who would actually make a map of a community, and then they would extrapolate what it looked like from an angle, so that you would be able to see the streets, and of course, it shows the pride of spokane, the great falls with the water pouring forth. and it's all very dramatic. this is done through lithography, and they would have used more than one plate to get the various shades and colors. this was done in 1905. the inset showing fort wright is there, because fort wright is not in that grid pattern. it's farther down the river, but it was important to the settlement. what did you pay for this at the auction? uh, $400. you paid $400 for this. let me tell you something. if this was in a shop, they would have this at about $5,500 to $6,000. whoa! wow! it is really wonderful. the fact that something so big lasted in such good condition for so long is really remarkable.

oh, well, thank you. so, yeah. that's great. this belonged to my husband's grandparents from california. they built their house in the 1900s, and they filled it full of stickley pieces, and my husband inherited this piece after they passed away. it is indeed a great piece of gustav stickley. what's interesting about this piece is that it's a little bit later in gustav stickley's production. we know that several ways. one-- on the back, there's a gustav stickley stamp. it's a branded mark. he changed his mark several times throughout the course of his career, and the mark that we have here is a later mark. most often, in his earlier part of his career, gustav stickley used quartersawn oak. this is a straight-grained oak, not a quartersawn oak. the proportions of your bookcase are a little bit smaller than what they would be if this bookcase had been made ten years earlier. a lot of people, when they see

this bookcase, might think that it had been refinished, but as gustav stickley's career progressed, the finishes got lighter and lighter and lighter, so this is indeed the absolute original finish that was put on here by gustav stickley. one interesting thing is, on the back of your bookcase... uh-huh. ...is the number 718, and what's really cool about that is the fact that that's the catalogue number, and that was put on the day this piece left the gustav stickley factory. this piece was probably made 1914, 1915, somewhere in there. it has these great hand-hammered pulls on it, which just, immediately you know it's gustav stickley. there's nothing wrong with this piece at all. it's absolutely beautiful. now, what's interesting is, gustav stickley went out of business in about 1917, give or take a little bit, for several reasons. his brothers started another business-- l. & j.g. stickley. oh, i remember reading about them. he was a wonderful furniture maker, he was a great furniture designer, but he was a pretty poor businessman, to be honest with you. he was really not very good at all. and this is probably towards the end of his production. pretty early on, about 1970,

people began to collect gustav stickley, so we've had 30, 35 years of people collecting it. so the market's very mature. at auction today, this bookcase would probably bring between $4,500 and $6,500. oh. i'm really surprised that as old as it is, you know, that it isn't a little more. we have a lot of antiques, but this is our pride and joy. these glasses were from my grandfather. uh, my grandfather was german, and he and my grandmother went to germany in the early 1900s on vacation, and i was told, they brought them back, and they were in my grandparents' family, and then my mother and father had them, and now i have them. well, that's where they're from. they're from germany. oh. they were made in bavaria, a part of germany that was almost on the czechoslovakian border. the name of the company

that produced these glasses was called theresienthal, and the company was established in 1836 by franz steigerwald, and one of the reasons why the company was established is that the king wanted to make glassware in his own country. he didn't like the idea that they were importing glassware from other foreign factories, so he was very supportive of steigerwald at the time. now, of course, these were not made in 1836. these were made just around 1900, maybe even 1910, so your timing is absolutely accurate. and these are from the art nouveau period of glassmaking. many of the designs were inspired by artists named hans christiansen and bruno mauder. this very well could be a hans christiansen design. when we see this type of glass, they usually look like flowers. you see these lovely delicate pastel petals. yes. they're very stylized,

which is typical of an art nouveau design, and when you look inside them, it's actually looking at the interior of a flower. it is. it's very delicate, very, very beautiful. they're hand-blown. you have the stems that are made and then the upper part of the goblet, and then the enameling is applied afterwards. after. it's hand painted with a stencil. so it's very labor-intensive. we don't see many of these as sets. how many do you have? i have 12 of each. you have 12... okay, that's a lot. it's unusual. for this type of glass, i probably could see a dealer selling them for, uh, $400 for the larger goblet, and $300 for the champagne goblet. oh. so the entire set would be somewhere close to $8,500. that-that's absolutely amazing. oh, that's really great.

this is something that i've had since i was really tiny, and it's sort of like an olden-day view-master. uh-huh. you put a slide in there and you look through it and it gives a 3-d image. okay. what you have is a brewster stereoscopic viewer. this is a relatively late one. it was probably made in england, but the earliest ones of these were made in the 1850s. you're telling me you liked these because there were some naughty views in here. there are some naughty victorian ones in there, yeah. oh, my gosh, that is ver... that's very naughty. i know, i know, it is. (chuckles) this, in the original box, is worth about $800 to $1,000. it would be worth more... wow. ...but the oculars are cracked. yes. the thing that i'm sort of interested in is: how did these american stereo views get in there? i have no idea. how did we let those yanks into my slide box? well, these are very important american stereo views. okay. these are from the fisk expedition at 1866, crossing the plains to montana.

this is the earliest photographically documented expedition into the american west. that slide is probably worth about $200 or $300. oh, my gosh. the total value of the box that you have here... mm-hmm. ...is several thousand dollars. i haven't added them all up, but... oh! ...the better the tinting and the better condition they are, the more expensive they are. the individual slide could be $15, $25 apiece or more. wow. so you've got quite a little group of stuff here. (laughing): i'm glad i came today. woman: i went to a goodwill on the oregon coast... appraiser: okay. ...and for $20, i purch... i knew they were special when i saw them. and then you went further. you had them tested? yes. i went from... many gemologists, and i must have-- on the oregon coast alone, probably ten to 15. no kidding? a total of over 20. did anybody tell you what they were? most of them didn't have a clue.

this gemologist would say, "go to that gemologist," and i'd go to the next. "and this gemologist is better." anybody offer to buy them? um... nobody offered to buy them. okay. because i, um, i didn't want to sell them. they knew, they knew i didn't want to sell them. we're in a business. people always make bids to buy, you know, when you take it in to show it to them. yeah. now, what do you think they are? well... one lady committed herself and she said she believed they were old rubies. at first, they'd hold them and they'd go, "they're not real." okay. and then they'd say... "wait a second." ..."well, maybe they are." yeah, "well, maybe they are," you know, and most of the time-- because i had them in my little hot hand and i'd warm them up and they'd be warm-- they'd say, "oh, they're beads," you know, but then after that, she said that they're worth around $10,000, you know, but i'm going, "oh, my gosh," and that was cool, but she said she wouldn't commit herself, so she sent me to another big mucky-muck. she said he was a gemologist and he had a big gallery...

okay. ...with pieces that were, like, $30,000 and $100,000. you went to a high-class store. yeah, so it looked really good. now, what did he tell you? and he took them in his hands and he, at first, said the same thing-- "oh, they're not real," and i said "yes, they are." he said the color didn't look real. then he got a hot thing and he poked it. that's good, that's another test. now, what we have here is a stone tester. this thing does not lie. cool. if it's not real, it's going to go up into that area right around here. and this also tells you what type of stones it is. rubies are corundum. sapphires are also corundum. i tested quite a few of your stones. yeah. now, watch what happens. nothing. okay. nothing... nothing. (laughing nervously): is that good? we're going all around it. so... now-- and i looked at the stones through the loupe and everything else. yeah?

