About the Heritage Guide to Historic Sites

By visiting America's most treasured historic sites, we remember the meritorious deeds of exceptional Americans that formed an exceptional nation and the unique contributions that each state brings to the union. We travel the land to learn the American story, so that we, as a people, may continue to educate ourselves in the eternal principles of right and pay forward the blessings of liberty. We put our hands to those “mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land,” that Lincoln said would “swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched … by the better angels of our nature.”

America is blessed with a wealth of historic sites, and all of those pinpointed on the map are historically significant and worth going to, especially to celebrate America’s birth. Each evaluation explains the significance of the site, provides supplementary recommended materials, and can be taken on a site visit for guidance.

While all the identified sites are significant, not all are well operated and preserved. Accordingly, sites are coded with Historical Accuracy Grades of A (green), B (yellow), and C (orange).

About the Categories

⬤ Historical Accuracy A. The tours and exhibits at these sites are reasonable in tone and uphold scholarly standards of proportionality, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

⬤ Historical Accuracy B. These sites may deviate here or there from the highest standards, but not overwhelmingly or egregiously, and many tours and exhibits remain informative and worthwhile. Heritage site evaluators may direct families to some site offerings over others.

⬤ Historical Accuracy C. These sites demonstrate a pervasive neglect of comprehensiveness, accuracy, and proportionality, or even actively distort the subject matter of the site itself or the American story.

Site Selection

This project focuses on battlefields, museums, and historic sites offering substantive exhibits and/or tours that lend themselves to evaluation. At this stage, the project does not include monuments, art museums, and many National Parks that preserve nature’s beauties.

This is a state-driven project, highlighting at least one historic site per state (plus the District of Columbia). Heritage scholars compiled a list of the most historically significant and popular sites in each state. Scholars then analyzed the list holistically, prioritizing state and local sites over national museums. We engaged reputable scholars, teachers, and analysts to produce the evaluations, and the authors are identified in each evaluation.

The reviews are based on long and extensive visits to the sites. However, we recognize that presentations by guides, reenactors, etc. vary from person to person. When applicable, evaluators have noted the instructions and parameters site operators provide their tour guides.

Given limited resources, the map cannot be comprehensive, but it is the intention of The Heritage Foundation to continue to add to this project. To that end, we invite the public to complete the form provided here to recommend additional sites, voice disagreement with an evaluation, or indicate that exhibits or tours have been revised since a particular site was reviewed.