Our Pick
Posted on @rawstates
The first official Fourth of July
1783
Salem Square, Old Salem, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
David Bjorgen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
North Carolina declared 4 July 1783 a day of thanksgiving for the peace, the only state known to have done so that year, and Salem was the only settlement that answered. Moravian trombonists woke the town at dawn, a cantata was written for the day, and the evening ended with a torchlight procession around this square. No fireworks, no parade, no barbecue. A bronze plaque set into the brick paths near the middle of the square, unveiled on 4 July 1966, marks it as the first official Fourth of July celebration in the country.
That was 1 of the hidden places.
Location: documented spot
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