America's Best History

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Zion National Park

Battle of Bull Run, Manassas, Virginia

Mount Rainier
Manassas

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Historic Landmark Newsflash

 The Gettysburg Trolley is finally here.  Now operating on three lines throughout the borough, the Trolley runs its tourist line from the refurbished Train Station and Wills House downtown to the Steinwehr Avenue museum, the High Water mark and National Cemetery area, and the new Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center.  And it's reasonably priced at $1 per ride, $3 per day, and free to seniors.  A great way to enjoy the town without worrying where to park.  Just park at the visitor center and take the trolley.  While the trolley doesn't take you around the battlefield, it hits many of the important spots in the historic downtown core.
Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock

Grand Teton

Plymouth Rock Grand Teton

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Blue Ridge Parkway
Hawaii Volcanoes
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Petrified Forest
St. Louis Gateway West
Shiloh
Zion National Park

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Historic Sites News and Information

National Park Service Free Weekends
Summer 2009

In order to help folks struggling with the bad economy, the National Park Service has announced three free weekends where entrance to national parks will be free. One weekend each month: June 20-21.  July 18-19. August 15-16.  Might be a great time to Visit America and our national parks and historic sites.


Smithsonian With Another Find
June 2009

The legacy of Abraham Lincoln keeps getting its holes filled in, and with a newly found letter from Lincoln to Salmon Chase on November 14, 1863, just a few days before he would address the audience at Gettysburg, another piece to the puzzle of Lincoln's presidency has found its place.  The letter had been originally removed from a book of Chase's correspondence prior to getting into the National Archives.


Washington Headquarters @ Valley Forge
May 2009

On May 18, the Washington Headquarters area of Valley Forge National Park will show off its most recent renovations.  A new parking area, orchard plantings, the restored train station which will serve as an adjunct area visitor center with exhibits, new sidewalks, and a general redo.  If you haven't been to Valley Forge in awhile, these changes provide an interesting new twist to the park.


Casino Approved Near Valley Forge
April 2009

Just when you thought a casino would not go next to a national park, in comes the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission with the ruling this April that will allow 500 slots in a building within eyesight of Washington's encampment at Valley Forge.  Even though this "resort" casino inside the Valley Forge Convention Center hotel complex will only be an allowed use to hotel or convention patrons, and not the outside public, this disregard of the historic site at Valley Forge is just another in a long line of bad decisions near the park.  Housing, convention centers, one of the biggest mall complexes in the USA, and a whole lot more have surrounded the park on its north and east sides.  While the remainder of the park is a great oasis of history and nature, the addition of slots nearby is certainly not great news, once again, for making historic sites like Valley Forge a priority in the communities where they exist.


Congress Passes Omnibus Lands Bill
April 2009

The lands management bill for 2009 has been passed by Congress and signed into law.  This bill will assist over forty national parks, inc luding expansion at Minute Man National Historical Park, Little River Canyon National Preserve, and Fort Davis National Historical Site.


CWPT List of History Under Siege Park Revealed for 2009
March 2009

Once again, our nation's Civil War historic sites are threatened by a variety of causes, as stated in the new History Under Siege report by the Civil War Preservation Trust.  The trust every year lists the 10 most endangered areas, plus 15 more that are under significant threat.  This year's top 10 list includes Cedar Creek, Fort Gaines, Gettysburg, Monocacy, New Market Heights, Fort Gibson, Sabine Pass, South Mountain, Spring Hill, and the Wilderness.  Most of these lands are under threat of development, although this year the development seems to be coming more from power plants and mining companies than previously year's lists, however the causes include erosion, hurricane damage, and others as well.

National Park Attendance Winners and Losers in 2008
March 2009

The top National Park Units stayed the same in 2008, although for most parks, with the current economic climate and high gas prices in 2008, there was lower attendance at many sites.  Great Smokey Mountain National Park remained the top National Park historic site with the Blue Ridge Parkway remaining the top park unit overall, including parkways, seashores, and national recreation areas.  For a full top ten list, as well as a list of the top winners and losers, see National Park Stats.

The Tuskegee Airman National Historic Site saw the largest increase in attendance among National Park units in 2008, over a 200% increase from 2007.  35,646 more people witnessed the site that honors the courage of the Tuskegee corps for their service to our nation.  Photo top right, the Tuskegee Airmen in Ramitelli, Italy, 1945.  Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Two Historic Sites Refurbished and Reopen
February 2009

Two historic site icons of Lincoln lore are reopening this February in Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg.  Ford's Theatre, a National Park unit that tells the story of the last day's of Lincoln, will reopen during the week of February 9, with a refurbished theatre and exhibits.  On a more positive note, the Wills House in downtown Gettysburg will reopen during that same week, this time as part of Gettysburg National Military Park.  The  home in downtown Gettysburg is the site where President Lincoln stayed and finalized the Gettysburg Address in November of 1863, and is being incorporated into the park for the first time.

