Experience History
National Constitution Center
Address: 525 Arch St., Philadelphia
Phone: 215-409-6600
Open: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily
Of Note: A private, nonprofit organization, the Center serves as America’s leading platform for nonpartisan constitutional education and debate. As the MUSEUM OF WE THE PEOPLE, the Center brings the Constitution to life for visitors of all ages through interactive programs and exhibits.
Federal Hall National Memorial
Address: 15 Pine St., New York, N.Y.
Phone: 212-825-6990
Open: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday
Of Note: Here at Federal Hall, George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States, marking the beginning of the American constitutional republic. This historic site served as the nation’s first capitol, home to the inaugural Congress, the first Supreme Court, and the earliest offices of the Executive Branch.
Independence Hall
Address: 520 Chestnut St., Philadelphia
Phone: 212-825-6990
Open: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., daily
Of Note: See the room where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were both signed.
Gunston Hall
Address: 107 Gunston Road, Lorton, Va.
Phone: 703-550-9220
Open: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday
Of Note: Although he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, George Mason did not sign the Constitution because it lacked a bill of rights. Mason, the author of Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, lived in Gunston Hall, a plantation twenty miles south of Washington, D.C. Today, you can visit this Georgian house, constructed between 1755 and 1760, on a 550-acre site in Fairfax County, Virginia.
James Madison’s Montpelier
Address: 11350 Constitution Hwy., Montpelier Station, Va.
Phone: 540-672-2728
Open: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday
Of Note: A memorial to James Madison and the Enslaved Community, a museum of American history, and a center for constitutional education that engages the public with the enduring legacy of Madison’s most powerful idea: government by the people.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Address: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy., Mount Vernon, Va.
Phone: 703-780-2000
Open: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily
Of Note: At Mount Vernon, representatives from Maryland and Virginia met in 1785 to discuss navigation rights on the Potomac River. This meeting set in motion a chain of events that culminated with the Constitutional Convention in 1787, over which Washington presided. George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, is one of the nation’s most visited historic sites, located just outside of Washington, D.C.
The National Archives Museum
Address: 701 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC
Phone: 866-272-6272
Open: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily
Of Note: View the Declaration of Independence, The Consititution and the Bill of Rights. These three documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom, have secured the rights of the American people for more than two and a quarter centuries and are considered instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States.
