American Historical Landscapes
From Civil War battlegrounds to industrial landmarks to the country’s earliest national parks, these places helped shape the United States we know today.
An Earth Observatory Collection
It was here the founders shaped the future of American government.
The colonial communities of “America’s historic triangle” played defining roles in the road to American independence.
Sites relevant to the start of the American Revolutionary War are interspersed throughout the modern-day Boston metropolitan region.
The farms and gardens of Mount Vernon played a central role in the life of America’s first president.
Two hundred years ago, a battle in the port city of Baltimore inspired the writing of America’s national anthem.
Marshy, sandy terrain and an impassable inlet helped colonial forces repel British forces during a pivotal battle on the barrier…
In a precursor to Memorial Day, people in Charleston, South Carolina, honored fallen Civil War troops with flowers, songs, and…
After marching from Selma, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, and…
The colossal project created a valuable connection between the U.S. interior and the Atlantic Ocean when it opened in October…
New York City’s Manhattan Island was the site of the nation’s first Labor Day parade on September 5, 1882.
Samuel Pierpont Langley conducted the first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft from a houseboat near Chopawamsic Island…
Forests play a key role in filtering the waters of a reservoir in central Massachusetts that’s home to submerged towns…
Well-wishers in Hawaii welcomed the astronauts on July 26, 1969, after they landed on the Moon, splashed down in the…
The setting for John Henry’s legendary contest with a steam-powered drill may have been this tunnel through Big Bend Mountain…
Harriet Tubman preferred to navigate the woods and waterways of Maryland’s Eastern Shore on winter nights when guiding enslaved people…
The Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington is the oldest continually operating retirement home for military personnel in the United…
Dry pine forests near Fayetteville, North Carolina, are the setting for one of the largest military bases in the world.
From 18th-century fur traders to modern-day vacationers, plenty of travelers have passed through this watery landscape in northern Minnesota.
Old Point Comfort was among the first places where enslaved people were traded in colonial America—and a hub of resistance…
Wide, diagonal avenues radiate from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., outward through the city.
The issuing of General Order No. 3 by Union troops on June 19, 1865, marked the official end of slavery…
