TRAVEL


Step Into America’s History


As U.S. readies for its 250th anniversary, now’s time to explore where it all began. :: Just a few miles down the road,


BY BECCA BLOND T


he united states will mark its 250th birthday next summer, a monumental milestone


in our nation’s history. And while July 4, 2026, may seem


a way off, now is the perfect time to start planning a visit to the place where the American story first took root: Williamsburg, Virginia. More than just a charming colonial


town, Williamsburg sits at the heart of America’s beginnings. Together with neighboring


Jamestown and Yorktown, it forms a point of the Historic Triangle — ground zero for the birth of the United States. It’s here that key debates over


liberty, governance, and faith unfolded, following the arrival of the first English settlers in Jamestown in 1607, nearly 170 years before we


72 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | JULY 2025


declared independence. And it’s here that visitors today


can walk the same brick streets trod by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. As the country prepares for its semiquincentennial, Williamsburg is pulling out all the stops with commemorative events, immersive experiences, and plenty of patriotic spirit.


WHERE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT TOOK ROOT Long before there was a White House or Capitol Hill, there was Jamestown. Founded in 1607 by the Virginia


Company of London, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It wasn’t an easy start — the


early years were plagued by famine, disease, and conflict — but the colony endured.


Colonial Williamsburg rose to prominence in the 18th century as the capital of the Virginia Colony. From 1699 to 1780, this was a political and intellectual hub — a place where ideas about freedom and self-governance were fiercely debated long before they reached Philadelphia. Washington walked these streets.


Jefferson studied here. James Madison, too. The seeds of the American Revolution were planted in Williamsburg’s taverns, churches, and courthouses. Today, Colonial Williamsburg


is the world’s largest living history museum, home to more than 300 restored or reconstructed buildings and hundreds of costumed interpreters who bring the 18th century to life. Walk into a blacksmith’s forge or a cooper’s shop and you’ll witness


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