i'm sad to tell you that they're not real. no. yeah. they're some sort of composite. they might be a plastic. you're kidding. i'm not kidding. he put an hour and a half on those things. i'm telling you, and if you have this tested in the lab, it's going to cost you about $200 to have the stones tested, and they're going to tell you that it's not real. and did you see the pieces you can see through and everything? everything. i'm sad, i'm sad to tell you that-- i wish they were real, because if they were real, a ruby necklace like this would be worth $100,000. (laughs) now it's worth-- good costume jewelry... so it's worth ten bucks or 20 bucks. that's what it is. strange, very strange. so... i'm sorry to tell you that, but we had a good time with them. yeah, we had a great time. (chuckles) i'm glad you came in. yes, it's good to meet you. okay. man: my aunt had purchased the painting from the artist-- duncan gleason-- in the early '50s.

she felt that it looked... reminded her of myself and my brother down on the beach at a beach house she had in southern california, and, uh, when she passed away, it went to my parents, and upon their passing, i had come to have the painting. i've had it for over 20 years now. well, as you say, the artist is duncan gleason. do you know much about him? i know that he was a california historian writing about, particularly, coastal california. that's just a small part of what he did. he was a man of many, many interests. as you say, he's from california. he actually died in california, but he traveled pretty extensively. he went across europe on his motorbike, he explored north africa by foot, and he seemed to be interested in everything. it was a life lived to the full. when he was a teenager, around about 14, he already knew that he wanted to be an illustrator, and he went off and studied in los angeles and san francisco, also chicago, and then in new york; and in new york, he started to illustrate magazines, but he also wanted to be a painter, and he made that sometimes quite difficult transition

that illustrators have of moving into the fine arts, and i think he was a very talented painter. and we can see some of the wonderful painterly brushwork that he's got in here and here... and up here. not only was he doing that, he was also... an acrobat, he did gymnastics, he played musical instruments. there seemed to be very little that he didn't do. see, i never heard of that. (chuckles) yeah, he's probably best known to most people who have made a study of his work for his work with ships and boats and basically the life aquatic. he was a master yachtsman, he wrote a lot about yachting, he did a lot of sailing in long island sound, and had a great affinity for the sea, and we can see that coming out here. incidentally, this one probably would have been painted at laguna beach, where he did a lot of his figurative paintings. the artist lived for about 80 years and died, i think, around about 1959. this is obviously a mature work, so i would have thought it was probably painted in the, the '20s, '30s, maybe even into the '40s. i'm going to take the painting down

and just have a look at the back of it here. okay. and here we see the artist's label-- "painted by duncan gleason"-- and a bit of a potted biography, which doesn't really give you a flavor of the man, i feel, and the title-- "sea urchins"-- and the price, which appears to be $88. i love that title "sea urchins," that's rather good. so... bought for $88-- when was that? probably early '50s, maybe '53. and have you had it appraised since then? i had an insurance appraisal done on it, oh, in 1988-89. at that time, it was, as i recall, it was $2,500 was the insurance appraisal. well, there's been a big upswing in prices for this artist over the last few years-- he's very much in demand-- and i think this is a particularly charming painting, although i have to say they're rather perilously perched on these rocks. it looks as though you could get swept in at any moment. and i would say for auction, a piece like this

could carry a conservative estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. oh, my. and it would not surprise me at all if it made in excess of that. really? now, if you were to insure it, i think you should be looking for something north of $40,000. for insurance purposes? yeah. wow. but it really is a wonderful, fresh little painting and very evocative of summers on the shore. wow, that's just... that's unbelievable. so i hope it takes you back. (both chuckling) it certainly does. man: it's a kachina doll. it was my father's. i got it after he passed away. he taught school in southern idaho. during the '20s, when they relocated tribal people from different places, they sent the children all over the united states, and this young man became a friend of my father's, and when he left school, he gave my dad the doll, so...

do you know where it came from? from hearing what my dad talked about and what he said, you know, that it was from... southwest america somewhere. it's from northern arizona. northern arizona? it is a kachina doll, but... there's some different things about this one that makes it a little bit special. it's not like most kachina dolls. we actually know who made this doll. oh, really? yeah. it was made by a guy named wilson tawaquaptewa. oh, my goodness. and he was the hopi chief at oraibi, but there's two oraibi villages and i'm not sure which one it was. see, that name sounds familiar. yeah, but... because he was the chief, he wasn't going to do something traditional and sell it, and so he made these kachinas that are like no other kachinas. really? you go through the books and you're not going to find one of these, because they most often represent a badger, or they have characteristics of a mouse or some animal in his world out there

that's not a traditional kachina, and this is one of them. the way that we spotted it is he liked to use this indigo color, and... it's this really faded blue here. i never noticed it. yeah, we almost didn't, too. (laughs) tawaquaptewa worked from about 1930 into the early 1960s. if it wasn't one of his and it was a kachina that looked like it was from the '30s like this one, that's worth some pretty good money-- $2,500... oh, my goodness. ...to $3,500, but because it's a wilson tawaquaptewa, there's a group of collectors now who recognize his work, who buy his work. on a bad day, this is worth $7,500 to $8,500. uh... (chuckles) ...if it's a good day and the right collector's in the room,

$9,000. my goodness. so it's something real special and it's something real unique that you ended up with. oh, no kidding, and to know that, you know, you can recognize the maker, you know... yeah. ...that is, that is amazing. that surprises me, surprises me a great deal. great. yeah. (laughs) yeah, it does. before the roller coaster, bumper cars and ferris wheel, there was the carousel. during its heyday in the early 1900s, over 4,000 carousels entertained kids and adults across america. today, less than 150 antique wooden machines are in operation. we went to riverfront park where a century-old carousel continues to delight riders of all ages. (child squealing) go, horsey, go! (carousel music playing, children squealing) this carousel is a ride that's definitely my speed, david. tell me all about it. well, we're here at riverfront park in spokane. this is a looff carousel.

charles looff was a danish woodworker who emigrated to the united states in 1870. in 1876, he created his first carousel for probably the most legendary amusement park, coney island, thus creating the coney island style. i didn't realize there were different styles of carousels. there are three main styles in american carousel: coney island style, which is more fancy, jeweled, elaborate. uh, then we have the philadelphia style, which is maybe a little bit more naturalistic. and then the country, or country fair style, which was more simple in that it had to be assembled and disassembled to move from carnival to fair to carnival to fair. walberg: this is a beautiful example of a coney island style carousel, built here in 1909 and still intact. are these the original horses? mccarron: with the exception of two, and then also, the band organ is original, which is very rare. well, they're beautiful. i'd love to take a closer look at some of these horses. let's do it. (carousel music playing) well, this is a handsome guy. tell me all about him. well, this is a jumper. and this is a papa size, which is the large size. and in this row, we have a mama size and a baby size.

