With its rugged coastlines, soaring mountains, and old-growth forests, the Pacific Northwest (PNW) is famous for its remarkable natural beauty. But the PNW’s diverse landscapes aren’t the only draw — this region (which includes the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) is filled with fascinating history. From the oldest courthouse in the West to a ship that once served as a floating lighthouse, here are seven historical sites you shouldn’t miss the next time you’re in the Pacific Northwest.

Pioneer Courthouse – Portland, Oregon

Downtown Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse is the oldest standing federal building in the Pacific Northwest. Completed in 1875 at a cost of $396,500 (equivalent to over $11 million today), the impressive Italianate-style building occupies a full city block. At one point, the courthouse was scheduled to be demolished — fortunately, it has since become a National Historic Landmark.

Today, the historic courthouse is situated across from the Pioneer Courthouse Square, a 40,000-square-foot park affectionately known as “Portland’s Living Room.” Although the courthouse has undergone several rehabilitations since it was first built, the building still retains original architectural details, such as the grand stairway in the lobby and decorative plaster molding.

Fort Nisqually Living History Museum – DuPont, Washington

The Fort Nisqually Living History Museum takes visitors back to life in the Pacific Northwest during the mid-19th century. The museum is a restoration of the first European settlement in Washington state, which was established as a British fur trading post in 1833 by the Hudson’s Bay Company. The fort was once a thriving business center and meeting place for colonial settlers, merchants, and the Indigenous peoples of the region.

Today, the Living History Museum allows visitors to experience territory life during the 1800s with daily tours, hands-on exhibits, and specialty workshops. With staff dressed in period clothing and live demonstrations of 19th-century crafts, the museum is dedicated to showcasing Fort Nisqually’s diverse history.

Burial Site of Chief Seattle – Suquamish, Washington

The only major U.S. city named for a Native American, Seattle’s appellation is derived from Chief Si’ahl, the leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish people in the 1800s. Known to settlers as “Chief Seattle,” Si’ahl was a compelling orator who worked to ensure the Indigenous cultures coexisted peacefully with European settlers. 

Today, his burial site can be visited in the town of Suquamish on the Kitsap Peninsula, reachable via a ferry from the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal in Seattle. A Catholic convert, Chief Seattle is buried behind St. Peter’s Catholic Mission, on what has now been designated as Suquamish land. To learn more about the region’s Indigenous culture, stop by the Suquamish Museum before walking to the gravesite, which is honored by the Suquamish Tribe every third week in August during Chief Seattle Days.

Jacksonville Historic District – Jacksonville, Oregon

After gold was discovered in southwestern Oregon’s Rich Gulch in 1851, miners flocked to the area with hopes of striking it rich. Westward settlers were also drawn to Oregon with the promise of free land, and before long the boom town of Jacksonville sprung up, eventually growing into one of the territory’s largest cities.

Today, the entire town of Jacksonville has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Ride on the Trolley Tour to learn about Jacksonville’s humble beginnings as a mining camp and to see the many historic homes built during the 18th and 19th centuries. To explore Jacksonville on foot, the Haunted History Tour highlights the town’s most historic buildings, while also sharing stories of the spirits who supposedly haunt them.

Point Wilson Lighthouse and Fort Worden Historical Park – Port Townsend, Washington

Situated on the tip of a peninsula in Port Townsend, the Point Wilson Lighthouse was built in 1914 to mark the entrance to the Admiralty Inlet. At 51 feet in height, it is the tallest beacon on Puget Sound. The lighthouse is still in operation today, serving as an important navigational aid that guides ships on the Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The lighthouse is located within Fort Worden Historical Park, itself a historical gem on Puget Sound. The former military base is home to wide lawns, artillery bunkers, and centuries-old Victorian homes that once housed officers. Overnight camping is permitted on the park’s beach, while more comfortable accommodations can be booked in one of the park’s 36 historic house rentals.

Lightship Columbia – Astoria, Oregon

Located within the Columbia River Maritime Museum, the Lightship Columbia is an incredible piece of Oregon’s maritime history. For 28 years, the ship functioned as a floating lighthouse on the mouth of the Columbia River. The ship was home to a crew of 17 men who helped to guide other ships along the dangerous passageway. Today’s visitors are allowed to climb aboard the historic ship to learn how the crew lived and worked on the vessel between 1951 and 1979.

