Discover the myriad of sites across The Liberty Trail where significant cultural and Revolutionary history unfolded. From military ruins to meticulously restored mansions, immerse yourself in the footsteps of our nation’s history-makers.
Built in 1716 for Paul de St. Julien in Berkeley County. The house was later dismantled and moved to Clemson University and functions as a house...
This historic house museum was the home of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Discover the history of the Scots-Irish and African-Americans through preserved buildings and living history experiences of the Brattonsville...
Located near the famous Treaty of Hopewell site, the Hopewell Plantation house was the Pickens' family home and later served as the South Carolina...
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...
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...
Loyalists ambush a contingent of Patriot militia at a tavern in December of 1780, leading to a massacre
The plantation & gardens bears witness to 350 years of American history. Learn about the Europeans who colonized South Carolina, and the enslaved...
Johann Ewald, a Hessian captain, served in several significant Revolutionary War battles, including White Plains, Bound Brook, and the failed attack on Fort Mercer. He later fought at Yorktown, where he surrendered with the British forces. His detailed wartime diary and maps provide invaluable insights into his experiences in America.
William Woodford (1734–1780) was a Virginia soldier who made his mark early in the Revolution, leading the 2nd Virginia Regiment to victory at Great Bridge. A seasoned fighter, he battled at Brandywine and Monmouth, but was captured at Charleston. Woodford tragically died in British captivity aboard a prison ship.
Peter Harris, a Catawba Indian who survived a devastating smallpox epidemic as a child, served bravely in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, fighting in key battles like Stono Ferry and Rocky Mount; despite his contributions, he later petitioned South Carolina for a pension, poignantly describing himself as "one of the lingering embers of an almost extinguished race," and was granted $60 a year just before his death in 1823.
On June 28, 1776, the British attacked Sullivan’s Island. Against impossible odds and outnumbered 2,200 British troops to 435 soldiers within the fort, Moultrie successfully prevented land and sea invasions of Charleston. The British retreated to New York and would not return to South Carolina until 1780.
After an eight-day siege, this strategic outpost fell to the Americans, who used an ingenious structure called Maham’s Tower to fire down into the fort and trap the enemy.
Middleton Place is America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens and home to a signer 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.
Completed in 1771, the Old Exchange Building is a Charleston landmark and the site of some of the most important events in South Carolina history. Over the last two and a half centuries, the building has been a commercial exchange, custom house, post office, city hall, military headquarters, and museum.
Completed in 1713, The Powder Magazine is South Carolina's oldest government building.
Treacherous waters and Patriot fire foil a British attack on Charleston Harbor
When Jane Black Thomas overheard Loyalists plotting a surprise attack on her son's militia camp, she rode nearly 60 miles through dangerous territory to warn him. Her daring ride gave Colonel John Thomas Jr. and his Spartan Regiment time to prepare an ambush that repelled the attackers — fueling Patriot momentum toward the war-changing Battle of King's Mountain just three months later.
Discover the history of the Scots-Irish and African-Americans through preserved buildings and living history experiences of the Brattonsville community.
This last major battle of the war in the South succeeded in driving the British out of rural South Carolina.
Patriot Leader Nathanael Greene Is repulsed but not defeated in his campaign to chase the British from the South Carolina backcountry
This park features the Lands Ford crossing, used during the Revolutionary War by both British and American troops under Cornwallis and Sumter before and after pivotal battles.
