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American Historical Landscapes

23 June 2026 at 20:00

American Historical Landscapes

From Civil War battlegrounds to industrial landmarks to the country’s earliest national parks, these places helped shape the United States we know today.

Washington, the capital of the United States of America

An Earth Observatory Collection

An Early “Decoration Day” Celebration
4 min read

In a precursor to Memorial Day, people in Charleston, South Carolina, honored fallen Civil War troops with flowers, songs, and…

May 25, 2026
How Long, Not Long 
4 min read

After marching from Selma, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, and…

Jan 19, 2026
The Erie Canal Turns 200
4 min read

The colossal project created a valuable connection between the U.S. interior and the Atlantic Ocean when it opened in October…

Sep 29, 2025
The First Labor Day Parade
3 min read

New York City’s Manhattan Island was the site of the nation’s first Labor Day parade on September 5, 1882.

Sep 1, 2025
The Potomac Island Where History Took Flight
4 min read

Samuel Pierpont Langley conducted the first successful flight of an unpiloted, engine-driven, heavier-than-air craft from a houseboat near Chopawamsic Island…

Aug 19, 2025
Lost Towns of the Quabbin
4 min read

Forests play a key role in filtering the waters of a reservoir in central Massachusetts that’s home to submerged towns…

Aug 11, 2025
A BIG Moment for Apollo 11
4 min read

Well-wishers in Hawaii welcomed the astronauts on July 26, 1969, after they landed on the Moon, splashed down in the…

Jul 24, 2025
A Most “Pleasantly Situated” Estate
5 min read

The farms and gardens of Mount Vernon played a central role in the life of America’s first president.

Feb 17, 2025
Laboring at Big Bend Tunnel
4 min read

The setting for John Henry’s legendary contest with a steam-powered drill may have been this tunnel through Big Bend Mountain…

Sep 2, 2024
Escaping Home
5 min read

Harriet Tubman preferred to navigate the woods and waterways of Maryland’s Eastern Shore on winter nights when guiding enslaved people…

Feb 17, 2024
A Place of Rest
3 min read

The Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington is the oldest continually operating retirement home for military personnel in the United…

Nov 11, 2023
Home of the Brave
2 min read

Dry pine forests near Fayetteville, North Carolina, are the setting for one of the largest military bases in the world.

Nov 11, 2022
Voyageurs National Park
3 min read

From 18th-century fur traders to modern-day vacationers, plenty of travelers have passed through this watery landscape in northern Minnesota.

Oct 10, 2022
Freedom’s Fortress
4 min read

Old Point Comfort was among the first places where enslaved people were traded in colonial America—and a hub of resistance…

Jun 19, 2022
The Avenues of America
3 min read

Wide, diagonal avenues radiate from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., outward through the city.

Jul 4, 2021
Juneteenth in Galveston
4 min read

The issuing of General Order No. 3 by Union troops on June 19, 1865, marked the official end of slavery…

Jun 19, 2021
America’s First National Wildlife Refuge
3 min read

A bird-loving farmer living near Florida’s Pelican Island helped spur the creation of a national system of wildlife refuges.

Feb 1, 2021
Changing Atlanta
4 min read

Martin Luther King Jr. came of age in one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.

Jan 18, 2021
Charleston, West Virginia
3 min read

Nestled in a river valley in the Allegheny Mountains, the city first attracted weary travelers, who then stayed for the…

Aug 30, 2020
Laboring in Pullman
3 min read

The Chicago neighborhood was the epicenter of a railroad strike that played a key role in the establishment of Labor…

Sep 2, 2019
Colonial National Historical Park
2 min read

The colonial communities of “America’s historic triangle” played defining roles in the road to American independence.

Jul 4, 2018

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