your referred to it as a jumper. is that a category? this one goes up and down, as opposed to a stander, which is stationary on the platform. and of the sizes, are the larger sizes more desirable? yes, they are. actually, the carousel market has gone up and down... oh, you had to put that pun in there, didn't you? but, realistically, yeah, the larger sizes do bring more money. what would be the value of a beautiful horse like this? this one, probably at auction, $25,000 to $35,000. i understand there's an even rarer horse on this carousel than this. can we take a look at that? sure, let's do that. okay. oh, look at this. what makes this one so special? well, this is an armored horse, which is a little bit more rare. and... this is rather unique, this carousel, in that normally, looff carousels had one armored horse, this one has four. this one, i would say, is twice as valuable as the last one we saw. so figure, at auction, $50,000 to $75,000. my goodness. now, this is a beautiful work of art, and i would imagine that there are fakes and reproductions out there. so as a collector is looking,

how can they tell if they have an authentic carousel horse or a reproduction or a fake? well, of course, there are fakes, so some of the ways to tell would be to look at the eyes. old eyes were normally taxidermy eyes, so the pupil is not exactly circular. and then, of course, the glass surface is worn because of the use. mm-hmm. we have a reproduction on this carousel with brand-new, doll-like eyes. very easy to tell the difference. yes. then, the american carousels went counterclockwise. so the carving on the outside that the public saw would be a little bit more elaborate than the carving on the inside that the public didn't see. then also, at the hole here, you can see, if you have brand-new white primer rather than an aged, yellowed primer, pretty good chance it's a new horse. we've looked at two beautiful carousel horses, but, as i've noticed a lot of times, it's not uncommon to see other animals on a carousel. is there a difference in value? yes, there is. actually, the non-horse figures are more rare, and then, thus, bring a little bit more at auction. we have on this carousel a tiger, which is a great one.

and it's one of three in existence. and that one, i would say, auction estimate: $80,000 to $120,000. david, thank you for showing me all these beautiful carousel horses, but as we're talking, i notice kids getting in line over there, so if we're going to get our ride in, we better hurry up. that sounds great, mark. (carousel music playing) woman: i know it's a colt revolver, and it was given to my great-great-grandfather in about 1872 by a good friend of his, who... they both served in the civil war together. and this friend of his was, according to this letter, a bodyguard for president lincoln and supposedly got a shot off at john wilkes booth during the assassination. and since then, the revolver has been passed down through my grandfathers on my father's side, uh, down to my father and now it's in my possession. and this letter is dated 1923.

that's correct. and it was written by my great-grandfather. the friend of my great-great-grandfather's, fletcher budd, was a criminal lawyer in philadelphia in the 1870s, 1880s, and other than that, we don't know much about him. what do you know about the lincoln assassination? the basic story-- that he was shot at ford theatre and wilkes booth supposedly broke his leg when he fell off the balcony, or jumped off the balcony. i believe the letter actually says that fletcher budd broke john wilkes booth's leg firing at him. it does say that, and i haven't ever read that in any history books, so i don't know. yeah. okay. so let's start with the gun. the gun is a colt model 1849 pocket revolver. okay. it's cased and with, it appears, all the original accessories. oh, wonderful. i did a little bit of research on the serial number here and found out that the gun was made in 1862. so, as you know,

lincoln was assassinated on april 14, 1865. yes. so it's very conceivable that this gun, at least from a timeline, could have been used. right. from what i know of the assassination, lincoln only had one bodyguard that night. right. and he left his post that evening, which allowed john wilkes booth to enter into lincoln's private booth right. and assassinate him with a henry derringer pistol. okay. my only trouble is that the only research that i discovered is that the name of his bodyguard was john parker. right. that's all i've ever heard. yeah. lincoln didn't have, as you pointed out, any sort of official group of guys that were his bodyguards. and, in fact, john parker was on loan to him from the metropolitan police service that evening. the secret service actually didn't begin until july of 1865. oh, okay. and their primary responsibility was to find counterfeiters. oh. it wasn't to protect the president at that point. right. in this condition, at auction, i would estimate this pistol

is worth about $2,000 to $3,000. oh, wow. if there was any way that we could truly document the history behind it and support it more, i would guess it would be about $15,000 to $20,000. oh, wow. and, uh, part of this is that, in many cases, family histories become clouded. exactly. even if he was there, and even if he did take a shot, it would've been big news. you would think so. exactly. i mean... this is one of the most investigated crimes in its day. so if he had any sort of, even peripheral, association, it would have been documented. well, thank you. you're welcome. it's good to know. when my parents bought their first home, my mother wanted to fill it with american... early american antiques. and when was this? 1950, 1951. 1950? and where, was it right here, in spokane? no, it was in los angeles. i wanted to know their value, because i want to insure them properly.

my father always warned me that they were valuable, but that's all he ever said. okay... no numbers or anything? okay. no. first of all, i love windsor chairs. i do, too. okay, you love them, too? i have seven at home. that's great... seven of them. well, which one of these do you think is the better chair? i don't know. which would you pick? i would think this one's older. but i wouldn't know. that's older, okay. all right. but you don't have any idea of value comparison? no. okay. let me just quickly say, this is a lovely oval seat, probably new england. it has a pine seat-- you always look underneath here at the wood, and that looks like white pine. it suggests it's new england because they used a lot of white pine there. nice chair that has... that's a rocker. but it's not going to be that valuable, okay? mm-hmm. this little rocker could be insured for about $600, okay? if it had paint, it'd be more valuable. i'm going to slide this rocker back and-and come over to this one. it's a rhode island windsor from about 1760 to 1770. oh, cool. okay? and what's neat about rhode island windsors is that there are a group of them

with this profile-- do you see this curved profile? this is the crest rail, these usually hickory or ash-- because their bendable-- spindles come down to this little pillow on top of the seat rail. you see how it's echoed, this s-curve is also echoed here? now the arms-- i'm going to tip it forward just a little bit. what kind of wood do you think that is? it's a light colored wood, very hard. i don't know. maple? maple? maple. it's a wood that they used a lot in rhode island. they used hard woods. now, this seat kind of threw me off. it looks like it's chestnut. but that makes sense for rhode island. and the wonderful seat with this-- let me just show you this. see that little flair? mm-hmm. now, that was something that you see a lot on english chairs. that wonderful little flair that gives it that extra, extra curve. and this fits the bottom quite nicely, right? yes, it's very comfortable. very comfortable, right? and one of the really nice things about the chair is that the feet are original. these feet usually get cut off, they turn them into rocker chairs, like the other chair was turned into a rocker. original feet. i couldn't believe it. you know, i look very carefully to see because

they're often replaced. you need to check that and that takes away about 80% of the value. but these feet are good. so it's a really, really nice chair. now, there's one thing that it used to have that it doesn't have anymore. it's missing paint. paint? it lost its paint. almost every windsor was painted. oh, i didn't know that. if you look at the bottom-- do you see this-- has the original wash and then the white, the white paint. so this is what stays. this is the... it's like the dna that remains after they took awathat surface, probably a hundred years ago. amazing. now, for insurance purposes, you could easily put this chair for about $16,000. $16,000? $16,000, yes. wow. (chuckles) $16,000. just for this chair. so that's quite a difference. wow. that's a lot. that's a lot. for a chair. it is a lot for a chair, and it should be protected. would you like to sit in it? okay? oh, sure. have a seat. do you mind if i sit in this no. and i can look up at you. okay. now, if the white paint were still on there, mm-hmm. it would probably be, kind of on a bad day, $60,000. wow.

