Historical Buildings, Homes, Battlefields, where have you been?

IrishEyes

IrishEyes

Senior Member
Location
Midwest
I love and cherish the history of this country, all of it, good and bad. You can't get to better if you don't have bad to change.
There is something about standing on a battlefield that makes you humble knowing how many died there to give us what we have.
The state of Virginia is so rich in historical sites that hubby and I spent many trips taking advantage of the opportunity of living there.
Unknown to me before I moved there, 3 hours away was a site from my paternal side of the family. A home from my Father's side 9 generations back.
Before leaving Virginia to return to Missouri my son there, planned a trip for me to see it as a going away gift. I learned so much about the ancestors
walking in thier home, on the grounds. What a special gift it was.
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Abram’s Delight | Winchester Frederick County Historical Society
 

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Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York.

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Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, is the final resting place for several notable Native American leaders, including Geronimo, Satanta, and Quanah Parker. Geronimo, the famed Apache leader, is buried in the Apache Indian Cemetery on the fort's property.
 
Many and varied. Among other historic places & structures, walked in the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. Visited the beautiful old Grand Canyon Lodge. Came in on NYC's Grand Central Terminal, and slept in an apartment across from the Chrysler Building. Slept around the corner (less than two blocks away) from the Eiffel Tower, which of course we visited. Visited the OK Corral in Tombstone Arizona. Visited the stunning Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, home of Rembrandt's huge "Night Watch". Ate lunch n the Bag o' Nails pub in London.
 
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We visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana (Previously Custer Battlefield National Monument or just Custer's Last Stand). They put white markers where the U.S. soldiers fell and earth colored markers where native American warriors fell. The white stone in the middle that has black on it marks Custer with his men surrounding him to protect him. They even had one marker that commemorated the 7th Calvary horses that were lost that day.

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I've been to Sutter's Fort a number of times.
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It's real small compared to historic US forts, but it wasn't a military fort. The builder, John Sutter, intended it to be a 100% non-Indigenous agricultural and trade utopia he'd originally named New Switzerland. In other words, Sutter's racist pipe dream. Even more screwed up, Sutter used forced labor of the indigenous people to build the main structure, the big building in the center.

Anyway, Sutter's Fort eventually grew up to be the very diverse city of Sacramento.

This part of California is Gold Rush country, from the Central Valley up into the Sierra Mountains. I've been to dozens of historical sites connected to the gold rush. Some of the most interesting ones, like old covered bridges and early school houses, have been burned up by wildfires.
 
RadishRose said:
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Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York.
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In 1971, my father and I took a road trip north through NY State and then to VT. We visited Fort Ticonderoga. Visited Burlington VT and Lake Champlain. Then stayed overnight in Montpelier VT. My mother had died the year before and I think he needed to get away for a little while. But it was because I had seen upper New England that when an opportunity later came up to work in CT, I jumped at the chance and moved there with my relatively new wife.

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OldFeller said:
In 1971, my father and I took a road trip north through NY State and then to VT. We visited Fort Ticonderoga. Visited Burlington VT and Lake Champlain. Then stayed overnight in Montpelier VT. My mother had died the year before and I think he needed to get away for a little while. But it was because I had seen upper New England that when an opportunity later came up to work in CT, I jumped at the chance and moved there with my relatively new wife.

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Interesting! And what a handsome young man you are.
 
RadishRose said:
the back yard abuts the back yard of the Harriet Beecher Stowe house.
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My wife and I took both tours when we were there.
Regarding the Twain house, the tour guide told a lot of amusing stories about Mark Twain. The one I remember was that he had to go over to Harriet's house for something and he forgot to wear his collar which was kept in a case. When he got back to his house, he sent the collar in its case over to her with a letter apologizing and saying he hopes that sending the collar after the fact makes up for the "insult".
 
OldFeller said:
My wife and I took both tours when we were there.
Regarding the Twain house, the tour guide told a lot of amusing stories about Mark Twain. The one I remember was that he had to go over to Harriet's house for something and he forgot to wear his collar which was kept in a case. When he got back to his house, he sent the collar in its case over to her with a letter apologizing and saying he hopes that sending the collar after the fact makes up for the "insult".
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That is so funny, can you imagine?
How about the one where he had that expensive, big, ornately carved headboard and he and his wife slept backwards in bed with their heads at the footboard and their feet at the headboard so they could look at it and not have wasted their money on such an expensive item? Lol!
 
I visited Gettysburg when I was a kid & I still remember one house that had an artillary shell left in the wall. We went to a lot of places on vacation, but that was the most historical.

As an adult we've visited Marietta, Ohio several times. Marietta started out as the first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory. The Campus Martius museum has two original houses from that settlement time. We stayed at the Layfayette Hotel that was built in 1918 which is at the corner of the Ohio & Muskingum. It was a good location for walking to the antique stores & small brew pubs.

Just across the Ohio River is Parkersburg, West Virginia that has Blennerhasset Island. The original mansion built by Harman Blennerhasset in 1798 & burned down in 1809. He was the Burr Conspiracy. In the 1980's, it was rebuilt on the original foundation which was excavated by local students doing archaeological digs there. I remember the tour guide said that some of the original furniture had been donated back by local families who had come into posessesion of it over the years.

Also visited My Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown, Kentucky. We also visiting the Maker's Mark distillery before the Bourbon Trail was ever a thing. One night we dined on the Old Kentucky Dinner train which was a blast & still in operation. It goes over the oldest wooden train trestle still around. We stayed at the Talbott Tavern in 1992 & our room was a bit noisy being over the bar. It was built 1779 & had a bad fire in 1998, but reopened it the next year. FYI, the old jail next door, built in 1797 & closed in 1987, was made into a B&B if you wanted a little more quiet.

We've been to Colonial Williamsburg several times. It's nice because you can stay at one of their hotels & walk. Yorktown isn't too far & we visited it each time we went. I would like to go back & this time visit Norfolk to see the battleships.
 

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