Things to do / Travel Guide
When it comes to interesting, interactive, authentic historical touring, eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland's historical attractions represent the pick of the litter. Eastern Virginia's Historic Triangle is the best place to get schooled in the nation's colonial beginnings. Colonial Williamsburg, for one, is considered to be the premier historical attraction in the United States. The 23-mile, scenic Colonial National Historic Parkway starts in Yorktown, continues on to Williamsburg, and ends in Jamestown. Richmond bursts with U.S. history, and the North Carolina shore has many decades of history behind it. Don't even think about bypassing the history of the biplane - Kill Devil Hills' Wright Brothers Memorial - before your historical pilgrimage is through.
Historical Attractions on the Delmarva Peninsula
Most likely, your visit to the Delmarva Peninsula will be for soaking in the rays on the beaches. Don't let that stand in the way of soaking up some history. Cape Henlopen State Park was a World War Two army base, bunkers, watchtowers and all.
Historical Attractions in Richmond, Virginia
Every inch of Richmond is packed with history; how could it not be with a famous founding father like Thomas Jefferson?! Jefferson authored his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in Richmond, but he left his mark in other ways, too. Colonial history is just the beginning of Richmond's historical importance. The Virginia State Capitol (designed by Jefferson himself) once served as the White House of the Confederacy, and American Civil War battlefields abound. A drive along Monument Avenue to see the various Confederate hero monuments is just a preview of the historical riches Richmond holds. The Civil War Battlefields National Park Visitors Center near the James River riverfront is a place to start if you've come to learn about the Confederacy's Civil War campaign. While you are there, a walk along the Slave Trail will certainly be sobering. If it is U.S. history that you are clambering after, head to St. John's Church on East Broad Street, where Patrick Henry delivered his famous words, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
You will find the somber burial sites of a star-studded cast of U.S. politicians and war heroes from the past at Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery on South Cherry Street. Presidents John Tyler and James Monroe are interred in the cemetery along with tens of thousands of Confederate colonels, generals, and soldiers. Before you head out of the city, you might want to check out the Virginia War Memorial on Belvedere Street, near the riverfront, or the famous 56-bell World War I Memorial Carillon, located near Byrd Park.
Historical Attractions in Yorktown, Virginia
Because of Yorktown's unique location, near where the York River spills into Chesapeake Bay, the area figured prominently in early U.S. history. Yorktown was originally founded in 1691 as a port town, used to ship tobacco to Europe. It was also the military base of British General Charles Cornwallis, and later the site of his downfall to George Washington and his troops in 1781 (officially ending the American Revolution). Later, during the Civil War, Yorktown was a highly contested port - taken by both the Confederate and Union Armies at various times throughout the bloody conflict.
Today Yorktown is the site of the nearly-5,000-acre Yorktown National Battlefield Park; a park with as much history to absorb as your mind and timeframe will allow. You can see George Washington's actual sleeping and dining tents up close (preserved in a hermetically-sealed room), poke around a replica of the HMS Charon (one of the largest, British warships present at Yorktown in 1781), or take one of two self-guided driving tours, the seven-mile Battlefield Route or the 10-mile Encampment Route. The Yorktown Visitor Center and Battlefield are open year-round.
Historical Attractions in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia
Fifes and drums marshal out a colonial fight song, women in bonnets, capes, and petticoats swish by 18th-century storefronts where blacksmiths and other craftsmen are hard at work in their trades. Thomas Jefferson pontificates, expounding on the notions of liberty and justice, and slaves deplore their freedom-less state. Roving balladeers serenade the diners in historic taverns who gorge themselves on bountiful feasts. This isn't your typical historic village; this isn't the same-old, same-old. This is Colonial Williamsburg, one of the world's largest living history museums.