The museum’s other exhibits include a 3-D theater, a full-sized fishing trawler, and a pond for launching model boats. A highlight is the exhibit on the Columbia River Bar, considered to be one of the most treacherous passages in the world, where approximately 2,000 ships have been sunk since 1792.

Deception Pass Bridge – Oak Harbour, Washington

The narrow waterway that connects the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Skagit Bay is known as Deception Pass — named from the deceptively swift and dangerous tidal currents that run between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands. The bridge above the pass was built by the state of Washington as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era public works program.

On the day Deception Pass Bridge opened in 1935, approximately 700 cars traveled on it. Today, 20,000 cars journey over the bridge daily, often through the thick fog for which the Pacific Northwest is known. Those who cross the 180-foot-high bridge are treated to unparalleled views of the rocky headlands and the surrounding state park. Foot traffic is also permitted on the bridge, with tours which aim to explore the region’s exceptional beauty and impressive history.

They say imitation is the best form of flattery, and the same notion rings true when it comes to place names. While the names of U.S. cities and towns have a diverse set of influences — some come from Indigenous cultures, some are named after European royals, and so on — many others are based on cities that already existed abroad. Here are 15 fascinating U.S. cities and towns that have enthusiastically adopted the name of another place in a foreign country.

Memphis, Tennessee

Egyptian city names in America aren’t very common, but Tennessee’s second-largest city is a notable exception. With its neon lights and blues music on every corner, Memphis, feels a world away from its ancient Egyptian namesake. The Tennessee city was built thousands of years after Memphis, Egypt, was abandoned, but both cities have one thing in common: They are constructed alongside great rivers. It’s not certain why the three men (including future President Andrew Jackson) who founded the Tennessee city named it after the one in Egypt, but perhaps they felt the Mississippi River evoked the spirit of the Nile and the prosperous trading and temple city built on its banks.

Modern Memphis is known throughout the world for its music scene. Elvis Presley built Graceland on the city’s outskirts, and Sun Studios, the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, is steps away from Beale Street. While there aren’t many obvious similarities with the ruined city on the banks of the Nile, there is one big homage to its Egyptian connection: the Memphis Pyramid.

Melbourne, Florida

With warm temperatures and nearby beaches, you might be forgiven for mistaking this Florida city with its Australian namesake. But it’s not the geographical similarities that led to this city being named after the Melbourne Down Under.

The area around the Indian River Lagoon began rapidly developing in the late 19th century, and a post office became necessary to serve the community. The settlement needed a name. The area’s inhabitants found inspiration in the town’s first postmaster, Cornthwaite John Hector, who had spent many of his formative years in Melbourne, Australia. (However, it wasn’t Hector who proposed calling the settlement Melbourne; a local woman suggested it.) On December 23, 1888, straws were drawn to select a new name, and Melbourne won.

Today, this harbor city retains many historic Victorian wooden houses that wouldn’t look out of place in Melbourne, Australia. Take a stroll into the charming downtown to admire its tropical murals, browse independent shops, or try a Florida seafood boil on Main Street.

Athens, Georgia

Like its European counterpart, Athens, Georgia, is a center of academia, culture, and the arts. The University of Georgia — the first public land-grant university in the U.S. — was founded here in 1785. After classes began in 1801, a burgeoning city sprang up around campus. In 1806, the city was incorporated, and the Georgian governor at the time, John Milledge, suggested the name Athens, as the Greek capital was home to Europe’s earliest intellectuals, including revered philosophers Plato and Aristotle.

Today, the 19th-century Greek Revival buildings in the city center, including the Taylor Grady House, remind visitors of the Parthenon everywhere they look. And, like its Greek counterpart, Athens, Georgia, enjoys a thriving student scene — you can’t miss the music of up-and-coming indie bands emanating from the campus town’s trendy bars and restaurants.

Paris, Texas

A railroad boom town on the northern edge of the Lone Star State, Paris, Texas, is arguably the most famous of all America’s towns named after the chic French capital — indeed, locals call it “the second-largest Paris in the world.” But no one is exactly sure why the two cities share a name.

