The US has plenty to offer history buffs with charming towns and diverse cities packed full of fascinating heritage, cultural institutions and old-world charm. America boasts historic attractions of all different stripes, ranging from the sun-kissed squares of Spanish St Augustine to the history-altering halls of Boston and Philadelphia that played key roles in the Revolutionary War.
Click through this gallery to discover the best US towns and cities to visit for characterful exhibitions, magnificent monuments and intriguing tales of life over the centuries...
Sat on Chesapeake Bay, Maryland’s picturesque capital has more 18th-century buildings than anywhere else in the US and plenty of quaint cobblestone streets too. The city was named Annapolis by the Royal Governor Sir Francis Nicholson in honour of Princess Anne, who went on to become Queen of England in 1702. Must-see landmarks in its historic centre include the Maryland State House, where the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the Revolutionary War.
The port city is a centre of sailing and home to the United States Naval Academy, founded in 1845. The Annapolis Maritime Museum reveals the area’s rich maritime heritage including how oyster farming shaped the region’s historical and cultural heritage. National Historic Landmark Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse, a striking 1875 structure which still stands in the Chesapeake Bay, is another reminder of how the estuary shaped the city's history.
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Virginia’s capital was named after the leafy London suburb by the city’s founder, William Byrd II, who was reminded of the view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in London. Libby Hill Park is the best place to see the view down on James River. The gorgeous green space was founded in 1851 and sits in the historic Church Hill neighbourhood, known for its handsome architecture, cobblestone pathways and upscale restaurants.
First settled by the English in 1607, Richmond became the capital of Virginia in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. There are masses of historic sites, museums and galleries (the Black History Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and mansion-turned-museum the Maymont among them) to explore. The state’s stunning Capitol building, built in the style of a classical temple, was partially designed by Thomas Jefferson. Capitol Square has some of the city’s most impressive monuments too.
Proudly known as the tiniest of all state capitals, Montpelier is mostly associated with maple syrup and mountains but it’s got plenty of history too. Snug in the foothills of the Green Mountains, its downtown area is the largest National Register of Historic Places District in Vermont. Today the 19th-century buildings are filled with quaint stores including vintage record shops, independent bookshops and historic inns. Its skyline is dotted with church steeples and dominated by its grand gold-domed State House.
The Vermont History Museum is a treasure trove of local information, while the city’s historic sugarhouses (many of which are open for tours and tastings) are full of appeal. Plenty are still run by the same families who began them, like the 200-year-old Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, Vermont's oldest maple farm. The age-old process of tapping trees was discovered by Indigenous peoples and taught to the settlers.
It might be a sleepy little tourist town today but during the Gold Rush in the late 1800s, things in Deadwood were a little different. Thousands flocked to the Black Hills and to Deadwood to seek their fortune. They included Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok and other notorious gunslingers, many of whom you’ll find buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery.
The Gold Rush town (which is a National Historic Landmark) hosts shoot-out re-enactments in its historic Main Street and themed saloons. Another intriguing attraction is the Historic Adams House, a Queen Anne-style house built in 1892 that gives an insight into how wealthy some residents became. Nearby is the town of Lead, home to the Homestake Gold Mine, the oldest, largest and deepest mine in the western hemisphere until it closed in 2002.
When it comes to history, Boston takes some beating. The 2.5-mile (4km) Freedom Trail is the best way to appreciate this handsome city’s historical importance. Marked by a red-brick path, the walking trail goes past 16 historic landmarks over the course of a few hours, including Faneuil Hall. Built in 1741, it has hosted many significant meetings over the centuries, including America's very first town meeting. It is often referred to as "the home of free speech".
The city has some characterful old neighbourhoods too: Beacon Hill was home to the first descendants of the early English settlers known as the Boston Brahmin. The picturesque area, with its red-brick row houses and gas-lit narrow streets, remains an elite enclave and is well worth a wander. As is the historic harbour, the setting for the infamous Boston Tea Party. The informative and interactive Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum brings to life the story of the protest that helped start the American Revolution.
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Just over the Charles River from Boston is Cambridge, home of Harvard University. The nation’s first college, it was established in 1636 by Cambridge University alumnus John Harvard. Its student-led tours are a great way to hear the incredible history of these hallowed halls. Harvard’s prestigious alumni include numerous presidents: John Adams (the country's second president), John F Kennedy and Barack Obama to name just a few.
Other top draws are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Art Museums (with three art institutions under one roof they house a staggering collection of works) and the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Tucked among Harvard Square’s historic buildings are numerous atmospheric bars and academic eating institutions (still frequented by famous alumni). And, as you might hope, the student town is a treasure trove of small and independent bookstores.
One of the world's most exciting metropolises, New York has plenty of history to balance its modernity. The atmospheric museum on Ellis Island has to be one of its most memorable and moving – the Statue City Cruises ferry goes from Battery Park on Manhattan to what was the gateway to the USA for over 12 million immigrants. It also stops at Liberty Island, site of the Statue of Liberty.
