Well, to start, you can expect profiles of the best historic sites and national parks and lands in the USA, plus the America's Best History timeline of the most important historic events in United States history from the 1400's forward.
When did you start and why?
In 2005 when we kept seeing more people in the mall wandering from store to store with nothing to buy, just passing the time, and thought, hey, there's a bunch of wonderful places to visit in the USA, some right around the corner from that mall. How can we get people to go there?
Are you an academic site?
That's not what we consider ourselves, although it's an academic exercise to figure out whether you are or are not, and a bit immaterial. We are an information site, and hopefully, providing it in an entertaining way. History can be fun, and visiting it more fun than even the bored may think. Try it sometime. It's the reason there is not a lot of sourcing going on here, which probably bothers some. But we're trying to impart facts without putting the uninitiated into history off before they get started. And facts are facts, not something any academic site owns or came up with, and we'll try to make them accurate ones. Of course, we all know that for a whole lot of time, even our history books had problems with that.
What is your mission statement?
To get people interested in visiting history, in knowing more about history than they did before they got here. And yes, we do consider history to be more than man made, i.e. the national parks of the USA that focus on land are just as historic as many other heritage sites. And they contain a whole lot of different recreational fun from hiking to camping to fishing and more that the bored with history folks might find more interesting, plus learn a little history along the way as well.
Can students use the information on your website without getting permission?
Yes, history class students may use the information on the timeline or historic sites/national park site pages in de minimus fashion in their papers and projects without getting permission. There is no need to source it to us, however, if your instructor favors sources listed for all materials used, you can use Source: (c) "Current Year" Americasbesthistory.com as the applicable credit.
Can We Use the Infomation Here for a Commercial Purpose?
For commercial use, if used in de minimus fashion, please credit americasbesthistory.com. If you want to use more than that, just contact us with what you have in mind.
What Do We Cover?
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.
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 additional 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.
We also cover some of the historic anniversary events that happen on the calendar, including the 150th, now 155th, anniversary of the Civil War, and the 240th anniversary of the American Revolution. Yes, you may even see us standing in line at the media tent next to Charlie Gibson. I'm sure he was thrilled.
All in all, what we'd like to do is hold a conversation with you, a conversation about history, about the nature that surrounds it, and about how much you'd like to visit it if you got the chance to go. This stuff's more interesting than you think, a whole lot more interesting than in those history classes you sat through in high school. Get out to our national parks and historic sites and give them a chance. My guess, you'll enjoy it.
History, Nature, and Get Out and See It Quotes
"There is a delight in the hardy life of the open. There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection." - Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States.
"Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." - Edmund Burke.
"Go do something you've never done before, and smile while you do it." - Alex and Sierra, Pop Stars.
"History is a novel for which the people is the author." - Alfred de Vigny.
"And this, our life exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
- William Shakespeare, Playwright
Support our Mission
Become a Patreon Patron
Check out how you can support our mission to write, research, and provide you with additional articles within the Timeline of American History and profiles of historic sites by checking out our Patreon page. For as little as $2 per month, cancel at any time, you can become our patron of history. Get special benefits, including FREE books and early access tiers.
Want the America's Best History Timeline in a book. It comes in paperback and easy to search digital form for the Kindle, Nook, or in pdf.
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