Places where history happened are powerful witnesses to the reality of past events, individual achievements, dramatic change, and past lifeways. Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or the USS Arizona Memorial, in Honolulu, Hawaii, link us to great moments in our common past. The mysterious cliff dwellings of the Southwest awe us with their haunting images of the remote past. Others places teach us about past contradictions and struggles that we dare not forget. The Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, now green and peaceful, reminds us that our society has often been divided by conflict, and that those who lived in the past faced decisions no less difficult than the ones we face today.
Most historic places represent the everyday lives of ordinary people.
Small country schools in Washington state recall the homesteaders of the late 19th century, who uprooted their families to settle in remote and isolated areas. Factories in eastern cities testify to generations of new Americans laboring long hours to make lives for themselves and their families. Both lovingly restored train stations and abandoned rail yards document the railroads that played a central role in American life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Places related by location reveal the histories and collective aspirations of whole communities. How communities interacted with one another through cooperation or conflict can tell us much about regional, or even national, values.