Museums, historical sites

Note: Anything missing or incorrect? Email news@momscharlotte.com 

• SCHIELE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: Museum of natural history, American Indian culture and early Piedmont history; interactive permanent galleries; special hands-on exhibits and programs interpreting more than 400 years of Piedmont history. Gastonia, www.schielemuseum.org

• LEVINE MUSEUM OF THE NEW SOUTH: Permanent exhibit: “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South.” Uptown, www.museumofthenewsouth.org

• THE LIGHT FACTORY MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM: One of the Southeast’s best photo and film arts centers. Spirit Square, Uptown, www.lightfactory.org

• MINT MUSEUM OF ART: Permanent exhibits include pieces from the museum’s pre-Columbian, decorative art and European and American collections. Tuesday evenings are free. Eastover, www.themintmuseums.org

• MINT MUSEUM OF CRAFT + DESIGN: Featuring works in glass, ceramics, wood, metal and fabrics from international artists. Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. are free. Uptown, www.themintmuseums.org

• AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER: Programs are aimed at teens and adults. www.aacc-charlotte.org

• CAROLINAS AVIATION MUSEUM: Museum/hangar featuring aircraft, including a fully operational Piedmont Airlines DC-3. www.carolinasaviation.org

• CHARLOTTE MUSEUM OF HISTORY: Features the county’s oldest surviving home: Colonial Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, built in 1774. The Alexander Home, log kitchen and stone spring house sit on the museum’s grounds. East Charlotte, www.charlottemuseum.org

• CHARLOTTE NATURE MUSEUM: Butterfly Pavilion, nature trail, puppet theater, other exhibits relating to urban nature. Myers Park, www.discoveryplace.org

• CHARLOTTE HISTORIC TROLLEY MUSEUM: Features exhibits and streetcars from the city’s early days. Guides share charming stories. SouthEnd, www.charlottetrolley.org

• HISTORIC LATTA PLANTATION: A circa-1800 restored and furnished Catawba River plantation house. The 62-acre farm of Scots-Irish merchant James Latta includes the original home, meat house and 11 outbuildings, as well as farm animals, gardens and occasionally costumed interpreters. Huntersville, http://lattaplantation.org

• HISTORIC ROSEDALE: A restored 1815 Federal house and gardens on 8 acres offering an interpretation of the antebellum period of backcountry plantation life. Noda, www.historicrosedale.org

• HUGH TORANCE HOUSE AND STORE: A restored 18th-century Federal house and log store, the oldest standing store in North Carolina. Huntersville, 704-875-3271

• JAMES K. POLK MEMORIAL HISTORIC SITE: Includes a reconstructed log house and kitchen with 18th-century furnishings and a museum with film, exhibits and displays representing the life and times of James K. Polk, 11th president. Free. Pineville, www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/polk/polk.htm

• SETTLERS’ CEMETARY: Charlotte’s oldest municipal burial site, with 18th- and 19th-century graves, including that of Thomas Polk, a founder of Charlotte. It’s the only 18th-century site that remains in uptown Charlotte. Free.

• VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL: A concrete memorial engraved with names of the Vietnam War veterans, much like the memorial in Washington, D.C. Free. Thompson Park, Uptown. www.parkandrec.com (click on Parks, then Thompson Park).