Learn more about how The Liberty Trail is blazing paths across the east coast.
Visiting historical sites provides unrivaled experiences and education opportunities.
John Laurens, a Revolutionary War hero and close friend of Alexander Hamilton, was a strong opponent of slavery despite his father being a wealthy slave trader. He proposed enlisting enslaved people into the Continental Army and freeing them after the war. Laurens was killed at the Battle of Tar Bluff in 1782 at just 27 years old. Recent excavations at the site uncovered relics from the battle, including a slave tag from 1836, highlighting the ongoing struggle against slavery. Laurens would likely have supported later efforts like Harriet Tubman’s 1863 Combahee Ferry Raid, which freed over 700 slaves.
Kate Egner recounts a recent shoot at Moores Creek Bridge, North Carolina, where on February 27, 1776, Scottish Highlander Loyalists charged patriot militia in the war’s first North Carolina battle—and last recorded Highland charge. In just 30 minutes, patriots halted the attack with musket and cannon fire, paving the way for the Halifax Resolves, the first official call for colonial independence. The American Battlefield Trust, Parks Channel, and National Park Service are using AI art, historical sources, and on-site storytelling to recreate the battle and its characters, inspiring visitors to explore The Liberty Trail.
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 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.
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.
In the days leading up the Battle of Lexington and Concord, James Barrett stored military supplies, including small cannons, from that were smuggled out of Boston amid rising tensions with the British.
Patriot Francis Marion earns his famous nickname — "The Swamp Fox”— after a futile chase by British Commander Banastre Tarleton
Loyalists ambush a contingent of Patriot militia at a tavern in December of 1780, leading to a massacre
Now a quiet park in the center of urban Morristown, this green once served as the training and parade grounds of the Continental Army during its 1777 winter encampment.
On May 29, 1780, British commander Banastre Tarleton engaged and overwhelmed a Patriot force under the command of Abraham Buford in a dreadful defeat for the Patriots.
The mansion once housed George Washington, who utilized it as his headquarters in the freezing winter of 1779.
An ingenious Patriot deception provokes a prominent Loyalist to surrender his outpost
Also known as the Battle of Assunpink Creek, Washington thwarted Cornwallis yet again, just south of the town of Trenton where they had fought only days prior.
The Piedmont’s Kings Mountain State Park has miles of forested trails perfect for supreme Kings Mountain hiking, two fishing lakes, and sits adjacent to Kings Mountain National Military Park, one of many national park Revolutionary War sites.