now, your mom didn't take the paint off, so you can't blame her. no. no, she didn't. (talking quietly) i started collecting these about 20 years ago. i collected them one at a time. sometime i was limited because of finances, and other times, i could only find one. many times i bought the only one that there was. well, what you have collected in the last 20 years is an astounding assembly of victorian puff hearts. at the very late part of the 1800s, the victorian jewelry style changed from real heavy jewelry into simple, sweet motifs. the victorians were very, very romantic and they loved symbolism in their jewelry. the puff hearts have little flowers on them, and some of them even are padlocks. they were locking their loved one's heart into their soul. very romantic. now, you have how many hearts here?

thirty-eight. well, 38 includes the little bible at the bottom. and what is the significance of the bible at the bottom? i just particularly like that one. it opens. it has a tiny heart lock on it. oh, i see the lock on the side of the book there. that's very charming. now, through the 20 years that you've been collecting these hearts, what do you think you've paid on average per heart? i have paid from six dollars to... $35. i'd say on today's market on a retail level, this piece would be worth about $3,500. i'm astounded. (laughs) i am just astounded. that's a real thrill. i bought them at an antique shop

probably about 25 years ago. uh-huh. and what did you pay for them? i think i paid between $125 and $150 for the camel. uh-huh. and around $75 for the monkey. well, you've done a little research on these. a little. and tell us what you've found. um, found a picture of the camel from a museum site i believe in switzerland. uh-huh. the monkey i didn't find. mm-hmm. so you found this and you identified the maker and the year, right? steiff and the one that i saw was 1908. 1908, yeah. now, what did you want me to tell you about it? he had some bad hole damage. mm-hmm. i did a little bit of repair. there's a lot that i didn't repair. uh-huh. i want to know how that helps or hurts. i see. um, inserted some material under here sure. because the straw was coming out. and i added these tassels. this is original. this is original. yeah. these are original. that came with it, yup. these little gold ones are added.

okay. these kinds of repairs don't really affect the value. they actually help stabilize the toy. i generally would leave small holes alone. but anything where you have a large hole the straw. doesn't, does not hurt the value. the tassels, definitely leave them. they add to it. if anybody was upset with them, they could remove them. you're absolutely right about the age. 1908 and it is steiff. and... good. we've had steiff on the show before, but generally what we see are steiff teddy bears. but the non-bear type steiff is also very, very desirable and particularly when you get into this kind of size. this is probably the largest of the camels that they made in that era. with the cast iron wheels. and basically he's in pretty darn good condition. most steiff animals do have buttons in their ear. right. everybody's looking for the button. and you can see on the monkey, there was a hole where he did have a button. i'm not so sure he had a button in his ear. there's no remnant of it. and i'm not 100% sure that they put buttons

in the largest animals like this. i would say on today's market at auction-- and also i think a retail dealer would probably ask about the same-- around $4,000 to $5,000. really? so, uh... all right. i mean i think it was a good buy for about... is that together or the camel? oh, no, i'd say that's just the camel. okay. the monkey, i think they called him jacko the monkey, he's also quite early, quite large, with his very large arms. he has some condition problems. pretty bald back there. he's losing some, uh, getting bald here on the back. but i would say he'd be in the $1,200 to $1,500 range. so i think you did very well. oh, that's nice. i think they go great together. yeah. and i'm really glad you brought them in. thank you. uh, so, all together what did we say? we say at around, uh, $5,000 to... $6,500 for the pair. for the pair? yep. thank you so much. thank you for bringing them in. my mother and i went garage sale-ing about ten years ago.

and it was sitting in a box and it was all tarnished. and i picked it up and i thought it was really cute and i liked it. and i went up and asked the lady and she told me it was for $2.50. well, this is a pickle castor. we see many, many plain frame ones. but this is an ornate one. and you cleaned it beautifully. whatever you used to clean it, you used the right thing. it was just some silver polish my mom had at the house. at the turn of the century, people used pickle castors on their table and put the pickles in it and then... okay. got their tongs. so this piece would go in here. and it is an, uh, clear glass a pressed glass. okay. if it were in color, it would raise the value a little bit. so when you're looking again, look for the color ones, too. okay. uh, then the pickle tongs would hang on the side of the piece. okay. and then you'd have the lid. this is a gorgeous pattern. it's footed. it has all the bells and whistles. this in an antique store would sell

from $400 to $500. oh, wow. i'm glad i brought it, because my mom didn't even want me to bring it. she didn't? oh, i'm so glad. woman: well, i brought in this urn that my father got from a friend of his. uh, the story goes, my father's friend brought this home from france after the war. supposedly, it had been shot in several places. and he was just downsizing and gave it to my father, who was also over there in france. and we've had it for about 40 years now. well, that it comes from france makes good sense. i think what we've got here is a decorative urn that was probably manufactured in france from an english stone. this stone that we've got here is typically called blue john. which a lot of people haven't heard of. no. largely because it was mined in england. oh. and now the deposits of blue john are pretty much gone. oh, really? because it was so popular, that they went in and took out everything that there was to be had practically. really? and you can see the striations of color throughout the body of it all through here.

it sort of looks like amethyst. um... that's what we thought it was. yeah, exactly. blue john, it has a lot of color variety. sometimes it's more gray or black or blue, hence the name blue john. mm-hmm. sometimes it's called derby spar, because it was mined near derby, england. the mines are still there and they can pull out blue john from these mines but in very, very small pieces. only big enough to make jewelry, really. so what you have here is a really gigantic piece of blue john that's in these wow. gilt-bronze mounts that are very well done. i think that the mounts are maybe late 18th century, maybe early 19th century. this is a decorative urn. mm-hmm. probably would have been one of a pair. it doesn't open up. you know, it doesn't do anything but sit there and be pretty. you mentioned that it had been shot. that, that's the story. now, and i think that's the story. if we turn it around a little bit, we can sort of see that it's had a little bit of a hard life. that's a good war story-- that bullets caused these, these damages. but if we look all down in here, where we have this chunk that's out of it. mm-hmm. up here.

we've got this big hole knocked in it. could have been bullets. who knows, maybe it just had a hard life. maybe. maybe somebody just knocked it over. it's got these big chunks in this join right here. which make it a little bit unstable. but it's still a really beautiful thing. and if we look down here... yes. we have a mark... mm-hmm. ...that i think is the mark of the retailer. it's beaudouin massin. and a quick bit of research didn't come up with anything on that firm, so they may oh. have made it or they may have just been the people who sold it. i see. a little bit more research might help us figure that out. okay. these pieces of blue john are very, very collectible. a piece like this in this condition, i'd estimate it conservatively for auction at about $3,000 to $5,000. really? yeah. and i think wow, that's amazing. if it were in perfect shape, i think you'd be looking at easily more in the range of $20,000. oh, my... maybe even more. you might want to consider getting it restored. because of the, the crystalline structure of the blue john, mm-hmm. you're probably never going to be able to match it exactly.

