The United States is set to commemorate its 250th birthday, a milestone marked by a variety of new attractions and ongoing celebrations designed to engage both residents and international visitors. The semiquincentennial year includes significant reopenings, the debut of new museums, and centennial celebrations for iconic landmarks.
In Virginia, Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington, has reopened following a preservation and renovation project. A new $20 million education center and "A Revolutionary Life" exhibit aim to introduce the first president to a new generation through interactive simulations and historical artifacts, including Washington's 18th-century dentures.
Maryland is highlighting the legacy of Harriet Tubman with the new "Underground Underwater" experience at the Harriet Tubman Freedom Center in Cambridge. This exhibit focuses on the critical role waterways, marshes, and forests played in the abolitionist's efforts to guide enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Tubman, born into slavery in Maryland in 1822, escaped in 1849 and subsequently helped over 70 others flee bondage.
The historic Route 66 is celebrating its centenary on November 11. Throughout the year, cities and towns along the iconic route from Chicago to Santa Monica are hosting new museums and parties. Springfield, Illinois, will host the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival from September 25 to 27, while Springfield, Missouri, the route's birthplace, will hold its Birthplace Of Route 66 Festival on August 7 and 8. Texas features eight "musical roads" where driving at the speed limit produces recognizable tunes, and a "singing road" near Tijeras, New Mexico, plays "America The Beautiful" when driven over rumble strips.
Niagara Falls State Park is offering new experiences that acknowledge the region's Indigenous history. The "Voices Of The Falls" exhibit at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Welcome Center shares cultural stories and perspectives of the area's native peoples. Additionally, the "Above The Roar" virtual reality experience places visitors at the powerful waterfall. This summer also sees a 150-acre expansion adding two miles of trails through the Niagara Gorge Corridor.
New York City will mark its quadricentennial anniversary in 2026, with ongoing celebrations acknowledging its founding. The city opened Centre 360, a 580-foot public observatory in the David N Dinkins Municipal Building, offering panoramic views of Manhattan. The Hip Hop Museum is slated to open in the Bronx in the autumn, tracing the cultural movement's rise and global influence.
Country music star Dolly Parton is being honored with new attractions in Tennessee. Dollywood theme park has debuted "NightFlight Expedition," an indoor ride combining roller coaster, whitewater rafting, and multimedia elements. In Nashville, the SongTeller Hotel and Life of Many Colors Museum offer an immersive celebration of her career, and Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop opened in Cornersville in June.
Los Angeles will welcome the Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art on September 22, founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas. The museum will showcase the art of storytelling through film, comics, illustration, photography, and fine art.
Theme park developments include Universal Kids Resort, which opened in Frisco, Texas, designed specifically for young children with characters like SpongeBob and Minions. Universal Epic Universe in Orlando, which opened in May last year, continues to attract visitors. Walt Disney World in Orlando has rebranded the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster" as a Muppets-themed ride.
In the Deep South, a new Amtrak passenger train service is reconnecting Mobile, Alabama, with New Orleans, Louisiana, for the first time in nearly 20 years, with stops in coastal towns like Pascagoula and Biloxi.
Washington D.C. features "The Playground" at the National Building Museum, an interactive installation running until August 30 that transforms the Great Hall into a climbable landscape. The Smithsonian is also celebrating with the reopening of the Smithsonian Institution Building and the Arts And Industries Building, the latter featuring a new exhibition on the country's past and future.
Cross-border travel between the U.S. and Canada is enhanced with the upcoming opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to cross between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, for the first time in over 60 years.
North Dakota inaugurates the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora today. Situated near the Badlands, the library features immersive exhibits on conservation and democracy, with an architecture designed to blend into the prairie landscape.