Popular belief is that an employee of the town’s founder, George Washington Wright, came up with the idea when the town was incorporated in 1844. The employee, Thomas Poteet, lobbied to call the new town Paris in honor of his French ancestors. But other theories abound, from a local girl winning naming rights in a beauty pageant and choosing Paris, to a group of bored men simply plucking the name out of thin air.

Whatever the origins of its name, Paris, Texas, gained fame thanks to the 1984 road movie of the same name. Visit today, and you’ll find old-school trolleys taking tourists around town, particularly to see the 65-foot high replica Eiffel Tower topped with a red Texan hat. (Just in case you weren’t sure which Paris you were in.)

Boston, Massachusetts

As one of the first cities built by English settlers in the U.S., it’s no surprise that Boston’s name comes from a town in England. Established in 1630, just a decade after the Plymouth colony (a name itself taken from the Cornish port the Puritan settlers had departed) was founded, this Massachusetts city was named for Boston, Lincolnshire.

Many of the colony’s most prominent early citizens hailed from the English cathedral town — which was a hotbed for religious nonconformism at the time — including the Governor and his deputy. It’s estimated that about 250 people left Boston, England, for the shores of the New World in the 1630s (a significant portion of its population). The Puritans of early Boston named the city after their English home, as they hoped to set a shining example of how life could be for their former homeland. It quickly flourished, and trade with Europe soon brought the Massachusetts city wealth and a growing population that now far eclipses that of its namesake.

Delhi, New York

Home to a SUNY campus, this idyllic village in the Catskills of upstate New York, shares a name with India’s bustling megacity. Established in 1798, the town chose its name as an homage to one of its founders: prominent local judge Ebenezer Foote, nicknamed “The Great Mogul.” The word mogul is derived from the Mughal Empire, a powerful Muslim dynasty that ruled over much of South Asia in the early modern era. Sensing a parallel with their own “Great Mogul,” Foote’s friends suggested calling the new town Delhi, the capital city of the Mughal Empire.

When one of Foote’s business rivals, General Erastus Foot, got wind of the news that this new town was to be called Delhi (instead of his preferred name, Mapleton), he allegedly exclaimed “Delhi, Hell-high! Might as well call it Foote-high.” Unwittingly, Root had made his own mark on the town’s name — instead of being pronounced “delly,” like the Indian capital, the U.S. town is pronounced “dell-hi.”

Portland, Maine

Maine’s largest city wasn’t always named Portland. It was originally called Casco, a name either derived from the Abenaki Indigenous word aucocisco, meaning “a place of herons,” or the Spanish word for “helmet.” Later, English settlers called their city on the peninsula Falmouth, after a port town in England. However, Falmouth was destroyed during the Revolutionary War, and its survivors built a new city in its place in 1786. They named it Portland after a peninsula on the Jurassic Coast of England, adding it to a long list of U.S. cities named after European cities.

The resemblance between the American town and its English namesake is striking. Both places sit on rocky peninsulas, and both have iconic lighthouses looking out over the Atlantic. Portland, Maine, is also the closest transatlantic port in the U.S. to Europe, so its ties with the continent are strong. When you pay a visit, you’ll feel the old world charm in the air: narrow cobbled streets, artisanal boutiques, and historic stone houses make Portland, Maine, a lovely place for a New England getaway. (If you’re curious, Portland, Oregon, was named after the Maine city, since one of its original settlers was from there.)

Toronto, Ohio

Some American cities didn’t need to look too far abroad to find a suitable name. One such example is the city of Toronto, located on the shores of the Ohio River. A respected businessman from Toronto, Ontario, W. F. Dunsbaugh was working in this part of Ohio in the 1880s when the city was named in his honor. Whether it was his own suggestion, or the citizens came up with the idea, is unclear, but it certainly seemed that Toronto, Canada, was, “a place worth emulating,” according to locals at the time.

Toronto, Ohio, is perhaps better known by the name on its welcome sign: Gem City. That’s not because of an abundance of precious stones, but rather the many riverboat captains who stopped here to pick up supplies and were so impressed with the variety of wares available that they called it “a gem of a place.”

Berlin, Connecticut

This charming town just outside of Hartford was originally known as Pagonchawnischage (“the great white oak place”) by the area’s Mattabasset Indigenous peoples and later, bizarrely enough, as the Great Swamp Society by the first ecclesiastical group in the area. When it was incorporated in 1785, the area was renamed Berlin, after the capital of Prussia (now capital of Germany).