Linking Manhattan with Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge is one of the city's most famous landmarks. A marvel of engineering at the time, it took 14 years and more than 600 workers to build. It was one of the world's first steel wire suspension bridges and the longest when it opened to great celebrations in 1883. Charming Brooklyn Heights, with its brownstone townhouses and Federal-style wood-frame houses, was the first in the city to be classified as a historic district.
San Antonio de Bexar, as it was known, was founded by the Spanish in 1718 and was the first civilian settlement in Texas. It has the largest concentration of Spanish architecture in North America. Its most famous site is the Alamo, one of five missions that are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The fascinating complex has beautiful gardens and inside there are exhibits on the Texas revolution and Texan history.
San Antonio’s fascinating missions, comprised of a church and buildings where the priests and Indigenous people lived and worked, are along the River Walk’s Mission Reach section. This eight-mile (13km) stretch of the urban waterway goes past the Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and Espada. Sitting below street level, the River Walk, or Paseo del Rio, goes for 15 miles (25km) and is one of the city’s top attractions. River barges also follow the route.
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Founded by the French in 1718 and later ruled by the Spanish, the beguiling port city of New Orleans on the Mississippi River simply oozes old-world charm. It has a vast number of historic buildings, especially in the Vieux Carre (or French Quarter), where you'll find Jackson Square and the triple-steepled St Louis Cathedral, which was dedicated to Louis IX, the sainted King of France.
As well as oodles of European-influenced architecture and Southern charm, the swinging city has an impressive musical heritage – it was, after all, the birthplace of jazz. Taking in live music at a jazz bar where it all began on Frenchmen Street in the Faubourg Marigny district, just east of the French Quarter, is a quintessential New Orleans experience. Food is also part of the city’s fabric – feast on Creole and Cajun classics in one of the century-old institutions in the French Quarter.
Savannah’s historic centre is one the largest National Historic Landmark districts in the country, and pretty Forsyth Fountain is at its heart. With its canopies of ancient oak trees, bearded with Spanish moss, Forsyth Park is a stunning urban green space. However there's also no escaping the Georgian city's past, which is inextricably linked with slavery – the grand old homes tell of wealth acquired through an enslaved workforce's cultivation of cotton and rice.
A hop-on, hop-off old-school trolley tour is the best way to learn about the city’s complex past, and explore the historic quarter's many shady squares and cobbled streets. Savannah’s culinary heritage is also celebrated. Local institutions Mrs Wilkes Dining Room and the Olde Pink House (housed in Georgia’s first bank building) are the places to try Southern staples of fried chicken, okra, gumbo, collard greens, crab cakes and fried green tomatoes.
Founded in 1632 between the James and York rivers, Williamsburg was the capital of the Colony and Commonwealth of Virginia from 1699 to 1780. Colonial Williamsburg, the city’s restored historic area, and nearby Yorktown and Jamestown teem with heritage sites. The former vividly recreates life in the 1700s. It’s the world’s largest living history museum and has won numerous awards for its meticulous recreation and immersive experiences. It also takes an unflinching look at the story of enslaved, free African-Americans and Indigenous people.
Jamestown, in the Greater Williamsburg area, was the original site of the first permanent English settlement in America. It's also a living history museum, and its charming Riverwalk Landing (pictured) has handsome 18th-century architecture and lots of places to eat with views of the tall ships on the river. Traditional schooners sail along the river’s historic shores past sites where the last major land battle of the American Revolution took place.
Originally home to Pueblo peoples between 1050 to 1150, the scenic city of Santa Fe was overtaken by Spanish conquistador Don Pedro de Peralta in 1609 and 1610. The oldest state capital in North America, it has the country’s oldest church (San Miguel Mission) and public building – the Palace of the Governors, which was built in 1610. The New Mexico History Museum is attached and the place to unearth the area's far-reaching history. The 19th-century Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, pictured, is another Santa Fe landmark.
The city is a fascinating blend of Spanish, Pueblo and Mexican cultures with a rich creative scene. Between the plaza and the cathedral is the fascinating IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Art, while Museum Hill has the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian as well as the lovely Santa Fe Botanical Garden. Just to the north of the city are eight ancient pueblos which it's possible to visit, including Taos (pictured).
The epicentre of US political power, America's capital city is packed full of historic and handsome architecture. But The Mall is where you’ll find the big guns: the Washington Monument, Capitol Building, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. Self-led Neighbourhood Heritage Trails allow visitors to walk around some of DC's lesser-known areas.
Capitol Hill has sweeping views of the beautiful US Capitol Building and down to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. There are also the 17 museums and galleries that make up the world-leading Smithsonian Institution museums, including its newest addition the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The first national museum devoted to African American art, history and culture, it’s based on the National Mall.
