E-text prepared by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 39068-h.htm or 39068-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/39068/pg39068-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39068/39068-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/historicshrines00faririch Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). HISTORIC SHRINES OF AMERICA by JOHN T. FARIS [Illustration: INDEPENDENCE HALL, REAR VIEW, PHILADELPHIA _Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_] HISTORIC SHRINES OF AMERICA Being the Story of One Hundred and Twenty Historic Buildings and the Pioneers Who Made Them Notable by JOHN T. FARIS Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Fellow of the American Geographical Society Author of "Real Stories from Our History," "Old Roads Out of Philadelphia," etc. Illustrated New York George H. Doran Company Copyright, 1918, By George H. Doran Company Printed in the United States of America FOREWORD Circular tours have long been popular in England. There was a time--as there will be a time again--when American visitors felt that to make the rounds of the cathedral towns or the historic castles or the homes and haunts of great men and women, was a necessary part of seeing the tight little island. "What a pity it is that we in America have no such wealth of historic places," one returning tourist was heard to remark. "Oh, of course, there are a few spots like Independence Hall and Concord and Lexington," he went on, "but there are not enough of them to make it worth while to plan a tour such as those in which we have taken delight in England." It was easy to point out to the traveler his mistake; most Americans know that the country is rich in places of historic interest. Just how rich it is they may not realize until they make a serious study of the landmarks of their own land, as does the European tourist of the centers noted in his guidebook. In fact, there are in America so many houses, churches, and other buildings having a vital connection with our history that volumes would be required to tell of them all. Even a brief record of the buildings whose owners or occupants played a conspicuous part in the early history of the country would fill a large book.