Although it’s one of many American cities with German names, Berlin takes its Connecticut home to heart. (Quite literally, as it’s located at the geographic center of the state.) Berlin also proudly proclaims to be the “home of the Yankee peddler,” the traveling salesmen who sold mid-19th century Americans everything from nutmeg to hardware. When you’re done admiring the area’s history, explore the verdant woodlands surrounding town or check out neighboring New Britain — another place that searched for identity abroad.

Dublin, Ohio

Situated on the outskirts of Columbus, this suburb shares a name with the capital of Ireland. One of the area’s earliest settlers, John Sells, established a village in the area in 1810. He asked his land surveyor, John Shields, to come up with a better name than “Sells Settlement.” According to local lore, Shields replied, “If I have the honor conferred upon me to name your Village, with the brightness of the morn, and the beaming of the sun on the hills and the dales surrounding this beautiful valley, it would give me great pleasure to name your new town after my birthplace, Dublin, Ireland.”

Today, you’d be hard-pressed to miss the references to Ireland in this Midwest town. Its color scheme is all hues of emerald green, there are plenty of Irish-inspired treats for visitors to check out (including a Celtic Cocktail Trail), and clovers adorn logos and signs everywhere you look.  Each August, the town hosts the three-day Dublin Irish Festival, an extravagant celebration of Irish-American culture which claims to be the largest festival of its kind.

Florence, Alabama

Florence, Alabama, honors the Renaissance city of Florence, Italy, in both its name and its nature. Situated along the banks of the Tennessee River, this college town is a center of learning and creativity. It’s home to one of Alabama’s oldest universities, a log cabin that served as the childhood home of blues musician W. C. Handy, and the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in the state.

Florence, Alabama, was the project of the Cypress Land Company, which purchased cheap tracts of land here in 1818. Its Italian surveyor, Ferdinand Sannoner, was tasked with naming the new town and opted to name it after his favorite city back home, which is situated along the Arno River.

The original Florence may have been home to Renaissance figures such as Dante Aligheri and Michelangelo, but every October, Florence, Alabama, is home to the state’s renaissance faire. It celebrates the town’s identity as a “Renaissance City,” and if you stop by, you’re likely to bump into living history exhibits, craft sellers, and maybe even a magician.

Canton, Michigan

This township on the outskirts of Detroit shares a name with a port city in southern China. (Although today, Canton in China is officially known as Guangzhou; the name Canton originally came from a European mistranslation of the city’s name.) How did this Michigan town end up with the same name as somewhere nearly 8,000 miles away?

As the U.S. began to increase its trade abroad in the 18th and 19th centuries, a fascination with China emerged, and many Chinese people emigrated to the Americas in search of work. Around the same time, the U.S. Post Office in Washington, D.C., swamped with a series of new towns sharing the same name, decreed that new townships couldn’t take the name of existing places in America.

The settlers in this part of Michigan saw a winning opportunity. In 1834, they called their area “Canton,” and two nearby townships followed suit, opting for Nankin and Peking. However, Canton is the only one that kept its Chinese-inspired name.

Oxford, Mississippi

The folks who named Oxford, Mississippi, were nothing if not optimistic about their town’s future when it was incorporated in 1837. Resident T. D. Isom suggested naming it after Oxford, England, in the hopes that his hometown would have a prestigious college one day. Four years later, the Mississippi legislature voted to make Oxford, Mississippi, the home of the state’s first university, by a margin of just one vote.

The university opened in 1848, and is now affectionately known as Ole Miss. Like the English city, Oxford, Mississippi, is the quintessential college town: Neoclassical-style grand halls are scattered around the campus, parks big and small fill the air with floral aromas and the chatter of students, and there are more great bookstores than you can count. However, if you still want to feel like you’re in the English city, take a tour of town on a double-decker bus with a local historian.

Warsaw, Indiana

The Polish capital is full of green parks and rivers to explore, and so too is Warsaw, Indiana. The seat of Kosciusko County, this small city (population approximately 15,000) is located between Fort Wayne and Lake Michigan.

