Trail Sites

Liberty Trail Historic Sites

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.

States of Interest:
South Carolina
Historic Site
Gaffney, SC
Virginia
Historic Site
Suffolk, VA

Located just south of the Chesapeake Bay, this "uninhabitable" Great Dismal Swamp was home to thousands of Native Americans and Maroons--self...

Virginia
Historic Site | Historic House
Lorton, VA

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

South Carolina
State/County Park | Historic House
McClellanville, SC

This 18th-century plantation home, on the grounds of the Hampton Plantation State Historic Site, served as a place of refuge for Francis Marion who...

Virginia
Historic Site
Norfolk, VA

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten U.S. Navy-run museums in the country. It highlights Virginia's naval history from the American Revolution...

Massachusetts
Historic Site | Historic House
Lexington, MA

In the early twilight hours of April 19, 1775, Paul Revere rode by this house to warn its occupants, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, of the impending...

South Carolina
Historic Site | Historic House
Clemson, SC

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...

Massachusetts
Historic Site | Historic House
Lexington, MA

The Harrington House belonged to that of Jonathan Harrington whom, according to local history, crawled back to his house to pass in his wife's arms...

Massachusetts
National Park | Historic House
Lincoln, MA

Located near where Paul Revere was captured during his famous ride, one of Revere's compatriots was able to escape and alert Hartwell family, who...

Liberty Trail History Makers

The Revolutionary War was a war unlike any other — one of ideas and ideals, that shaped “the course of human events. Explore the history and personalities from this pivotal time in American history.
Biography

Rebecca Brewton Motte supported the Patriot cause by allowing her plantation to be used in a siege, even offering a bow to set her house on fire, which led to the British surrender at Fort Motte.

Biography

Drury Harris, a free Black man, served as a private in the 3rd South Carolina Regiment during the American Revolution, fighting in key battles like Savannah, Charleston, and Cowpens, where he was wounded; after the war, he settled in South Carolina, married, and was later granted a pension, living until 1834.

Biography

Elizabeth, Grace, and Rachel Martin, devoted Patriots during the Revolutionary War, disguised themselves to ambush a British courier, seizing crucial dispatches that they forwarded to General Nathanael Greene, aiding the American cause in the Southern campaigns.

Biography

Rebekah Howe Fiske Merriam, a witness to the fighting during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, lived through significant personal and historical events, later remarrying and passing away in 1845.

Exploring 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.
Battlefield
Princeton, NJ

After crossing the Delaware, George Washington's ten-day campaign culminated in a decisive victory at the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777, proving his army could defeat the British. The battle saw Washington's forces overcome initial setbacks to rout the British and shift the momentum of the war

Battlefield |
Camden, SC

The Battle of Camden was a devastating defeat suffered by the Americans in the British military offensive in the South.

Battlefield | State/County Park
Clinton, SC

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.

Battlefield
Concord, MA

At dawn on April 19, 1775, an unknown shot shattered the silence in Lexington. British Redcoats and colonial militia clashed, leaving blood on the field. In Concord, the patriots struck back, and as the British retreated, gunfire hounded them to Boston, thus sparking the American Revolution

Battlefield
Charlestown, MA

A proving ground for the Patriot cause, the infamous Battle of Bunker Hill was the first pitched battle between New England soldiers and the British. Although the British claimed the field, some 1,000 British soldiers and Marines were wounded or killed in action.

Battlefield | Historic Site
Summerton, SC

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.

Historic Site | Historic House
Lexington , MA

Waiting on British troops to arrive on the morning of April 19, militia members used this tavern to wait for their arrival before assembling on the field of battle and sparking the American Revolution

Historic Site | Historic House
Charlottesville, VA

Monticello, “Little Mountain,” was the home from 1770 until his death in 1826, of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States. Jefferson was one of America’s first and finest architects and he created, rebuilt, and revised the house throughout his long life.

Historic Site |
Norfolk, VA

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten U.S. Navy-run museums in the country. It highlights Virginia's naval history from the American Revolution to the present.

Historic Site | Historic House
Charleston, SC

In 1780, after the British occupied Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, the Brewton house was used as the British headquarters for Henry Clinton.

State/County Park | Historic House
Basking Ridge, NJ

Once a sprawling manor complex in the New Jersey countryside belonging to Major General William Alexander, all that remains are two extant structures and the cellar of the original home.

Historic Site | Historic House
Somerville, NJ

The home of a prominent Philadelphia merchant, this was the largest home built in New Jersey during the Revolution. During the Continental Army's encampment at Middleburg, it served as George Washington's Headquarters.