Lincoln, King, and the Obama Inauguration
January 2009

At noon on January 20, 2009,  Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States, completing, in some ways, an arc that began on the fields of Antietam in September 1862 when the victory by Union forces allowed Abraham Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation.  It would continue through the next century to the Civil Rights days led by Martin Luther King, during his I Had a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 when he captivized a nation and pushed it toward true integration.  As we witness history again during this January with the Obama inauguration, it would be a good time to reflect on the history of all three men, and many others, who made this moment possible.  For a souvenir of these three historic events, visit the Obama Inauguration page at teepossible.com

More Historic Site News and Information

Lincoln at Gettysburg

About Us

The move of the America's Best History website is now complete.  We are on our new dedicated servers, and you should, we hope, be able to find your favorite pages here at http://americasbesthistory.com.  We know for some of you past links and favorites have now changed and are no longer housed at http://americasbesthistory.home.att.net or http://americasbesthistory2.home.att.net.  Hopefully, over the next few months, you will be able to find your way back to us.  We look forward to having you here at the new America's Best History location.  And now that the move has been completed, new stuff is on the way.  Thanks!



From the Grand Canyon to San Francisco Bay, all across the United States, America's historical sites and lands attract millions of recreational tourists, vacation travelers, and history buffs year after year.  They range from Civil War sites like Gettysburg to the natural wonders of our land at Yellowstone National Park.  Inspired by the best historical sites across the U.S.A., the website and other facets of America's Best History strives to provide one location where the history traveler can jump onto the trail, with a focus on the history of the best locations.  We will focus both on the history of our land, as well as our people, from the strife to found a nation, to the struggles and triumphs in between.  This site will attempt to be an ever-changing landscape, with pages that we hope will inspire you to remember where you've been on vacation and where you attempt to go, all while learning more and more about the inspiring sites and lands that make America great.

Washington, D.C.

Each page will contain a short history of the historical site and its significance, whether National Park, National Historical Site, an entire city, or attraction.  There will be information about the current attractions and things to see as well.  Expect each page to contain links to the actual locations, as well as other items, including statistics (we love statistics).  There are currently two main sections to the site; the U.S. History Timeline, a timeline of American History which records by decade the five most important events of each year of the decade, plus the recent addition National Park Timeline, and the second area, Historic Sites, which discusses individual locations, whether a city, state, or historic attractions within each, that are, in our opinion, among the best historic attractions in the United States.

Upcoming Pages @
America's Best History
Timeline of America
Pre-Revolution

Sequoia National Park Giant Tree

Save Our Historic Sites and Vistas

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From Gettysburg to San Onofre

Ground of Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg, from Confederate position


Although the current economic climate has slowed some of the troubles in preserving historic sites and lands with slower development growth, the problem of preservation funding is now in the fore even more.  If you want to get involved, contact the various organizations in your local community to see where you can help.  National organizations such as the Civil War Preservation Trust and the National Parks Conservations Organization are always in need of assistance.

San Onofre State Beach, Orange County, California





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America's Best History Index

Historic Sites
Acadia National Park
Alamo, San Antonio
Alaska
Antietam
Barbary Coast - San Francisco
Blue Ridge Parkway
Boston
Cape Canaveral
Carlsbad Caverns
Chickamauga & Chattanooga
Cooperstown
Crater Lake
Ellis Island
The Everglades
Fort McHenry
Fort Sumter
Gettysburg
The Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Smoky Mountains
Harper's Ferry
Hawaii Volcanoes
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Jamestown
Manassas (Bull Run)
Mount Rainier
New Orleans
Normandy
Oklahoma Land Rush
Olympic National Park
Oregon Trail
Pearl Harbor
Petrified Forest
Philadelphia - Independence
Plymouth Rock
The Roswell Incident
St. Augustine
St. Louis Gateway West
Sequoia and Kings Canyon
Shenandoah
Shiloh
Statue of Liberty
Stones River
Valley Forge
Vicksburg
Washington, D.C.
Yellowstone National Park
Yorktown
Yosemite National Park
Zion National Park

Historic Site Attendance Statistics

U.S. History Timeline
History Timeline Index
 
1700's

* 1770-1779 - The American Revolution
* 1780-1789 - The Nascent Democracy
* 1790-1799 - America Builds

1800's

*
1800-1809 - Exploration
* 1810-1819 - The War of 1812
* 1820-1829 - A Decade of Compromise & Doctrine
* 1830-1839 - Conquering the West
* 1840-1849 - The Mexican War
* 1850-1859 - Expansion & the Looming Divide
* 1860-1869 - The Civil War
* 1870-1879 - The Nation's Centennial Decade
* 1880-1889 - America Invents
* 1890-1899 - The Age of Immigration

1900's

*
1900-1909 - The World Begins to Fly
* 1910-1919 - World War I
* 1920-1929 - Properity and Its Demise
* 1930-1939 - The Great Depression
* 1940-1949 - World War II
* 1950-1959 - Two Cars in Every Garage
* 1960-1969 - Civil Rights and Turmoil
* 1970-1979 - The Nation in Flux
* 1980-1989 - The Reagan Revolution
* 1990-1999 - Prosperity as the World Turns

2000's

*
2000-Present - The Fight against Terrorism

National Park Timeline
Abraham Lincoln to Cuyahoga Valley
Dayton Aviation to Gulf Islands
Hagerman Fossil Beds to Muir Woods
Natchez to Russell Cave
Sagamore Hill to Zion NP

Other Important National Park Service Dates



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