When settlers arrived in Indiana in the early 19th century, many of them were of Polish heritage. Kosciusko County (founded 1836) is named after Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Polish-Lithuanian military leader who defended his homeland from its enemies. Kościuszko also fought in the Revolutionary War and was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson. Naming a new county in his honor was a fine way to commemorate the Polish-American national hero, and in turn, Kosciusko County’s seat was named after his beloved capital, Warsaw.

Although Warsaw’s Polish connection today remains only in name, visitors still come to the city to admire the ornate European-style architecture of the County Courthouse, or peacefully fish for bluegills in Pike Lake.

Madrid, Iowa

Though it’s one of many U.S. cities named after European cities, expect the unexpected in this former coal mining community. It’s home to the first Hindu temple in Iowa, as well as the High Trestle Trail, a 25-mile biking and hiking trail along a former railway line in the Des Moines River valley. What’s also surprising is how (and why) this town shares a name with the palatial Spanish capital, Madrid.

A settler from Pennsylvania named Charles W. Gaston arrived in the area in 1846. His second wife was from Sweden, so he initially called the area Swede Point. However, family politics soon got in the way. During a fallout over his mother-in-law’s will, Gaston decided to change Swede Point’s name to something that would erase all traces of Sweden from the area’s history.

One of Gaston’s employees was from Spain, and often talked of its glorious capital. Gaston reportedly disliked the man intensely, so, to spite his Swedish in-laws, he changed the name of the town to Madrid in 1857. The name stuck, but the Swedes may have got the last laugh, as the area is distinguished for being the second-oldest Swedish settlement in the state.

Long before Europeans arrived, Paleo-Indians first settled North America around the end of the Ice Age, some 14,000 years ago. Since then, many Indigenous groups have made these lands home. Though the Indigenous history of the United States can often be overlooked, there are plenty of fascinating monuments to learn more about the history of our nation, many of which have stood for thousands of years. Here are 17 landmarks that delve into America’s Indigenous history.

Poverty Point National Monument – Louisiana

Nearly 2 million cubic yards of soil in northeastern Louisiana have been shaped into a natural wonder at Poverty Point. At the center of this national monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site is a 72-foot-tall mound with concentric circles around it that was constructed by hand more than 2,200 years ago. With no official records, little is known about the Indigenous peoples’ lives there, but it’s believed that some of the materials used to construct the site were brought in from as far as 800 miles away, making it as much of a human-made wonder as Stonehenge. It’s believed that the area was inhabited for about 600 years until it was mysteriously abandoned around 1100 BCE.

Mesa Verde National Park – Colorado

For more than 700 years, the area of Colorado that’s now Mesa Verde National Park was home to the Ancestral Puebloans. Though they had previously been nomadic, they settled in the area around 550 CE, living in pit houses built on top of mesas and into cliff recesses. Through the generations, those evolved into structures built of adobe and poles — some with as many as 50 rooms — and eventually to kivas, pueblos made of stone. But around 1200, they shifted back to living in the cliffside, into the dwellings that Mesa Verde is most known for today. 

A generation or two after those canyon alcove homes were built, the population — believed to have reached several thousand — abandoned the entire area. Now the national park, which was established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt to “preserve the works of man,” also protects the heritage of 26 associated tribes, including the Taos of New Mexico, Hopi of Arizona, and Ute Mountain of Colorado.

Chief Massasoit Statues – Massachusetts and Utah

Across the street and above the hill from the famous Plymouth Rock is a statue of Chief Massasoit, who lived from about 1581 to 1661 and was the leader of the Wampanoags, the Native Americans who inhabited New England long before the English arrived in 1620. He is believed to have greeted the Pilgrims, and the following year, he and 90 of his men joined them for three days of feasting, which has evolved into the Thanksgiving tradition. 

The sculpture of Chief Massasoit was created by Utah artist Cyrus Dallin in 1921, and the original plaster figure given to the state in 1922. Five years later, a duplicate was funded in bronze and placed in front of the Utah State Capitol in 1959.

Devils Tower National Monument – Wyoming

Devils Tower, a striking natural 867-foot-tall formation rising from the prairie of the Black Hills with a flat top the size of a football field, has long been a natural wonder. Scientists believe it formed from molten rock underground which was then pushed upward by magma. The site has long been a sacred one for the Indigenous peoples of the area, and prayer offerings are still made today, marked by colorful bundles placed around the tower.

