The Liberty Trail History Makers

Explore colonial Halifax at a preserved Revolutionary-era town where historic homes, public spaces, and hands-on exhibits reveal how North Carolinians lived, worked, and governed in the 1700s. From influential leaders’ residences to springs, markets, and river landings, the site brings everyday life in a pivotal American community into sharp focus.

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.

On October 16, 1777, British forces under John Vaughan attacked and burned much of Kingston, New York, then the state’s first capital. Though the raid caused widespread destruction and forced the New York government to flee, it ultimately did little to alter the course of the Revolutionary War.

Historic home of the Philipse family, staunch Loyalists during the Revolutionary War.

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.

The home to Founding Father George Mason, this mansion is slightly atypical of Georgian architecture due to its unique interior design that blends styles from across Europe and Asia.

In March of 1781, much of the Continental Army was hunting for the traitor, Benedict Arnold. In mid-March, Lafayette was sent south from the Elk River in Maryland with a detachment of troops to...

A home to a Quaker family, it served as a hospital following the Battle of Red Bank.

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

Mount Vernon acted as the former plantation estate of the legendary Revolutionary War general, George Washington. The current estate includes the original mansion, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery and gristmill, plus a museum and education center.

General Washington established his Newburgh headquarters at Jonathan and Tryntje Hasbrouck's fieldstone farmhouse from 1782 to 1783, issuing an order for a "cessation of hostilities" from the house.

Following the Revolutionary War, Lafayette accepted an invitation from George Washington and returned to America. The Marquis de Lafayette departed France in mid-June 1784 and arrived in New York City...