SAN FRANCISCO-
The Freedom Trail in Boston, Valley Forge in Pennsylvania and George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Va., are among the better-known sites for travelers interested in American colonial history.
But did you know that the nation's colonial history actually dates back to 1513, when Ponce de Leon first sighted Florida? And that Plymouth, Mass., where the Pilgrims settled in 1620, was not actually the first American colony? That distinction is more properly accorded to the colony that started in Jamestown, Va., in 1607, and even earlier than that, in the 1580s, to attempts to create settlements on Roanoke Island, N.C.–none of which were successful.
All this and more can be found in "Colonial America and the American Revolution: The 25 Best Sites," by Cliff Johnson (Greenline Press, $19.95). The guidebook offers summaries of the history of each site, along with travel information that includes points of interest near the destinations, nearby attractions, accommodations and directions.
The sites covered by the book are Boston, the Lexington and Concord, Mass. area and Plymouth; in New York, Fort Stanwix, Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga, N.Y.; in New Jersey, Morristown and the Trenton and Princeton area; Philadelphia and Valley Forge; Mount Vernon, Jamestown, and the Williamsburg and Yorktown area in Virginia; Roanoke Island, New Bern, Moores Creek Bridge, Guilford Courthouse, and Old Salem, N.C.; Charleston, Camden, Kings Mountain and Cowpens, S.C.; Savannah, Ga.; St. Augustine, Fla.; and Vincennes, Ind.
Vincennes is the only site on the list not located in an East Coast state. It is one of the oldest cities in the Midwest, having been founded in 1732 as a French fur-trapping outpost, 68 years before Indiana was a territory.
Vincennes was the site of an important battle against the British in which an American, George Rogers Clark, attacked and captured Fort Sackville in 1779–a significant success at a time when the war for independence from England had been marred by a number of defeats and difficulties for the Americans. The Vincennes battle later led the British to give up their claims to territory that would eventually comprise much of the American Midwest, and it helped Americans secure what was then a frontier from future alliances between the British and the local Indians.
