Search Markers

Alexander, NY · est. 2004

Erected in 1837, this cobblestone building served the village of Alexander as a classical academy at a time when secondary education was rare in rural America. Cobblestone construction — laying tens of thousands of water-rounded stones by hand — flourished in a roughly 65-mile radius of Rochester, NY, after Erie Canal masons settled the region.

Collinsville, IL · est. 1982

The Mississippian people built a sophisticated urban center of plazas, mounds, and a solar calendar of timber posts. Cahokia was larger than London at the time before declining by 1350.

Childs (Gaines), NY · est. 1993

After the Erie Canal opened in 1825, the masons who had cut its locks turned to building homes, churches, and schools from glacial cobblestones. The Childs cluster is the densest surviving example of the craft.

Williamsburg, VA · est. 1934

As Virginia's colonial capital, Williamsburg was a center of revolutionary politics. Restored in the 20th century, it is now the largest living-history museum in the country.

Montgomery, AL · est. 1974

From this church near the Alabama Capitol, a young Dr. King led the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks's arrest. The boycott ended segregated buses and launched King to national prominence.

Selma, AL · est. 1965

Some 600 marchers crossing the bridge toward Montgomery were attacked by police with clubs and tear gas. Televised nationwide, the violence galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

New York, NY · est. 1965

In the great hall, arrivals were inspected, questioned, and — for nearly all — admitted to begin new lives. Ellis Island became the symbol of America as a nation of immigrants.

Fredericksburg, VA · est. 1936

Union troops crossed the Rappahannock and charged a stone wall held by entrenched Confederates below Marye's Heights. Wave after wave fell; nearly 13,000 Union casualties resulted.

Gettysburg, PA · est. 1895

Lee's second invasion of the North ended here in three days of fighting that left over 50,000 casualties. Four months later Lincoln redefined the war's purpose in 272 words.

Promontory, UT · est. 1957

Two railroads — one built east from California largely by Chinese laborers, the other west across the plains — joined rails at Promontory. The country could now be crossed in days instead of months.

Harpers Ferry, WV · est. 1963

Brown and 21 men captured the federal arsenal at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah. Cornered by U.S. Marines under Robert E. Lee, Brown was captured, tried, and hanged — becoming a martyr to abolitionists and a warning to the South.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1948

Originally the Pennsylvania State House, this brick Georgian building hosted the Second Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. The Liberty Bell once hung in its tower.

Lexington, MA · est. 1949

At dawn, some 700 British soldiers marching to seize colonial arms confronted about 80 minutemen on Lexington's common. Eight Americans died — the opening casualties of the Revolutionary War.

Springfield, IL · est. 1972

Lincoln bought this Springfield house as a young lawyer and rising politician. He left it in 1861 for Washington, telling neighbors he might never return — and he did not.

Lockport, NY · est. 1976

To lift canal boats 60 feet over the Niagara Escarpment, engineers built five paired locks — boats going up on one side while others descended. The project drew workers from across Europe and gave the city of Lockport its name.

Lowell, MA · est. 1978

Lowell harnessed the Merrimack's drop through a network of power canals to run the nation's first integrated cotton mills. Its young women workers — the 'Lowell mill girls' — wrote the first chapters of American labor history.

Atlanta, GA · est. 1980

King was born and spent his early childhood in this two-story Queen Anne home. The surrounding Sweet Auburn district was a thriving center of Black business and culture.

Concord, MA · est. 1936

Hours after Lexington, colonial militia massed at Concord's North Bridge and exchanged fire with British regulars, forcing their retreat to Boston. Emerson's 'Concord Hymn' immortalized the moment.

Ripley, OH · est. 1938

From his house above Ripley, John Rankin and his family sheltered more than 2,000 escaping enslaved people over four decades. The lantern in his window signaled safety across the river from Kentucky.

Seligman, AZ · est. 2001

When Interstate 40 bypassed the town, barber Angel Delgadillo organized to save the 'Mother Road.' His effort revived Route 66 as a nostalgic travel corridor across the Southwest.

Richmond, VA · est. 1932

The Second Virginia Convention met here, beyond reach of the royal governor. Patrick Henry's speech persuaded delegates — including Washington and Jefferson — to arm the colony's militia.

Coloma, CA · est. 1949

Marshall's discovery drew some 300,000 'forty-niners' to California within a few years, reshaping the West, accelerating statehood, and devastating Native communities.

San Antonio, TX · est. 1936

For 13 days a small garrison held the former mission against a far larger Mexican force. Their deaths rallied Texas; weeks later Sam Houston's army won independence at San Jacinto.

Seneca Falls, NY · est. 1980

Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the 1848 convention at the Wesleyan Chapel launched the organized women's suffrage movement. Sixty-eight women and thirty-two men signed the Declaration of Sentiments.

Kill Devil Hills, NC · est. 1932

On the windy dunes of Kill Devil Hills, the Wright Flyer lifted off for 12 seconds and 120 feet — the first of four flights that day. The brothers had solved the problem of controlled flight.

Yorktown, VA · est. 1957

A combined American and French force trapped the British army against the York River while the French fleet blocked escape by sea. The siege's end secured American independence.