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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.

Photograph of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy
Civil War  |  Museum

National Museum of the U.S. Navy

Washington, DC | The museum is on the Washington Navy Yard where Rear Adm. John Dahlgren oversaw production of Civil War guns and frequently met with...
This is a landscape sketch of mountains and valleys.
Civil War  |  Museum

Gettysburg Heritage Center

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania | Learn what the Battle of Gettysburg meant to the people who lived here during the war.
A sketch of a crowd waving an American flag in the street
Civil War  |  Museum

Museum of Science and History

Jacksonville, Florida | This general museum includes an exhibit on the Union transport ship Maple Leaf, which struck a Confederate mine in St. Johns...