TIME Historic Cities

“In no other country is my story even possible.”–BARACK OBAMA The words of this country’s two “first” presidents ring with optimism. But the “land of the free and the home of the brave” was built on a complex framework of ideals. U.S. citizens enjoy freedoms, wealth, and opportunities unimaginable in many other parts of the world. But long before the Patriots broke with Britain and set out to build what is now a world superpower, things were complicated. The stories of the cities that developed across this vast country are as varied and interesting as the people who inhabit them. Every village, town, city, and state in the U.S. has its own unique origin story—here, we look at some of America’s historic cities to help understand the events that formed…

LOUISIANA WHEN YOU THINK OF NEW ORLEANS, it’s likely you think of Mardi Gras, which has roots that can be traced back to Europe’s Middle Ages, long before the Big Easy was founded in 1718. French-Canadian explorers brought the tradition to the States just before the turn of the 18th century. Led by Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, they made camp approximately 60 miles from presentday New Orleans and dubbed the site “Point du Mardi Gras” because that day, March 3, 1699, marked the celebration of Mardi Gras in Paris. New Orleans wouldn’t exist for another 19 years, however, and it’s widely believed the first New World iteration of Carnival in the U.S. occurred in a different area under French control—Mobile, Alabama, in 1703. In the 18th century, as the French further…

WASHINGTON, D.C. EVER WONDER WHY WASHINGTON, D.C. isn’t a state or at least part of one? First, it’s worth noting that Washington, D.C. was not always the capital. President George Washington first took office in New York City, then the capital was moved to Philadelphia, where it remained for a decade. In 1790, Washington, D.C. became the nation’s capital as a result of a compromise between Alexander Hamilton, representing the North, and Thomas Jefferson, who represented the South. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wanted the federal government to assume Revolutionary War debts, which heavily favored Northern states, but Jefferson, James Madison, and other Southern leaders balked at Hamilton’s plan. The Southerners wanted the capital situated in a location that was friendly to slave-holding states. So in exchange for the…

HAWAII WHEN YOU THINK OF HONOLULU, palm trees, beaches, big waves, and lush green mountains may come to mind, but Honolulu is also the capital and most populous city in Hawaii. It is the state’s major urban hub for commerce, industry, education, and military defense. The first record of settlement in Honolulu, which means “protected bay,” was by Polynesian migrants in 1100. Between 1792 and 1794, the British merchant Captain William Brown arrived there and made an agreement with Kahekili II, chief of the island, to provide military assistance in exchange for use of the harbor. Meanwhile, rival chief Kamehameha I was making deals with British Captain George Vancouver, and ceded the Island of Hawaii to Britain in 1794. Both sides stocked up on military supplies, and after a series of…

NEW MEXICO NESTLED IN NEW MEXICO’S SANGRE de Cristo Mountains is Santa Fe (Spanish for Holy Faith), a small city of 87,000 that has been in existence since Spanish settlers took root in 1610. The oldest capital city in the U.S.—as well as the location of the nation’s oldest house and oldest church structure, the San Miguel Mission—Santa Fe is home to customs that stem from its colonial history. The traditions emerge with great fanfare during the city’s annual fall Fiesta. Events range from crowning a king and queen to a somber, candlelit evening religious procession that begins in the center of town and winds up a hill to the Cross of the Martyrs. There, they burn a 50-foot tall papier-mâché marionette called Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom. Native American…

GEORGIA ESTABLISHED IN 1733 BY THE British social reformer James Oglethorpe, Savannah is Georgia’s oldest city and its capital. It is situated on the Savannah River, from which it gets its name. It is the fourth busiest seaport in the U.S., originally shipping silk and indigo to England, and later, cotton from Georgia’s expansive plantations, which brought great wealth to the colony. Oglethorpe was from a prominent British family, a member of Parliament, and a British Army officer. He was once a member of the Royal African Company, one of the largest slave trade organizations in history, but after visiting America and witnessing the brutality, he became an abolitionist. Oglethorpe was careful to maintain good relations and fair dealings with the native Yamacraw people in Georgia, so they had few conflicts.…