The Smithsonian National Museum of American History

I visited the National Museum of American History on both Saturday and Sunday. My favorite exhibits were downstairs. There were three exhibits that I really liked: "America on the Move", "On the Water" and "Lighting a Revolution".

America on the move covered the history of transportation in America, and how changes affected our way of life. From farmers taking their produce by horse driven cart to the local market, to loading them on refrigerated train cars (kept cool by blocks of  ice cut from frozen lakes) and making them available across the country. 

Walking  and bicycling, led to streetcars, trains, automobiles and public transportation like buses.

The Interstate highway system made travel over long distances easier, and opened the way for the interstate trucking industry. 

Steamships were used for travel across the ocean. Transporting goods across the ocean required lots of manpower -- cargo nets, hoists and longshoremen. The introduction of standard containers that could be transferred directly from ships to semi trucks or trains caused the cargo nets to be replaced by cranes -- greatly reduced the required manpower. 

It was a great exhibit! Below are a few photos I took. The John Bull, below, was the first steam locomotive in the United States. It derailed frequently at first, due to uneven tracks, but that problem was solved by adding guide wheels to the front.

Farmers changed the crops they grew to ones that shipped well and could be grown in quantity. The mass production increased the need for migrant farm workers. A farmer, below, brings boxes of produce to the train station for shipping to the wider market. It not only affected the growers, but small markets that got edged out by large supermarkets carrying items from all over the country and all over the world.

Highways made long distance travel easier, and the Interstate highway system made it even easier for people to vacation and relocate, as well as facilitating the interstate trucking industry.

People moved from the big cities into suburbs. Instead of the straight, narrow streets in the cities, suburb developers created winding streets to slow traffic and provide a more relaxed and peaceful environment.  

School buses opened the way for the demise of one room schoolhouses, as children could be brought to a central school from longer distances.

Using common containers for transporting goods on trucks, trains, and ships simplified the shipping industry and changed port requirements. Ports needed a flat area to stage and store shipping containers and good access to railroads. That contributed to Northern California's main shipping port moving from San Francisco to Oakland.

I also really liked the "On theWater" exhibit at the American History Museum. Instead of documenting the history of America's roadways, it documented the history of travel and commerce on America's waterways and trade routes.

It included steamships going up and down rivers like the Mississippi; whaling, clam, Atlantic cod, and lobster harvesting in New England; oysters in Chesapeake bay; the slave and tobacco trades; piracy; clipper ships and ocean liners; and shipping grain, timber, ore, and other goods on the great lakes.

Below are a few photos of ship models from that exhibit -- a Mississippi steamboat, a tobacco ship, a clipper ship that carried miners to the California gold rush, and an ocean liner.

The third exhibit I really liked at the American History Museum was called "Lighting a Revolution". I thought it was interesting that Thomas Edison considered himself an inventor, not a  scientist. I guess that makes sense.