This is a sketch of cannons on the upper deck of a fort.

Heritage Sites

The places highlighted here — formerly called the Civil War Discovery Trail — are not just any places. They are the celebrated sites and structures that bring the earliest chapters of the American story to life, such as battlefields, historic homes, stations on the Underground Railroad, cemeteries, and parks. Together, they constitute the essential stops on a trail to discovering not only America’s military history, but the political, social and human dimensions of the founding and forging of the United States.

Illustration of Henry Box Brown's "resurrection" in Philadelphia. From William Still's 1872 book The Underground Railroad.
Civil War  |  Historic Site

Henry Box Brown

Born into slavery about 1815 at The Hermitage Plantation near here, Henry Brown was working in Richmond by 1830. Brown mailed himself to Philadelphia...
USCT Monument at Fort Defiance Civil War Park & Interpretive Center in Clarksville, Tenn.
Civil War  |  Historic Site

Fort Defiance

Built in late 1861 by Confederate troops with the forced labor of over 300 African Americans, the earthen fort now known as Fort Defiance was built to...
Old Barracks Museum
Rev War  |  Historic Site

Old Barracks Museum

Located on Barrack Street, the old Trenton Barracks were built during the French and Indian War to avoid housing British troops in colonial homes...
This is a sketch of cannons on the upper deck of a fort.
Civil War  |  Museum

Historic Kenmore

Fredericksburg, Virginia | December 1862 unfolded in a deadly drama around the site of the museum, when Federal forces crossed the Rappahannock River...