Travelers flock to global treasures like the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building daily to immortalize them through social media stories and digital albums. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a still image doesn’t tell a complete story. In much the same way, planning a trip to a city to ogle its landmarks robs you of the rich, engaging, and sometimes frightening stories that make up local history.
Notable cities have a “second layer” that goes beyond the visual sights that may drive standard tourism. Throughout the United States, this is most evident in historic cities. They offer eye-catching delights that photograph well, but within each structure’s shadow hides forgotten chronicles that make engaging with a region more rewarding.
From the infamous lighthouse of St. Augustine to the picturesque pavilion of Denver’s Cheeseman Park, cities and landmarks across the U.S. illustrate the perks of seeing a city through its stories rather than its landmarks.
How Stories Bring Locations to Life
Annapolis, Maryland, may best be known for its access to the Chesapeake Bay and catering to aquaphiles, but its 17th-century roots point to a long history with intersections at the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Landmarks such as the William Paca House and the allegedly haunted Hammond-Harwood House are visual callbacks to these periods. However, simply admiring their Colonial-era brick facades fails to flesh out Annapolis’ long and storied history.
Listening to the tales behind these locations highlights pivotal moments or introduces key players and the roles they played in shaping history. For example, the William Paca House may not mean much until you learn that its original owner signed the Declaration of Independence.
As another example, we can travel to Denver, Colorado, and admire the beautiful expanse of green that is Cheeseman Park. The pavilion built to honor the park’s namesake may be striking, and the park itself idyllic, but it’s only through its story that you would know that, right below your feet, lie the remains of thousands of people.
The Stories Preserve History
While the physical landmark may be the most tangible form of preservation, without a story, it’s simply a point on a map. Consider the most prominent landmarks of historic cities like Savannah or St. Augustine.
One of Savannah’s greatest treasures is the aptly named Pirate House. You can assume some of its history from the name and Savannah’s proximity to the coast, but much is lost if you only admire the 18th-century building based on what you can see. You actually miss out on one of the city’s most unsettling stories, a series of tunnels once used to shanghai drunkards into servitude. You also wouldn’t know about the disturbing presence within those tunnels that graces many of Savannah’s spookiest ghostly tales.
Similarly, in St. Augustine, the popular lighthouse is a fascinating fixture with a story that spans much of the city’s existence. Like Savannah’s Pirate House, there’s an aspect to the lighthouse that’s only revealed when you take the time to listen to the story. Many believe the St. Augustine lighthouse is haunted, watched over by an old keeper’s family.
When you expand your scope beyond singular landmarks and include others, like the Castillo de San Marcos fort and Flagler College in Florida’s Old City, their combined stories expand on St. Augustine’s history. By looking beyond the landmarks and traveling with the intent of listening to a city’s legends and narratives, you get to know a location inside and out, from every inspiring tale to forgotten sordid affairs.
Heritage Tourism is the Best of Both Worlds
There’s tourism, and then there’s heritage tourism. Partaking in basic tourism, you tend to travel with the intent of seeing specific locations or doing certain activities, like taking a trip to Charleston to add photos of Fort Sumter to your camera roll. With heritage tourism, the story takes center stage, and it becomes less about just visiting the fort and more about learning its role in Charleston’s early history.
While we may talk about cities based on their landmarks, like the cemeteries of Savannah or the colonial buildings of Annapolis, a location isn’t just architecture and infrastructure. It’s timeless tales, accounts of heroism and villainy, and moments or events that can only be experienced if you start seeing things through the stories they have to tell.
The best way to explore American cities is with US Ghost Adventures, which offers expert-guided tours in over 200 US cities!