Associated tribes have given various names to the tower — Araphoes called it “Bear’s Tipi,” Kiowas named it “Tree Rock,” and Lakota — who have the most documented connections with it — gave it various names, including “Bear Lodge,” “Ghost Mountain,” and “Grey Horn Butte.” The Devils Tower name came from an 1875 scientific exploration trip, when an army commander wrote that the Native Americans called it “Bad God’s Tower,” which he translated to “Devils Tower.” However, many early maps of the area call it Bear Lodge, which is translated from one of the Lakota names, Mato Tipila. Efforts have been underway to change its name to Bear Lodge. (You may also recognize the landmark from the 1977 sci-fi film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”)

Crazy Horse Memorial – South Dakota

Also located in the Black Hills is a 6,532-foot-tall mountain that is the site of the Crazy Horse Memorial, depicting Oglala Lakota Chief Crazy Horse. It will become the world’s largest sculpture when it’s completed — but when it will be finished is the big question. The project began when Oglala Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Polish American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to the area in 1947 to carve a memorial for all North American Indians. The sculptor started the project in 1948, estimating it would take three decades to complete, but he passed away in 1982. 

It’s still a major work in progress — the next five to ten years are scheduled to focus on Crazy Horse’s hairline, right shoulder, and left arm and hand, as well as the horse’s mane and head. Visitors can see the work in progress, as well as two museums, the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Educational and Cultural Center.

Hovenweep National Monument – Colorado

Connected with the nearby Mesa Verde community, the Hovenweep area traces its first human inhabitants back more than 10,000 years ago, when nomadic Paleo Indians would pass through to hunt and gather seasonally. In about 900 CE, the area started to become a more permanent home, and 300 years later, the population reached about 2,500. The remnants of six villages that were built between 1200 and 1300 are now preserved there. 

Among the most impressive are the differently shaped towers constructed by the ancestral Puebloans. By the end of the 13th century, the area was abandoned, but Hovenweep (which means “deserted valley” in Ute or Paiute) has been protected as a national monument since 1923 —  preserving the cultures of the Pueblo, Zuni, and Hopi peoples.

National Native American Veterans Memorial – Washington, D.C.

Opened on Veterans Day 2020, the National Native American Veterans Memorial sits on the grounds of the capital’s National Museum of the American Indian. Selected from more than 120 entries, the Warriors’ Circle of Honor design is the work of self-taught artist Harvey Pratt of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, who is a Vietnam War veteran himself. 

The memorial’s stainless steel circle sits on a stone drum, symbolizing a sacred circle and the cycles of time and life. Water flows out from the drum, while fire can be lit for ceremonies. The inclusive memorial honors American Indian, Alaska native, and Native Hawaiian veterans — and will be formally dedicated in an on-site ceremony on Veterans Day 2022.

Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument – Montana

The decades-long clash between Native Americans and settlers of European descent came to a climax on June 25 and 26, 1876. At the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapahos defeated the 12 companies of the U.S. Army’s Seventh Cavalry. Though the battlefield became a national cemetery in 1879 and a memorial was built on Last Stand Hill in 1881, most of the bodies of the Native Americans were removed and buried following their traditions — and no memorial existed in their honor. 

In 1991, Congress changed the name of the site from its previous name, Custer Battlefield National Monument, to Little Bighorn Battlefield to acknowledge the Native Americans who died there, and also ordered the construction of the Indian memorial, which was dedicated in 2003 with the theme “Peace Through Unity.”

Ocmulgee Mounds – Georgia

Human settlement in central Georgia dates back nearly 17,000 years ago to the Ice Age, when nomadic Paleo Indians settled in the area. Around 1000 BCE, small villages formed, but it wasn’t until 900 CE that a society emerged known as the Mississippans, who built the site’s trademark Ocmulgee Mounds out of dirt and clay. 

Among the circular earthen structures are temple mounds, a cornfield mound, and a funeral mound. The importance of the Indigenous site is evidenced by the fact that the area is on track to becoming Georgia’s first national park, possibly as soon as next year. Visitors can duck inside a re-created earthlodge for a taste of what life was like in the mound, which still has sections of the original 1015 CE floor.

