Dozen Distinctive Destinations

West Chester, Pennsylvania and Lewes, Delaware are within easy driving distance from the Washington, DC region. Photo: Detail of the former West Chester Fire Company Number One. Credit: Rick Davis.

Is an annual list produced by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. They released the 2006 list the other day, which is discussed in this AP story, "Lewes, Del. among a dozen unusual historic destinations," and others. Click here for the National Trust webpage on the destinations. Besides Lewes, Delaware, selected communities are:

• Bartlesville, Okla., enriched by an early oil strike, boasting the only skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
• Bowling Green, Ky., with notable Civil War sites and an old cavern where outlaws and soldiers hid.
• Milwaukee, Wis., the U.S. beer-making capital, home of a famous art museum and zoo and a deep German tradition.
• Monterey, Calif., once the Spanish and Mexican capital of the region, site of a huge aquarium and the setting for John Steinbeck's Cannery Row".
• Palm Springs, Calif., an oasis known for its famous residents, its climate and jet-set life style.
• Philipsburg, Mont., a mining tradition in a beautiful landscape, the state's oldest operating school, jail and opera house.
• Prescott, Ariz., born overnight when gold was discovered, celebrating the wild West and Native Americans in its museums.
• Saranac Lake, N.Y., a health resort since the early 1800s, amid lakes, mountains and evergreen forests.
• West Chester, Pa., an old Quaker village with brick sidewalks and period architecture.

(I'm going to Prescott next week for the Civic Tourism conference.)

West Chester, Pennsylvania. Swingin' Summer Thursday festival event in downtown. Credit: Rick Davis

Index Keywords: cultural-heritage-tourism