The National Trust Is Celebrating Preservation Month with Virtual Tours of Historic Sites

If you’re a history buff or a heritage fan, you might already know that we’re currently in the middle of National Preservation Month (aka Historic Preservation Month). For the past 47 years, historical societies and organizations across the United States have hosted a series of fun and family friendly activities at historic sites throughout the month of May. They do this to promote the benefits—both social and economic—of preserving and understanding heritage. 

Unfortunately with COVID-19, most historic sites have shut their doors to the public for the time being. While visiting historic sites physically isn’t possible right now you can still tour some of America’s most-loved historic attractions remotely—thanks to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. To make the most of this situation and keep heritage promotion alive, National Preservation Month has now become Virtual Preservation Month. 

The National Trust has also decided to release one new digital heritage adventure daily throughout this month. Every day in May now means a new online historical experience.

Virtual Preservation Month kicked off on May 1 with a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Home. The following day, music fans were treated to a short Vanessa Ferguson concert at Nina Simone’s childhood home. On day three we got to go on a virtual Route 66 road trip courtesy of Google Earth, on day four we could view Rockefeller’s modern sculpture collection while on day five we got the chance to tour Lyndhurst, a stunning Gothic revival mansion (seriously, don’t miss this one). 

More events have been added since then, including a vintage game night (this event is actually set to occur on the first Wednesday of every month from now on),  a one-act play called “Bunk Johnson—Out of the Shadows: A Blues Poem,” and a lesson on the history of pickles in NYC’s Lower East Side. If this month proves anything, it’s that heritage is anything but boring.

Don’t worry if you had no idea that Virtual Preservation Month was a thing before now but still want to check out events that already happened. You can view most of past experiences any time you want. Worried about missing new events? You can sign up for daily email alerts that’ll remind you to head to the site and unlock a new experience.