Discover iconic presidential sites across the USA

The largest city in the state of Pennsylvania was the first official capital of the independent United States from 1790 to 1800. It was in Philadelphia in 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was signed, and in 1787, representatives from 13 states met to decide the structure of the newly formed country.

At 526 Market Street, you can see the Liberty Bell, one of the symbols of American independence and unity. Independence Hall, where the founding fathers shaped the independent country and signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It's also worth visiting the museum dedicated to the American Constitution and Benjamin Franklin.

Washington, D.C., was built from scratch to serve as the capital of the newly proclaimed American state. By the decision of the first president of the USA, George Washington, in 1791, the independent District of Columbia was separated from the states of Maryland and Virginia, ensuring the capital would lie on neutral ground, not within any existing state.

Washington was designed by French architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant. Today, it is home to the White House, the residence of the US presidents, the Capitol, the seat of the American Congress, the Library of Congress—the oldest library in the USA—numerous museums, the Pentagon, and the National Archives.

The presidential sculpture in the Black Hills of South Dakota is among the largest in the world. The granite-carved faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln look down from above. Each head is 59 feet tall.

The idea for the monumental images of US presidents as a key attraction in this part of the USA was the brainchild of historian Doane Robinson, with sculptor Gutzon Borglum supervising its execution. Hundreds of people worked on its completion from 1927 to 1941. Mount Rushmore is visited by 3 million people annually.

The sculpture has long been the subject of protests due to its location on lands formerly inhabited by Native American tribes.

New York was one of the largest and most important cities in European-colonized North America. Before the Constitution of the independent United States was enacted, it served as the country's capital.

Those times are recalled by a small square in Lower Manhattan right next to the Charging Bull statue—Bowling Green. It is located at the site of a former market where Dutch settlers traded with both native inhabitants and among themselves. It is here that the infamous purchase of the island for a handful of beads allegedly took place, and where sports and recreation were enjoyed (hence the square's name).

After New Amsterdam was taken over by the English, a fence adorned with small royal crowns was erected around Bowling Green. On July 9, 1776, the crowns were sawed off by a crowd celebrating the formal reading of the Declaration of Independence. The same crowd destroyed a statue of King George III that stood in the square. The dismembered figure disappeared, but the 18th-century fence (sans crowns) still stands where it was.

No list of presidential tourist attractions would be complete without the birthplaces of the most famous presidents in the USA. Their birthplaces or later residences are scattered throughout the country. Some presidents have their own tourist centers, like Jimmy Carter in Georgia, Abraham Lincoln in Illinois, or Harry Truman in Missouri.

Theodore Roosevelt even has a national park named after him in North Dakota. Places associated with the lives of American presidents provide insight into the environments in which American leaders, coming from various parts of the country and social strata, grew up or aged. It’s a valuable lesson in the famed American diversity and tolerance.