but it could be restored by someone who works with stone. and do something that would make it look good and be a bit more stable. yes. that's important. that's the important thing. cover up, cover up those wounds. the cost might be $500, $1,000 maybe, but when you're looking at enhancing the value of it by at least that much if not more, it might be something that you want to consider. we will consider that. this is special to me because when i grew up, i saw this bird in front of a shop in texas, and they would always decorate him. they'd have ribbons or wreaths or hats and you name it, all throughout the year. how long have you had it? it was a gift. i worked for a design firm, and my boss knew that i liked this bird, so he arranged somehow to get it and he bought it for me. and at a birthday he gave me this ribbon

and i followed it and it went through woods and everything and finally ended up in a greenhouse. and there was my bird. i've had it since i was 28; i'm now 68. that's a long time to be... it's a long time. it's an old bird. we're both old birds. it is signed. and we ran across an article in national geographic that actually featured artists from finland. and we've looked him up. he's won all kinds of prizes, and that's... this is especially... you got... each bead is handmade and it got so laborious, and he became so popular, that they started making... making the beads for him in a factory. but he still hand-glazes each ceramic bead, and then he wires it in there. this artist is... you can see his name right here on the bottom of the plate. and it's hard to pronounce. oh, i can't, i can't. but it's like kaipiainen. yes. and he worked for a company in finland, in helsinki, that was the arabia company.

he was considered one of their top artists, so he was given a complete license to make any designs that he wanted. this is, to me, just a wonderful example of his work. he made things like plates and vases and other things, but this really shows modern design. it's all handmade, one bead at a time, and there's just hundreds of beads here. but it's all on this framework. if we were going to put a value on for auction, we would probably put an estimate of maybe $10,000 to $15,000. the problem is these are the ones that sometimes blow through those record books. go through. but according to where it's at right now, this market is right around the $10,000 to $15,000 range. okay. yeah, he's become kind of a friend. it sounds funny,

but i'm really attached to the bird. i've heard of babe ruth, i've heard of lou gehrig, i've heard of joe dimaggio, but you have to tell me, who's lonny frey? well, he's still living. he's 97 years old. he started out as a shortstop at age 22 with brooklyn. how do you know all this? because he's my dad. ah. and he still talks baseball to me once in a while. so he played how many years in the big leagues? 14 years. he actually played for all three new york teams. he's the last surviving ballplayer to have done that. he spent most of his career with cincinnati, and that was where he probably had his best years. he was an all-star for three years. right, and he played in two world series with cincinnati, and at the end of his career, he played with the yankees in a world series. ah. we've got this bat here. this is from 1933. this is the start of his career. right. he was there from '33 to '36. yeah. not a great situation. you know, they were in fifth, sixth place. much better when he went to cincinnati. exactly. because when he was with cincinnati,

if i recall correctly, 1938-- he got to play behind johnny vander meer during his two consecutive no-hitters. that's exactly right. and that was one of his all-time career thrills. and he got this joe jackson store model bat during the '30s when he was playing for cinci. even though he was at cincinnati for two world series, i think he saved the best for last. we've got 1947 world champions yankees. who was his roommate? yogi berra. and what did he think of yogi? well, they were really good friends, but he roomed with yogi because yogi ate a lot of pasta, and he was losing a lot of weight. uh-huh. and they needed somebody to get him to eat regular meals, steak and potatoes and so forth. so '47, he's at the end. he was the oldest player in the league in '47. that's right. and in '48, when he finished up with the giants. right. let's take a look at everything for prices. this is the bat that the brooklyn dodgers would have given your dad in honor of their golden jubilee-- 50 years in baseball. and the value on this-- auction estimate would be $1,000 to $1,500. now, this bat was given to your dad

because he was on the world championship new york yankees in 1947. the value on that is $2,000 to $3,000 i'd put as an auction estimate. this is your dad's all-star bat from 1941. now, these bats were only given out to the players and the coaches and the manager of the all-star teams, and they have these fabulous facsimile signatures on there. you can see your father right here-- lonny frey. right. and the value on these bats, generally, $2,000 to $3,000, auction estimate. okay. the joe jackson bat is probably worth about $3,000 to $4,000. this watch was given for winning the world series, but also, because they set the american league record that year with 19 straight wins. this watch is probably worth about $3,000 to $4,000. the mets watch is probably about $1,000 to $2,000, but the ring is the real big winner. i mean, a '47 world series ring is as good as it gets. yankees and dodgers-- the epitome of new york. right.

that's $15,000 to $20,000. oh, my lord. so you add all these things up, and you get a grand total of probably about $25,000 to $30,000. that's wonderful, and this is stuff that we've handed down, and will hand down in the family, but it's nice to know, because we should insure it or do something like that. if you were going to insure all of this... yes. ...i'd place an insurance value of about $50,000. that's amazing. woman: my stepfather's father was a collector of lincoln things. he was a chicago businessman, and... so, being from illinois, he was very fond of lincoln. and he had a large collection of things that, when he died in the 1960s, went to the library of congress. but these things did not go. the letters were in a family safe deposit box. well, you have two letters of abraham lincoln

to general halleck. one is may 1862. the other is october 1862. so, it's wartime. it's to a major general. it's talking about the war. it has great content. the letters are totally in lincoln's hand, which is a benefit. the signature is wonderful. you were talking about reading the letters. and tell me what you got out of that. well, the first thing i was impressed with is that lincoln is talking about promoting some officers in the army, and he's asking general halleck to promote them, but he... he's so almost apologetic. in one of them, he says he's foresworn doing anything about this, but now he's getting pressure from the missouri representatives in congress. and so, like he doesn't want to interfere with general halleck. i don't think this kind of politeness would happen today. (laughs): i would maybe agree with you on that. (laughs) and then, in the second letter,

he brings this matter up again, but he's talking about general rousseau and, uh, colonel pope, and saying, "look, we've had tremendous losses." i mean, this is just after shiloh. the battles are going on. and even though the war is sort of on an even keel somewhat, the union-- their men are getting decimated. right. and he literally says in one of these letters, we need to replace officers and generals... yes. ...and so on. so there's great, great content. you had another item that you brought in-- a photograph of abraham lincoln. it's a carte de visite. the signature is fabulous. nothing's faded. when y get to the back of it, though, an interesting item is, you have john hay signing, saying, this is an authentic lincoln signature. it's a brady photograph. well, john hay was his secretary. right. so to have john hay writing, saying, "yes, this is an authentic signature," is fabulous.

lincoln photos, letters and everything-- they were really hot. they slowed down a little, and now they've gotten really hot again. mm-hmm. a lot of the value depends on the quality of the photograph, the boldness of the signature, how dark it is. the letters-- one being on executive mansion stationery. again, nothing is faded. the ink is black. each of these letters is probably in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. oh! conservative retail price. wow. and that's conservative. now, lincoln photographs are fairly rare. they're hard to get. signed ones-- especially authenticated by his secretary-- $35,000, maybe $50,000. oh, my god! for a lincoln photograph. again, that's retail price. so you have a total of probably $75,000 to $100,000... oh, my god. ...of lincoln material here. that's... that's amazing.

