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National Park Quiz 14: Historic Houses

The Maltese Cross Cabin is being moved yet another time. Where is it going, and where has it been? See question 12. National Park Service photo by Bernard Weinreich.

1. The Lincoln Home National Historic Site is in
a. Lincoln City, Indiana
b. Springfield, Illinois
c. Hodgenville, Kentucky
d. Corbin, Kentucky

2. If you were to visit the only national historic site in Martinez, California, you could tour a historic home where ______ lived with his wife and family.
a. Aldo Leopold
b. John Muir
c. Joseph Wood Krutch
d. Jack London

3. The Paul Revere House, one of the historic sites that make up the Boston National Historical Park, is one of the prime attractions on Boston’s Freedom Trail. All of the following statements about the Paul Revere House are true EXCEPT:
a. The house was built for Paul Revere using plans the famed silversmith drew up himself.
b. The house is the oldest Colonial (pre-Revolution) building in downtown Boston.
c. The house was once used for a cigar factory and a bank.
d. The house is now owned by a private, nonprofit organization.

4. The historic Jones House, which sits on a hill at ______, is an 11-room, three-story French Second Empire mansion. It is built of Cottonwood Limestone, and that is a hint.
a. Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
b. New River Gorge National River
c. Point Reyes National Seashore
d. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

5. Located in Rock Creek Park, a National Park System unit, the Old Stone House is very special because it is
a. the last of the buildings in Washington, DC captured by Confederates during the Civil War
b. the only house in Washington, DC where both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln slept
c. Washington, DC’s last remaining house built with ballast stones from British ships
d. Washington, DC’s last pre-Revolutionary building standing on its original foundation

6. The ______ Home in Appomattox Court House, Virginia was sometimes referred to as the “Surrender House” because it was used on April 9th 1865 for the surrender meeting between General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A. and Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant, U.S.A.
a. McAllen
b. McLaird
c. McLean
d. McClellan

7. Administered as part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, the sub-unit formally known as ______ is a former plantation estate situated across the Potomac River from Washington, DC.
a. Arlington House National Historic Site
b. Arlington House National Memorial
c. Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
d. Arlington House and National Cemetery

8. The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site preserves the house that is the famous poet’s only surviving residence in
a. Philadelphia
b. Baltimore
c. New York City
d. Boston

9. The ______, a national park whose central attraction is an historic house, is located in the same Hyde Park, New York, community as the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site.
a. Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site
b. Charles Pinckney National Historic site
c. Castle Clinton National Monument
d. Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

10. The historic house that is the featured attraction of the ______ also served as headquarters for General George Washington during the Siege of Boston (July 1775 - April 1776).
a. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
b. Longfellow National Historic Site
c. McLoughlin House National Historic Site
d. Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site

Extra credit

11. To tour Connemara, the historic farm where Pulitzer Prize winning writer-poet Carl Sandburg lived and worked for the last 22 years of his life, you’ll need to visit the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Carl Sandburg’s wife, who found the property, was eager for him to buy it because it was very suitable for her hobby interests, especially
a. breeding prize winning dairy goats
b. raising thoroughbred horses
c. growing prize winning rhododendrons
d. painting mountain landscapes

Super bonus question

12. The Maltese Cross Cabin (constructed 1883-1884) was Theodore Roosevelt’s first home in the Dakota Territory. Also called Maltese Cross Ranch Cabin or Maltese Cross Ranch House, the building is now situated in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This cabin has had a more interesting travel history than many people (see accompanying photo). All of the following statements about the Maltese Cross Cabin are true EXCEPT:
a. The cabin was exhibited in Portland, Oregon during Roosevelt’s presidency.
b. The cabin was exhibited in St. Louis, Missouri during Roosevelt’s presidency.
c. The cabin was situated for many years on the state capitol grounds in Bismarck, North Dakota.
d. The cabin was situated on Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch before being moved to its present site.

Answers: (1) b (2) b (3) a (4) d (5) d (6) c (7) c (8) a (9) a (10) b (11) a (12) d – The cabin was originally constructed on the Maltese Cross Ranch (about 35 miles south of the Elkhorn Ranch) and was returned to that location after being exhibited in Portland, St. Louis, and Bismarck. It was never situated on the Elkhorn Ranch.

Grading: 9 or 10 correct, rest on your laurels; 7 or 8 correct, pretty darn good; 6 correct, passably fair; 5 or fewer correct, nothing to brag about.

Comments

Question 9 seems perhaps a bit ambiguous. [Ed: The Hauptquizmeister agrees that item #9 was more than a bit ambiguous in it original form. Item #9 has been extensively revised and should now past muster.]


Got 9, not too shabby :-)

#12 is one of those questions where, once I read the answer, muttered "oh, of course, should've known". TR NP is my favorite NPS unit :-)

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My travels through the National Park System: americaincontext.com


I normally do fairly well on these quizzes, but this one I just blew completely. I only got 4 correct, including the bonus... Apparently I need to pay more attention to the historic houses!!


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