Tennessee has several engaging Civil War parks, including the Shiloh National Military Park. The poignantly beautiful 5,000-acre park contains the battlefield site, a national cemetery and the Shiloh Indian Mounds. Visitors can opt to walk the park, take a self-guided auto tour, or an audio-aided auto tour. There are also regularly scheduled ranger-led interpretive programs.
1055 Pittsburg Landing Road, Shiloh, Tennessee. 731-689-5696, www.nps.gov/shil, @ShilohNPS
Restored 19th century village
A quaint little village sitting in the Tennessee countryside near the Big South Fork National Park, Historic Rugby, Tennessee, was founded in 1880 by a British author and social reformer who created it as a cooperative community. It failed to thrive but today several historic buildings remain including the Thomas Hughes Free Public Library (1882), the founder’s home (1884), Christ Church Episcopal (1887) and the Schoolhouse (1907). Guided walking tours begin in the Historic Rugby Visitor Centre and Theatre.
I-75 North to Exit 141 (Huntsville/Oneida), then Highway 63 to Highway 27, turn on Highway 52 near Elgin and follow the signs to Rugby, Tennessee. 423-628-2441, www.historicrugby.org
Historic stone home
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Knoxville's Historic Ramsey House was built in 1797 of Tennessee pink marble and limestone and is filled with period furnishings. Bring a picnic lunch and sit under a shade tree at one of the picnic tables. If you can make the visit on July 29 or August 26, you'll be able to enjoy a vintage baseball afternoon doubleheader for free on the Historic Ramsey House grounds. Tennessee Association of Vintage Base Ball teams play all over the state by 1864 rules and wearing period uniforms. Check tennesseevintagebaseball.com for the league's April-August schedule.
About 10 miles east of downtown Knoxville at 2614 Thorngrove Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee. 865-546-0745, www.ramseyhouse.org, @HistoricRamseyH
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