Heritage Alliance Homeschool Activities Spring 2019

We are excited to offer two Homeschool Days this Spring! On April 10, we’ll have our third Homeschool Day with history-based activities throughout town. On May 10, we’ll have a full day at Oak Hill School. Registration is open now and the registration forms for both days are attached to this email. Read below for more information. We hope to see you in Jonesborough this Spring!

 

The Heritage Alliance is excited to offer two days for homeschool students this spring. On Wednesday, April 10, we’ll host our third Homeschool Day. History and heritage based activities are planned from 9:00am – 3:30pm that day and will offer a wide variety of experiences for multiple ages. Students from first grade through senior year of high school are encouraged to come and experience history with their families in Tennessee’s Oldest Town.

 

Activities include Town Tours, an Old Jonesborough Cemetery Tour, and hands-on activities with artifacts in the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum. In addition, students can explore primary sources at the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum, learn all about the railroad at the Chuckey Depot Museum, and listen to a Storyteller. Oak Hill School will be open for mini-lessons on Homeschool Day, but students will have a chance to participate in a full day at Oak Hill School on Friday, May 10.

 

Oak Hill School was built in 1886 to serve the community of Knob Creek. The building served local residents until it was closed in the 1950s. The school building was moved the seven miles from Knob Creek to Jonesborough and placed in its current location behind the Visitors Center. Today, Oak Hill School invites students to come for a day-long field trip and enroll in school in 1893. Reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography – even the pledge of allegiance – are all as they were prior to the turn of the last century.

 

School will last from 9:00am – 2:00pm on May 10. This program is limited to 26 students, grades 1st – 12th, so sign up now!

 

Registration is now open for Homeschool Day (April 10) and the day at Oak Hill School (May 10) at www.heritageall.org. The cost is $7 per student for Homeschool Day and $5 per student for the day at Oak Hill School. Students must register for both days in advance. We cannot accept registration the day of the event.

March 16: St. Patrick Day Cards and Storytelling at the Chester Inn Museum

As a part of Jonesborough’s St. Paddy’s Day Celebration, you can make a Victorian inspired St. Patrick’s Day card from 12-4 in the Christopher Taylor House. You can also hear the Irish fairy tale Molly Murphy and the Scorched Leprechaun at 2:00pm in the parlor of the Chester Inn Museum. Join us on March 16 for a wonderful day celebrating all things Irish!

 

       

 

Join Tennessee’s Oldest Town for their St. Paddy’s Celebration on Saturday, March 16. Discover everything from live Celtic music, green beer, Irish foods, a relaunch of the Jonesborough Gold Hunt and the Leprechaun Trail.

 

 

Enjoy Shamrockin’ on the Plaza in front of the Storytelling Center taking place from 4-7 p.m. with music starting at 5 p.m. Get into the St. Paddy’s spirit with live music from ETSU’s Roaring Jelly, enjoy a beer garden brought by Main Street Café and Catering with beer from Depot Street Brewery and a special menu of Irish foods. Come dressed in your kilt, leprechaun outfit or simply all decked out in green for our Best St. Paddy’s Attire Contest for a chance to win a special prize. Shamrockin’ on the Plaza is sponsored by Main Street Café and Catering and JAMSA, Jonesborough Area Merchants Association.

 

 

Bring the kids and explore the Leprechaun Trail. This interactive trail will guide you through participating museums, shops and restaurants downtown where you’ll discover treasures consisting of activities or St. Paddy’s-themed treats. One “treasure” along the Leprechaun Trial will be a dulcimer group playing traditional Celtic music. Another treasure you may stumble upon is a make-your-own Victorian, St. Patrick’s Day card from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Christopher Taylor House. Along the trail you’ll also hear stories from playwright and author, Anne G’Fellers-Mason, as she tells the Irish fairytale of, Molly Murphy and the Scorched Leprechaun, in the Chester Inn Museum parlor at 2 p.m.

 

 

Participate in the Jonesborough Gold Hunt, a mobile-friendly QR code scavenger hunt, taking place throughout downtown all weekend long. The hunt will include almost 20 locations incorporating Jonesborough’s unique history and architecture. You can find more information about the hunt and get started at jbohunt.com. Another great way to explore Jonesborough is by taking a guided tour of Main Street with the Heritage Alliance. Tour tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Chester Inn Museum located on Main Street.

 

 

Also going on in Jonesborough, the Historic Jonesborough Dance Society will also offer a Saint Patrick’s Day Contra Dance from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center. Admission for the dance is $7 for adults and $5 for children and students.

 

 

For more information call 423.753.1010.

New Exhibits at Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

The Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum has new exhibits out for spring! “Communications” examines the transition of communication technology from the 19th to 20th centuries by focusing on 4 methods: letters, postcards, telegrams, and telephones. The exhibit features several artifacts including a particularly large object that has not been on display in some time. It also features an interactive component where visitors can practice dialing local phone numbers from the 1956 Johnson City phone book using a rotary dial telephone.

 

 

 

The other new exhibit is in the Spotlight Section of the museum. The last two years the Spotlight exhibits have focused on restored buildings in Jonesborough. This year the spotlight is photographs to coincide with the Heritage Alliance’s ongoing digitization project. Not only is the Heritage Alliance digitizing their archival photographic collection, but we are also looking to the community for assistance in expanding our collection. The first spotlight features photographs of women, which coincides with Women’s History Month.

 

 

 

The Museum is open from 11-6 on Monday, Friday, and Saturday and from 1-6 on Sunday. Town Strolling Tours are available on Saturdays at 1:00pm. Tours depart from the Chester Inn and costumed guides lead guests on an hour long journey through Jonesborough’s storied past. The ever popular Jonesborough Mythbusting Tour is available the second Saturday of the month at 1:00pm. Thursday evening tours and the Old Jonesborough Cemetery Tour both return in May.

 

 

The Chester Inn is a Tennessee Historical Commission State-Owned Historic Site. This project is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee Historical Commission. The museum is an integral part of programming and interpretation for the Heritage Alliance.

 

 

For more information on the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum or the Heritage Alliance please call our office at 423.753.9580 or the Chester Inn Museum at 423.753.4580.  You can also contact the organization via email at info@heritageall.org.  Additional information about the Heritage Alliance and its mission can be found online at http://www.heritageall.org/. Be sure to follow the Chester Inn and Heritage Alliance Facebook pages for updates about events at the Chester Inn and other Heritage Alliance programs.