels.
More than $29 million later, the staff began moving into its own building at Five East Edenton Street in August 1992. The new museum has a research library, a variety of classroom spaces and a large and well-equipped, 315-seat auditorium. Large gallery spaces total 55,000 square feet, nearly four times the exhibit area available in the old building. Design shops, storage areas for over 250,000 items and conservation labs are now all under one roof.
The past of the North Carolina Museum of History and the past of all North Carolinians are linked together. Through change, challenge and advancement, we all work toward improvement. We are a people museum built by people, operated by people, filled with objects that represent and tell the stories of people. We are alive with the past.
Marbles Kids Museum
201 East Hargett Street, Raleigh, NC
Mission:
Marbles Kids Museum inspires imagination, discovery and learning through extraordinary adventures in play and larger-than-life IMAX experiences.
Airborne & Special Operations Museum
100 Bragg Blvd, Fayetteville, NC
Mission Statement
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation will provide marketing and advertising efforts to the non-military community in support of the ongoing mission of the United States Army’s Airborne & Special Operations Museum (ASOM). The ASOM serves as an adjunct to the local academic and cultural community and provides military history of the airborne and special operations soldiers, from 1940 to the present, to active duty soldiers, veterans, their families and the public at large. The Foundation will conduct private and public fundraising efforts in support of this mission, ongoing ASOM programs, and future exhibit support.
The U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum serves as the custodian and repository of artifacts pertaining to the history of U.S. Army parachute, glider, and special operations forces, 1940 to the present, including airborne development, Office of Strategic Services (OSS), rangers, and other special units. The museum will collect, preserve, manage, interpret, and exhibit these artifacts. The museum will serve as an adjunct to the local academic and cultural community and will provide military history training and instruction to Soldiers and veterans, their families, and to the public at large.
Mountain Gateway Museum
24 Water Street, Old Fort, NC
About Us:
We collect and preserve artifacts and other historical materials relating to the history and heritage of North Carolina in a local, regional, national, and international context to assist people in understanding how the past influences the present.
MISSION:
The Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center collects and preserves artifacts and other historical materials relating to the history and heritage of North Carolina in a local, regional, national, and international context to assist people in understanding how the past influences the present.
Hours of Operation:
Tuesday - Saturday: 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Sunday: 2:00PM - 5:00PM
Monday: Closed
Asheville Art Museum
2 South Pack Square, Asheville, NC
Our Vision: To transform lives through art.
Our Mission: To engage, enlighten and inspire individuals and enrich community through dynamic experiences in American Art of the 20th and 21st centuries.