you're watching antiques roadshow from spokane, washington. if you'd like to see an appraisal from this program or any appraisal from roadshow's past, go to the roadshow archive at pbs.org. now let's get back to spokane right after this. (beeping) (whirring and beeping) man: one slip, and that's it. you're going to die, and you're going to pull off everyone with you. announcer: now, the people who make antiques roadshow possible. at subaru, we're building vehicles like the outback, with symmetrical all-wheel drive

and plenty of cargo room, for those who love to collect and collect what they love. subaru, a proud sponsor of antiques roadshow. (playing "twinkle, twinkle, little star" on violin) some of the most important things passed down through generations have nothing to do with dna. liberty mutual, proud sponsor of antiques roadshow. and by contributions to your pbs station from: walberg: and now, it's time for the roadshow feedback booth. i brought in what i thought might be a pot of gold. turns out, it's a pot, all right. it's a child's commode from 1847. uh, it'll make a good plant stand, according to leigh keno. i brought this rattle in to show the appraisers today. turns out it's a haida ceremonial dance rattle from around the turn of the century. i presume he meant the 1900 century. and of course, it's very obvious that it's too bad i painted it when i was a child.

and i came with my violin. it was a yard sale find for $150 about ten years ago, and it appraised for $2,500. and, um, my last-minute decision to bring a original slinky in its original box, a $5.00 yard sale item, um, ended up being worth $125 to $150, so i am very, very excited. i brought some pearls that i inherited from my mother-in-law, and everybody in my husband's family just coveted them, and everybody wanted them. i brought them here, thinking i was going to have this great treasure, and they're not real pearls. they're ground-up fish scales and plastic, so i didn't really want to wear them before because i was afraid they were valuable, but now i don't want to wear them because they're ground-up fish scales. i'm mark walberg. thank you for watching. we'll see you next time on antiques roadshow. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

we are pbs. ♪ ♪ one of my favorite shows, i have to admit, is antiques roadshow. i love the people, you know, that come in, "i found this little, you know, this tchotchke and i was wondering if it's... what it could possibly be worth." i just, i just... it kills me every time, the excitement that they have when they find out it's actually worth something. it's just... i don't know, i find it very touching. hey, i'm kevin bacon, and public television is my source for antiques roadshow.

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>> announcer: "outdoors maryland: love our parks"

is made possible in part by the following units of the national park system: >> narrator: the story of a people unfolds across their lands, and parks, preserve for all, our most treasured places, historic and natural. maryland is proud of its national and state parks, priceless legacies bequeathed one generation to the next. join us for maryland's best: "outdoors maryland: love our parks." [captioned by maryland public television] >> why are we patriotic today? where does that come from? and you come to a place like this and you see this battle and

you hear this song and you're like, this is why people are so moved, and this is why the land of the free and the home of the brave is so important. >> narrator: fort mchenry, in baltimore, preserves the site of the historic battle for baltimore, fought against the british during the war of 1812. the american victory here was forever memorialized by "the star spangled banner," a poem written by francis scott key. key witnessed the shocking battle and saw the glorious flag raised in triumph over the fort. set to music, keys poem was destined to become america's national anthem. >> the united states is very unique... vince vaise, chief of interpretation, fort mchenry: ...in that our national anthem is about the american flag. at fort mchenry, some of the most powerful symbols of the country come together. this is the power of place. >> narrator: the importance of fort mchenry comes from its

pivotal role in the war of 1812. the fort had been built here during the revolutionary war era. by the time of the battle for baltimore, two years into the war of 1812, the british had already burnt washington d.c. and had assembled a huge army and fleet of warships, fresh from victory over napoleon, to launch an attack by land and sea against baltimore. >> vaise: you could make an argument the united states was literally losing the war of 1812. baltimore was the third largest city in the united states, a ship building center and a valuable prize. standing between the might of the british navy and the british army was a small fort, fort mchenry, manned largely by recruits and citizens soldiers and a number of militia scraped up from the city of baltimore and the surrounding counties. >> richard manacle, veteran volunteer: they had seen the british army burn washington to the ground. they saw the american army run at bladensburg.

now they were here looking out over the top of these battlements here, out at the mightiest fleet that the british army and navy had ever sent here. there was 50-some ships out there and there was no guarantee that those ships wouldn't pummel this fort down into the dust. >> vaise: from here on, the ramparts of fort mchenry, you can look down the patapsco river. francis scott key's truce ship was about four miles away, just beyond where the modern key bridge now stands. the enemy ships were about halfway to the bridge. all night, the british fired about 1,000 shells at the fort, 700 rockets, the defenders hunkering down behind the ramparts. that was the only shelter they had, not only from the shells and the rockets, but also from the rain storm that went all night long. by dawn's early light, the rain ends, the bombardment ceases, a giant flag, 30 by 42 feet, one of the largest american flags

even sewn at that time, was hoisted as a special act of defiance, and the british sailed away, giving up their attempt to take the city. and the defenders jumped up on top of the ramparts and cheered as the big flag went up. and those cheers echoed down this patapsco river. it must have been a moment not to be forgotten. key clearly understood the moment. that rush of emotion led him to write the words that became "the star spangled banner," the national anthem. you know, the guns have been silent now for about 195 years and yet the site still resonates with people. the reverberation still continues today. >> narrator: fort mchenry is open all seasons. special summertime events, re-enactors, and rangers strive to bring history alive.

>> narrator: everyone who comes here makes a connection. everyone who comes discovers heroes. high schooler tyler mink plays fife in the fort mchenry guard band. >> tyler mink, fife, fort mchenry guard band: i think the war of 1812 is important because it's one of america's forgotten wars. it's likened to the korean war. and i believe it's important that we relive it here because the bricks cannot speak for themselves. >> battery, fire! (cannon fires) >> narrator: robert stewart, a park ranger, studies history at coppin state university. research shows, he may be a descendent of slaves freed to trinidad by the british during the war of 1812. >> robert stewart, park ranger: the study of history allows you to make connections between what has happened in the past and what's going on in the present to determine a new future.

when we look at history, we study history, we see the mistakes of the past. we see the good things of the past also. so we take the good and the bad, blend them together. we can make a better future. that's why i study history. >> narrator: richard manacle, a veteran, is a volunteer re-enactor. >> richard manacle: learn what happened here, but make it your own, whatever you think it means for you, living in this country that we live in. and i've seen people go away with smiles on their face. i've seen people go away kind of somber because maybe a family member was buried underneath the flag. i've seen veterans cry when they're here. so it just depends. each person has their own personal connection, i think, as to what that flag means to them. >> narrator: catherine holden is a high school history teacher and seasonal park ranger. >> catherine holden, seasonal

park ranger: for me, the flag embodies everything we have been through over the last 200-plus years. it is truly who we are and what we've been through. i mean, whether it has the 15 stars that we see on the period flag of the war of 1812, or if it's got the 50 stars, it's what we've experienced and how we've changed and grown as a country. >> narrator: fort mchenry was a military post before and after the war of 1812. >> vaise: this was an important fort during the revolutionary war, it served the country during the war of 1812, it was a union fort during the american civil war, a hospital during world war i, and a coast guard base during world war ii. >> narrator: since the 19th century, people have celebrated fort mchenry, yet its preservation was an epic of struggle and perseverance, too. mrs. ruben ross holloway, citizen activist, spearheaded efforts to make "the star spangled banner" the national anthem, finally accomplished in