Despite Washington DC's obvious heavyweight status, Philly takes some beating when it comes to historical importance. Touted as the 'birthplace of the nation', its historic district is where the most significant sites are concentrated, including Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, and the Liberty Bell.
Cobblestoned Elfreth’s Alley is America's oldest residential street. Once home to the fledgling city’s many merchants and artisans, most of these narrow shuttered houses remain privately owned. The Elfreth's Alley Museum gives a glimpse of what life was like for the street's working-class residents. Spread across two houses built in 1755, the enchanting museum is open for visits each year between April and October.
Fort Point is still a prominent landmark on San Francisco’s photogenic bay. It was built between 1853 and 1861 to protect from naval attacks when San Fran became the west coast’s most important city after the Gold Rush. However, it’s now dwarfed by the gorgeous Golden Gate Bridge.
But the city’s earliest beginnings can be found in the lively Mission District. This is the oldest part of San Francisco and where the Spanish missionaries first established the settlement that was originally known as Yerba Buena. Mission Dolores is San Francisco's oldest remaining building.
Founded in 1837, Georgia’s capital was at the end of the Western & Atlantic Railroad line. First nicknamed Terminus, it then became Marthasville in honour of the then-governor's daughter. It was finally renamed Atlanta in 1845. Oakland Cemetery, with its ancient oaks and historic gravestones, is one of Atlanta’s most important sites. Thousands of Confederate soldiers lay buried in this peaceful place, which sits at the highest point of the city; as well as Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell, who lived and worked in the city.
Another of the city’s most famous historic figures is Martin Luther King Jr. Atlanta played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement and was King's birthplace. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park is in Sweet Auburn – it includes his childhood home (pictured) and the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he and his father preached. There's also the excellent National Center for Civil and Human Rights museum.
Dating back to 1635, the state capital of Connecticut is a historic and cultural heavyweight. Key landmarks include the 18th-century Old State House of Connecticut and 19th-century golden-domed State Capitol, which gleams in Bushnell Park. The leafy public park is particularly picturesque in the autumn. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, America's first public art museum when it opened in 1842, wows with its priceless works of art.
The Ivy League city also has literary clout. It was home to Mark Twain for many years and where he wrote some of his greatest works – it’s possible to visit his house. The striking American high Gothic-style house (pictured) is open to visitors for tours. Hartford was also home to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her house is now a National Historic Landmark: the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.
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South Carolina’s port city of Charleston is steeped in the rich culture and complex history of the South. Its elegant and colourful historic architecture, cobbled streets, fabulous cuisine and verdant parks are big draws for visitors. As is the historic harbour – it was just off the coast at Fort Sumter that the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861. Pictured here is Rainbow Row, 13 pastel-hued 18th-century buildings that are one of the city’s most photographed landmarks.
Grand homes and plantation buildings that pre-date the Civil War also stand as reminders of Charleston's dark past as a slave trading centre. Learn more at the Old Slave Mart Museum and the Middleton Place plantation. Interactive, powerful storytelling reveals what life was like for enslaved people on the plantation as well as the Middletons. The National Historic Monument has beautiful grounds too. As does the magnificent Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, founded in 1676 by the Drayton family, which has a moving tour of its restored slave cabins.
Sun-kissed St Augustine has serious credentials when it comes to history. Established by the Spanish in 1565, it's the oldest permanently-occupied European settlement in America. As such its centre is jam-packed with historic architecture and intriguing museums. One of the city’s main landmarks is the massive Alcazar Hotel, a Spanish Renaissance-Revival structure built in 1888. Today it's home to the Lightner Museum and filled with Victorian-era fine art.
The 17th-century Spanish fort Castillo de San Marcos commands the western shore of Matanzas Bay. It weathered many attacks during tussles between the Spanish and British and is now a National Monument. Re-enactments (complete with cannon firings) give visitors a glimpse into the extraordinary role this fort played in America's history and what life was like for early settlers. The St Augustine Lighthouse is another heritage highlight – the first wooden watch tower was built here in the late 1500s with the current one dating from 1871.
Inextricably associated with witchcraft, the coastal city of Salem is steeped in fascinating tales of sorcery and seafaring. In the 17th century, it was a small, rural, Puritan community that was thrust into infamy as the centre of a witchcraft trial in 1692. A group of girls claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of being witches. Nineteen people were subsequently hanged on Salem’s Gallows Hill and one man pressed to death. The home of the trials’ judge Jonathan Corwin, known as the Witch House, still stands and is open for visitors.
As you’d expect, ghost tours and 'witch walks' are definitely a thing in Salem. The hop-on, hop-off Salem Trolley takes an eight-mile (13km) loop with commentary around key spooky sites including the Charter Street Burial Ground, the House of the Seven Gables (one of New England’s oldest surviving 17th-century wooden mansions) and the historic waterfront. The Salem Maritime National Historic Site, which covers 12 structures, was the first ever National Historic Site when it was created in 1938.