The Liberty Trail History Makers

Nestled in the sloping mountains of New Jersey, the birthplace of American military academies can be found. Initially a part of a winter encampment, it became the proving grounds for Patriot artillerists.

The Johnson Hall State Historic Site was the home of Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a Major General who fought in King George’s War and the French and Indian War.

Nestled outside the traditional bounds of the South Carolina colony is the Presbyterian church where Andrew Pickens committed his time as an elder following the Revolution. In the adjacent cemetery lie the graves of several American soldiers who had fought by Pickens' side during the war.

Once a simple ferry site, it gained prominence after Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox," mustered the Williamsburg militia into his ranks in August of 1780

Once owned and operated by Founding Father Patrick Henry, it was while living in this home that Patrick Henry coined the phrase "Give me liberty or give me death!"

Located just south of the Chesapeake Bay, this "uninhabitable" Great Dismal Swamp was home to thousands of Native Americans and Maroons--self-emancipated slaves--throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Middleton Place is America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens and home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Elizabeth Town Point, New Jersey served as a critical colonial port, ferry landing, and commercial hub connecting New Jersey to New York before and during the American Revolution. On January 25, 1780, British and Loyalist troops crossed here to launch a devastating raid that burned parts of Elizabeth.

This Revolutionary War landmark withstood fierce fighting during the Battle of Springfield. A British cannonball struck the home — and the scar remains visible today. Inside, the house has been restored and now serves as a museum filled with artifacts, documents, and stories that bring the 1780 battle to life.

Built circa 1740, Hopsewee Plantation was one of the South’s major rice plantations and the birthplace of Thomas Lynch, Jr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

On September 25, 1780, Generals George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette traveled toward the Beverly Robinson House, across the Hudson River from West Point, New York. The Robinson House...

The Patriots launch a misguided attack on British troops retreating from an aborted raid on Charleston