the early 1930s. mrs. holloway was not the only woman involved at fort mchenry. >> holden: when we think of fort mchenry, we think of the soldiers in their blue uniforms. what we're going to see is during the war of 1812, women were bringing water out to the fort, making sure supplies and rations were maintained during the battle. and even during world war i, when this was still an active military base, we're going to see female nurses serving here at fort mchenry to help injured and wounded soldiers coming back from world war i. so they were definitely an active part, maybe behind the scenes, but always here. >> narrator: by the end of the 1930s, fort mchenry, rescued as a national park, and the anthem's birthplace, won a double distinction as america's only national monument and historic shrine. >> gay vietzke, superintendent, fort mchenry: i think national parks are gifts to the american public. they're the most precious places in our nation. and we're so lucky here in maryland that we have over a dozen of these places, where

real events happened, where incredible beauty exists in nature, where aspects of our culture and heritage are embraced and preserved. these are the places that tell us who we are as americans. >> woman: janes island is an amazing place. the beautiful, open, big sky where the colors of the sky and the clouds are reflected on the chesapeake bay, and the sound of the wind moves and pushes the grasses on the savannah of the island. we call it our caribbean of the chesapeake. >> narrator: janes island state park is just one of more than 60 state parks and natural areas in maryland. janes island proper, 2,900 acres of marshland and beach, is only

accessible by boat. the mainland area of janes island state park has docks, campgrounds, a park store, and other modern amenities. janes island lies on tangier sound, near crisfield, on the eastern shore. the park is a stunning gateway to the chesapeake bay. >> what makes janes island unique... brent sullivan, acting park manager: ...among maryland's state parks, is its connection to the water. it being an island, it's surrounded by water. it's intersected by approximately 30 miles of canoe and kayak trails. it also has five miles of uninhabited beach to explore. >> narrator: janes island offers tent camping and cabins, canoe and kayak rentals, boat slips and a dock area. fishing and crabbing are favorite adventures here. paddling the water trails

through the salt water marshes is an excursion into another world. >> sullivan: you have marsh grass towering over you. you feel very close to nature. you feel like you're worlds away from civilization. you become part of this ecosystem. >> narrator: it's the chesapeake bay at its most pristine and profound. janes island is an ideal setting for "park quest," a wildly successful program at state parks across maryland. the park service goal, to create good old-fashioned outdoors fun,

and rekindle cherished memories in adults who will become nature mentors to the next generation, just as they had. this year, teams will complete their choice of eight out of 14 quests, at astonishingly diverse parks across the state. challenges run the gamut; from visiting historic sites, to hiking with gps, to frisbee golf, to exploring water trails, all for free. >> man: you can go to the chesapeake bay, you can go to the atlantic ocean, or you can spend time in the mountains, and what we're seeing now is families creating memories as they come out and they go camping together, and they go hiking together, or they take a canoe out. it is this opportunity that we gary adelhardt, state coordinator: ...that we have always provided, but has somehow become less important in our society. we're creating an awareness and the incentive to get those families out there. >> we're going to paddle up to where this dock is here. >> narrator: this year's "park

quest" adventure at janes island is one of the most challenging, and rewarding. teams canoe or kayak to the island, find a medallion, and discover the answer to a clue. four generations of the kenney family arrive at janes island. park quest team name: "nature lovers." this is grandmother's first time in a canoe. it was jennifer who discovered the "park quest" website. >> jennifer kenney: i definitely think it's important for families to get out and enjoy the outdoors together, especially nowadays with young children always on the computer and constantly playing video games and things like that. i think it's very important. >> narrator: vincent, age 12. >> vincent kenney: when i paddle on the water, i feel excited because i know i'm making the boat move and that nothing else is. so it's fun for me. >> narrator: there's wind, tide, and more than one black fly to contend with; real nature, what

park quest is all about. donna kenney. >> donna kenney: i feel like being on the water, in the canoe, is being back to nature. i love the chesapeake bay. >> narrator: james kenney, age 24. >> james kenney: we pulled up to the island in the canoes and we walked across onto the beach, and i mean it's, it's just amazing that that's there. you've got the waves breaking right there. and the horizon, you could see for miles. it's just wonderful. >> narrator: after the beach, the nature lovers find the medallion and the answer to the clue. they'll head back and get their park quest passport stamped. and they plan to extend their discovery of janes island by camping here tonight. meanwhile, another park quest team sets out, "the mighty four." the greenlees family won last year's rollicking finale, where

families who complete their quests compete for prizes. >> woman: and we're back for another year! >> narrator: maureen greenlees. >> maureen greenlees: the marshes here at janes island are absolutely beautiful. it's different than all the other places that we've canoed because usually we've always done a river. i truly believe people don't realize what's offered. >> narrator: corinne, age 12. >> corrine greenlees: this is my second year doing park quest, and yeah, i really do enjoy it because you get to visit all the parks, and it's a new experience every single time you go because they have, like, new stuff to do. >> narrator: peter greenlees. >> peter greenlees: what they do is i think they do give you a taste of the park. they provide everything for you. and if you want to come back, then you can come back and spend more time at your leisure. maryland state parks are beautiful. >> maureen greenlees: park quest, it makes them think about why we're here, what's going on. i think it's part of the adventure for our kids to think about things. >> narrator: humans have thrived at janes island for thousands of years.

english settlers arrived in the 1600s. >> man: in the early 19th century, with the development of canned food technology, it was possible to market the seafood resources, especially oysters, from the crisfield area on a world-wide basis. ross kimmel, state park historian: at one point, the chesapeake bay was producing a huge percentage of the world's oyster supply. in the late 1880s, a fish-rendering factory was established on the island itself. they even built a small company town for the employees of the fish factory. >> narrator: seafood resources declined in the 20th century and so did the crisfield area. >> kimmel: the residents of the island moved to the mainland and the island began to revert back to its natural state. >> narrator: by the 1960s, there was a movement to preserve this unique area. janes island became a state park with land donated by the hodson family, the city of crisfield, and acquired by the state.

today, its pristine beauty and unique habitat are protected and now belong to all. >> sullivan: it's important to preserve the bay's marshes because they filter the chesapeake bay's water, as well as provide this essential habitat for wildlife that make the bay area so unique. >> adelhardt: our goal is to get as many children and their mentors out into state parks, or whatever park is near them, okay, to experience the outdoors. to create a sense of wonder, a sense of belonging, a sense of stewardship. make that a cherished memory so that they don't want these things to disappear in their society. >> woman: the first thing that state parks offer is that intensity of experience. nita settina, superintendent: that intensity is important in feeling connected, a part of nature. and the beauty of the interconnectedness of nature, its fascination for the human being is limitless.

