Lafayette at the Water Works in Philadelphia, 15 June

Two of the nice people I met at the “American Revolution Reborn” conference in Philadelphia earlier this month were Joe DiBello of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail (W3R-NHT) and Ursula Reed of the non-profit group that supports that trail, the National Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association, Inc.

The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route is a relatively new twig on the tree of the National Park Service, designated in 2009. As its website says, it

commemorates the over 680 miles of land and water trails followed by the allied armies under General Washington and General Rochambeau through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and what is now Washington, D.C. The NHT will identify, preserve, interpret, and celebrate the French and American alliance in the War for Independence.

Together with the American Friends of Lafayette, those two organizations are sponsoring a free talk in Philadelphia at 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, 15 June. Alan Hoffman will speak on “Lafayette Visits Philadelphia and the Fairmount Water Works in 1824 & 1825: Odyssey of an American Icon.” There will be a book signing and reception afterward. All this tales place at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, 640 Water Works Drive. But the National Heritage Trail has events all over and all year long.

(The photo above shows Philadelphia’s statue of the young Lafayette, located between the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the old water works.)