Living History Sites

Known worldwide as the nation's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg operates the restored eighteenth-century capital of colonial Virginia.

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 hid here from when British troops.

The Abingdon Muster Grounds is a 9-acre park is the site where, in 1780, 400 Virginians joined other patriot militia from the western frontier in a two-week campaign that ended with a critical victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain. The Abingdon Muster Grounds is a partner site of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.

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.

The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown provides the origins of the nation’s founding, stretching from the early colonial period to the passing of the Constitution and beyond. Exciting indoor galleries feature period artifacts, immersive environments and films, including “The Siege of Yorktown,” with a 180-degree surround screen and dramatic special effects.

Francis Salvador, the first Jewish person to die in the Revolutionary War, was a London-born pioneer who moved to South Carolina in 1773. A vocal supporter of independence, he became the first Jewish person to hold political office in the state. Known as the "Southern Paul Revere," Salvador warned of attacks during the war but tragically died in an ambush in 1776 at just 29 years old, leaving behind a legacy of courage and commitment to freedom.

Yorktown was George Washington's decisive victory over General Lord Charles Cornwallis. Learn about the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War.

Occupied by both sides during the American Revolution, this home has seen the likes of both George Washington and William Howe

The primary approach to Norfolk, Virginia, was over Great Bridge, which spanned the Elizabeth River. On the morning of December 9, 1775, British soldiers attacked Patriot forces near the bridge in an attempt to seize the bridge and run off the rebels.

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.

Stratford Hall was home to four generations of the Lee family including Revolutionary War veteran, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, and the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence: Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee. S

This parsonage was constructed in the 1750s and housed the reverend of the Dutch congregation in what is now modern-day Somerville.