>> if you were to take the timeline of the united states and lay it right next to the timeline of hampton, both of those would be parallel. hampton truly is the story of america. >> narrator: hampton national historic site is a best kept secret north of baltimore in towson. the historic mansion house, outbuildings, and grounds preserve over 200 years of american life unfolding in many stories. from fabulous wealth to cruel slavery. >> vincent vaise, chief of interpretation: places, like at hampton, are where the american character was born, where it grew, where it was shaped, and really formed who we are as a culture today. >> narrator: seven generations of the ridgely family, and hundreds of their workers lived here, from the colonial period in the 18th century to world war

ii in the 20th. the huge estate once encompassed lands stretching from present day loch raven to white marsh. >> gregory weidman, curator: hampton national historic site preserves the core of what was once a vast 25,000 acre estate. we preserve not just the great hampton mansion, but also the farmhouse, slave quarters, stables, family cemetery, and all the surrounding landscape. >> narrator: the centerpiece of the estate is the stunningly restored georgian-style mansion, built soon after the revolutionary war. captain charles ridgely, an entrepreneur and self-made man, amassed his fortune in agriculture, the mercantile trades, and especially iron works, supplying the american revolution with cannon and ball. >> weidman: when it was completed in 1790, it may have

been the largest private residence in america. it was certainly one of the largest. >> narrator: almost all of the exquisite furnishings of the grand house are original to the mansion, including the family crest. the meticulous restoration showcases different eras throughout many rooms, upstairs and downstairs; a rare progression in historic estates. travel back to 1810 in the dining room. >> weidman: governor ridgely was said, in the period, to keep the best table in america. so we know that there were a lot of very elaborate dinner parties that must have been held here. >> narrator: the drawing room dazzles with the pre-civil war era, 1830 to 1860. >> weidman: eliza eichelberger ridgely traveled abroad on four different occasions, and this very elaborately furnished room reflects her very sophisticated taste. the music room is set to the

period immediately following the civil war, the 1870s through the 1890s. it's very typical of the high victorian taste of that era. probably the single most important object is eliza ridgely's own harp. >> narrator: eliza's portrait, painted at the tender age of 15, is the centerpiece of the grand hall. >> weidman: the original, by thomas sully, is now at the national gallery in washington. >> narrator: this portrait helped save the mansion from ruin after world war ii, when david finley, the director of the national gallery of art, came to hampton to acquire the portrait and discovered the estate in serious decline. he and the last ridgely master arranged for the mellon family's avalon foundation to purchase hampton. the foundation donated hampton to the national park service and the american people. >> weidman: hampton was designated a national historic

site in 1948. >> narrator: hampton was the first site of the national park service to be preserved on the basis of its architectural importance -- a grand example of the american georgian-style. >> weidman: many of those same individuals who had helped to preserve hampton then went on to found the national trust for historic preservation. what was saving one house has led to the preservation of many others in america. >> narrator: the ridgely connection continues. catherine thomas burnett is a cultural historian. her grandfather was born at hampton in the 1880s. she visited the historic site as a child with her mother. now she serves on the board of historic hampton incorporated, which helps to support the site. >> catherine thomas burnett, ridgely descendent: so i have lots of fond memories of coming here. and i just wandered the halls and the grounds. i loved going up into the

cupola. it's still probably one of my favorite things to do. when i was at the top and the light and the view just always took my breath away. the powerf hampton is that it has so many stories to be told. it's a never-ending process, there's a never-ending amount of information coming to light. so it's just so important to preserve those stories. >> narrator: the museum has a 45,000 object collection and one of the most important holdings opens a window on a parallel universe at hampton: a rare 19th century christmas list tabulates gifts given to slave children here. these names breathe life into a complex world often lost in history's shadows. for all its beauty, hampton was also one of maryland's largest slave plantations, enslaving up to 350 people at its peak.

>> john vlach, american studies prof., gw univ.: we see a marvelous house standing on top of a hill. it dominates the hill, and therefore, the person that's in the house, dominates everything that surrounds it. at the bottom of the hill live the majority of the people on the estate who worked their lives away. >> narrator: the historic site has preserved stone slave and servant quarters down the hill from the mansion. these simple rooms and living history demonstrations illuminate how life of rarified privilege here, and across the nation, was sometimes built on the raw sweat of generations of laborers; from immigrant indentured servants, to slaves, to tenant farmers. angela roberts-burton is a ranger and historian of the african diaspora in america. >> angela roberts-burton: this is an iron collar that governor chrles ridgely, the third master of this estate, and the 18th governor of the state of

maryland, had made for one of his enslaved young boys. they would dangle bells from the end of it. the child would have to sleep in this. it really just shakes me to my core. >> narrator: across the sweep of time and society, hampton unfolds the tapestry of the american experience. >> vaise: you can put your hand on that slave cabin wall where slaves lived. you can walk the formal gardens where the ridgely family strolled. you can go in the dining room and see all the opulence just as if you were a guest of that family and it's a very immediate connection. every american can find a modern relevancy to the story of hampton, whether that's a story of entrepreneurship, a story of industrial development, a story of slavery, a story of indentured servants, immigrants coming, working,

getting a new start in a new land. historic places like hampton, they make you think. and that's why it's important to preserve those sites today. because when you lose the physical site, you lose that connection. >> vietzke: coming to a national park is sort of like a natural civics lesson. these are places owned by the public, preserved by the public, stewarded by the public, so by coming to them, learning about them, experiencing them, you're participating in a democratic process. and hopefully becoming the next stewards of these places. >> woman: patapsco valley turned 100 years old in 2008. we'd like to see 100, 200, 300, maybe more years of patapsco

valley looking just like it looks today. lots of trees, clean water, a really nice place for folks to come and we need our youth to accomplish that. they're going to be the next generation that helps protect our lands. >> narrator: patapsco valley state park is a premiere urban park, encompassing over 16,000 acres to the east and south of the city of baltimore. the park consists of eight distinct recreational areas in five locations along the patapsco river as it winds through four counties on the way to baltimore harbor and the chesapeake bay. patapsco was created as an escape from urban life and it remains so today, attracting nearly a million visitors every year. >> woman: and we're ever growing. our numbers seem to go up each year... robin melton, park manager, patapsco valley state park: with new visitors trying out patapsco and finding the gem that's close by.

>> narrator: patapsco offers classic outdoor adventure; playgrounds and pavilions, canoeing, fishing, camping, and over 170 miles of scenic trail, some for biking and horseback riding. patapsco has historic sites, including ruins of old mills. the avalon history center is a restored 185 year-old mill house. >> robin melton: there are several must-see features within patapsco valley state park. the thomas viaduct, very visible as you enter the avalon area in the southern end of patapsco. one of the oldest arched stone viaducts within the united states, still active to this day. another feature in that same area is the orange grove swinging bridge. and it's quite a cool site for a visitor to go to and actually walk across the swinging bridge in patapsco. the views up and down the river, they are fabulous. some of the other features might be our rapids area in the mckeldin section of the park.

again, a really scenic walk right along the shoreline of the patapsco river. the hollofield area has an overlook and you can see the historic route 40 bridge. hard to see the river itself, but you certainly can see the defined valley and the magnificent amount of trees now that line the patapsco river, protecting it from future floods, hopefully, and ensuring a lush, cool environment for all of our visitors, and hopefully a sustainable river, as those trees are really important to the cleansing of the waters that flow into the patapsco river. >> narrator: patapsco is a host park for a new initiative of the maryland conservation corps. the maryland civic justice corps offers paid summer jobs to 200 urban youth. the teenagers work on much needed conservation projects at the park, and gain skills that prepare them for careers and a lifetime of healthy outdoor recreation.