A passionate advocate for liberty, Adams rallied resistance to British rule, organized protests like the Boston Tea Party, and championed colonial rights. He later signed the Declaration of Independence and served as Massachusetts’ governor.
William Alexander, known as “Lord Stirling,” was a wealthy New Yorker who claimed a Scottish title and became a key Continental Army officer during the Revolutionary War, earning distinction at the Battle of Long Island and later serving in major campaigns like Princeton and Brandywine. Despite his aristocratic airs, he proved a loyal patriot and capable commander, ultimately dying of gout in 1783 just before the war’s end.
Enlsaved in the midst of the American Revolution, James Armistead was recruited by Patriot forces to spy on Cornwallis and the British War Department during the Siege of Yorktown.
Regarded as the first martyr of the American Revolution, Crispus Attucks was the first to fall in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. Of African and Native American descent, he became a powerful symbol of the fight for liberty, later embraced by abolitionists as a hero of both American independence and the struggle for equality.
Uncovering History
We invite you to visit the preserved locations along the Liberty Trail and to immerse
yourself in the extraordinary events that determined the fate of a nation.
The site of the 1775 Battle of Williamson's Fort and a critical outpost for the British after they captured Charleston in 1780, the colonial town of Ninety Six was also the setting of a 28-day siege in 1781. Here, Nathanael Greene’s Patriots attacked the heart of Loyalist commander John Cruger’s defenses — the Star Fort.
The site of the first known Colonist offensive attack during the Revolution, Meriam's Corner marks where the British column, retreating to Boston, was ambushed by local militias.
The primary approach to Norfolk, Virginia, was over Great Bridge, which spanned the Elizabeth River. On the morning of December 9, 1775, British soldiers attacked Patriot forces near the bridge in an attempt to seize the bridge and run off the rebels.
The Royal Governor's Mansion of New Jersey is the only remaining proprietary governor's mansion of the original Thirteen Colonies still standing today. Built in the 1760s, it served as the residence gubernatorial residence of William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's Loyalist son.
After the Siege of Charleston in 1780, the British established a headquarters at the Kershaw/Cornwallis House. Today the house and grounds are open to tours.
The site of the 1780 battle of Musgrove’s Mill where a small force of Patriot militia fought and defeated a larger force of Loyalist and Provincial soldiers in a short but pivotal battle.
This historic house museum was the home of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Huck’s Defeat occurred on July 12, 1780. The battleground is on the site of Historic Brattonsville, a former colonial plantation.
Eighteenth-century Moncks Corner was a crossroads settlement of stores and taverns at the intersection of the Cherokee Path (the Indian traders’ path) and the road from Charleston to Santee. A powder magazine was established in 1760 and the village was occupied as a store depot by the British during the Revolutionary War.
The sound of liberty rang from this bell in the early morning of April 19, 1775, to call forth the Lexington militia. Today, a reconstructed belfry stands as a reminder of the militia's bravery and determination at the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
The plantation & gardens bears witness to 350 years of American history. Learn about the Europeans who colonized South Carolina, and the enslaved people who worked in the rice fields and gardens.
The mansion once housed George Washington, who utilized it as his headquarters in the freezing winter of 1779.