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park – Ohio

Earthen mounds are also found in Ohio’s Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. These were built from 200 BCE to 500 CE, and are believed to have been used for everything from funerals to feasts, with the Hopewell peoples arranging them in circles, squares, and octagons. The 1,800-acre park has six complexes, including High Bank Works, Hopeton Earthworks, Hopewell Mound Group, Mound City Group, Seip Earthworks, and Spruce Hill Earthworks. Some of the mounds stretch as wide as 1,000 feet.

Montezuma Castle National Monument – Arizona

The five-floor, 20-room apartment complex built into the side of the limestone cliff in Arizona’s Cape Verde has long intrigued visitors as one of the most well-preserved prehistoric cliffs in the country. Estimated to have been built between 1100 and 1350 CE, the site is named Montezuma Castle, which comes from the Aztec emperor — even though it seems historically unlikely that he ever came to the area. 

Now it’s more widely believed to have been the home of the pre-Columbian Sinagua peoples, who left the region in the 15th century. As one of the nation’s first national monuments dedicated in 1906, President Roosevelt said it was a place of  great “ethnological value and scientific interest.”

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument – Arizona

It takes quite a monument to become the nation’s first archeological preserve, and Casa Grande Ruins National Monument had all the right qualifications when it was dedicated in 1892. As the largest known structure built by the Gila Valley’s Hohokam tribe (who lived in the region since 5550 BCE), Casa Grande — which translates to “Great House” — was built in the 14th century using 3,000 tons of caliche soil. The durable structure has four-foot-thick walls at the bottom and Juniper pine and fir tree timbers as support. Also preserved in the area are remnants of the tribe’s farming community, dating from 1150 to 1350.

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail – Georgia to Oklahoma

The Indian Removal Act in 1830 forced major tribes — including the Choctaws, Muscogee Creeks, Seminoles, and Chickasaw — to leave their homelands and move west of the Mississpippi to what is now Oklahoma. After initially resisting, the Native Americans eventually were forced to give in and escorted to their new homes by the U.S. Army troops in what was called the Trail of Tears. In total, 16,000 Cherokees alone were taken from Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia. 

Today, a 5,043-mile pathway through nine states commemorates the suffering — as well as the resilience — along that journey, with sites that include the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina; the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Petroglyph National Monument – New Mexico

All over this Albuquerque area are symbols and designs carved into volcanic rock, making it one of the biggest petroglyph (or rock carving) sites on the continent. Thought to have been created between 400 to 700 CE, Petroglyph National Monument features three short trails with hundreds of carvings along the way. 

These include the Boca Negra Canyon with 100 carvings, the 2.2-mile loop of Rinconada Canyon with 300 of them, and the 1.5-mile Piedras Marcadas trail with a whopping 400 petroglyphs. The symbols are believed to have spiritual meaning — about 90% of them are the work of the ancestors of the Pueblos, who have lived in the Rio Grande Valley since 500 CE.

Sitka National Historic Park – Alaska

Located in southeastern Alaska on a forested island near the mouth of the Indian River, the Sitka National Historic Park commemorates the histories of two very distinct cultures: the Tingit people and Russian American traders. Both lived and thrived in the area, but tensions came to a head in 1804 at the Battle of Sitka, with the Russians prevailing. The battle site is now memorialized with a trail lined with totem poles of the Tlingit and Haida people along the way.

Canyons of the Ancients National Monument – Colorado

In the southwestern corner of Colorado, along the Dolores River, is the nation’s highest concentration of archaeological sites. Canyons of the Ancients National Monument covers a whopping 176,000 acres; among them are 8,300 sites that feature kivas, villages, field houses, cliff homes, stone carvings, and sweat lodges — showcasing elements of what life was like for the Ancestral Puebloans (also called Anasazi), Ute, and Navajo cultures. The earliest inhabitants of the area go back 10,000 years. The monument also features a research collection with more than 3 million artifacts, as well as two archaeological sites that date to the 12th century.

Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park – California

While the meaning of these cave paintings has been lost over the years, the art in the Chumash Painted Cave are among some of the best preserved works of the Chumash people — who lived along the California coast, both on the mainland and on three of the Channel Islands. The small cave’s imagery, believed to be from the 1600s (or even earlier), is accessible by ascending the steep pathway to the mouth of the cave, where the images are protected by an iron gate.