It takes a lot of time and effort to reconstruct an entire 18th century star fort more or less from scratch. It’s not something you see being done that often. Yet that’s just what happened with Fort Stanwix National Monument back in the 1970s.
Alexander Hamilton’s storming of Redoubt #10 was only a small part of a battle that, over the course of nearly three weeks, had relatively little to do with storming barricades and lots to do with big cannons blasting away at each other.
It’s hard to overstate how much difference a good interpretive guide can make to your experience of a historic monument. I’ve had visits to great monuments spoiled by poor interpreters and visits to less well-known sites really brought alive by inspired historical interpretation. Longfellow House is a happy example of the latter category.
I used to be a big fan of “The West Wing” on TV, and the term has become synonymous with the presidency. But there are West Wings and West Wings. The one that is attached to Independence Hall in Philadelphia isn’t as famous or as deserving of fame as the one stuck to the Executive Mansion. But it is a bit of a hidden gem in terms of what it contains inside.
One of the less well-advertised walking tours available at Independence National Historical Park takes visitors to a section of Philadelphia’s Old City loved by local residents but usually overlooked by visitors on their way to see Independence Hall or the Liberty Bell. This is a Philadelphia city park, just yards away from these more famous sites, that combines a quiet, shady respite from city hustle with an intriguing historical monument to the dead of the Revolutionary War.
I love the Freedom Trail. It’s basically just a red brick path that runs through historic Boston, but its existence transforms the visitor’s experience of that city. It’s very cool, and very Boston.
This day in 1777 saw the Battle of Germantown, where an attempt by Gen. George Washington to attack and defeat the British army invading Philadelphia was defeated and repulsed. It’s a bit difficult memorializing this particular battle.
Dougie Does Monuments 