Set on 301-acres with beautiful lush gardens, hundreds of reconstructed, restored buildings and historic sites, and enlivened by hundreds of highly-trained, historically well-versed costumed interpreters, Colonial Williamsburg is hands-down the best and most entertaining place to learn U.S. history. Once the largest and richest of Britain's New World outposts, Colonial Williamsburg was the epicenter of pre-independence action, the heart of the nation's beginnings. Each year 4 million visitors wander around the impeccably rebuilt, car-free streets, restored to look exactly as they did in 1774. There is a long list of restored buildings to visit, complete with period furnishings, including a church, apothecary, churchyard, hospital, courthouse, and plantation home, among countless other sites. You can stop for a typical meal at a restored tavern, and pause to hear what George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry have to say along the way. You can meet and interact with the Caucasian, Native American, and African American (slave, indentured, and free) costumed interpreters, ask them questions, find out about the world from their vantage point.
Colonial Williamsburg is open 365 days a year, but it is best to call in advance to get the weekly schedule of attractions and activities. While walking around the town is free, the cost of entering the buildings and participating in the shows and tours is around $45 for adults and about $25 for children.
Historical Attractions in Jamestown, Virginia
Established in 1607 as the first permanent British settlement in the New World, Jamestown now features the Jamestown National Historic Park and Jamestown Settlement, commemorating that time. Get an up-close look at replica ships, a recreated Native American village, a colonial fort, and various archaeological sites. Jamestown also offers a three- or five-mile driving tour with explanations about early colonial life. You can also get a picture of the original village by strolling the banks of the James River, checking out the remains of the 1639 church tower, and wandering around the very grounds where John Rolfe, Virginia's first tobacco farmer, married the legendary Powhatan woman and peace-making figure, Pocahontas.
To see Jamestown from the same perspective as many of the first colonists, many people opt to take the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry. The free ferry service has four different vessels, the Pocahontas, Williamsburg, Surry, and Virginia, each of which transport passengers and their cars between Scotland Wharf, in Scotland, Virginia to Glass House Point, in Jamestown. The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry leaves every hour during daylight, and operates year-round.
Historical Attractions near Virginia Beach
A visit to First Landing State Park is an opportunity to enjoy nature and learn some American history, at the same time. The year was 1607 and the members of the Virginia company were the first to land, as the name suggests.
Historical Attractions in Edenton, North Carolina
Once described by New York Times as “the loveliest small town in America,” the colonial seaport of Edenton, North Carolina (founded in 1712), once the second-largest port in the colonies, is now home to a collection of historical sites. Several times daily, the Edenton Visitor Center offers guided walking tours of the historic district with its superb collection of 18th-, 19th-, and early-20th-century buildings. As you walk around Edenton you will learn about its political, cultural, and commercial importance to the colonies, hear about local resident Joseph Hewes who signed the Declaration of Independence along with James Wilson (who passed away in Edenton), also a signatory of the U.S. Constitution, and see North Carolina's first chartered church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church (built in 1736).
Historical Attractions in Beaufort, North Carolina
On a guided tour of Historic Beaufort's authentically-restored buildings in downtown Beaufort, you will pop into an old Apothecary (1857) to see how pharmacists used to concoct their remedies, stop at Carteret County Courthouse (1798), the oldest wood-frame courthouse in North Carolina, and hear the local Beaufort legends and spooky tales as you cross the threshold of The Old Jail (1829). Be sure to schedule a tour that offers a visit to Beaufort's Hammock House, the oldest house in Beaufort, dating back to the early 1700s. Legend has it that the fierce old pirate Blackbeard built the house - and if he didn't build it, he at least spent a good deal of time there planning his pirating raids. A Historic Beaufort tour is an excellent way to learn about North Carolina's early colonial seaport lifestyle. Tours run year-round and are available through various companies and associations in Beaufort.
Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, Outer Banks
Twelve beautiful seconds of soaring helped Wilbur and Orville Wright make history. This 1903 first sustained-powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine happened right in the Outer Banks' Kill Devil Hill, four miles south of Kitty Hawk on Bodie Island. At the Wright Brothers National Memorial you can walk the actual routes of their first flights, and visit two reconstructed wooden sheds to peep in at a recreation of the world's first airplane hangar and the Wright brothers' living quarters. At the Visitor Center you can take a gander at a life-size replica of the Wright Brothers' biplane and other Wright paraphernalia.
Historical Sites in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, North Carolina's Outer Banks
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