Historic St. John's Church

A white clapboard church from 1741 on the crest of Church Hill, and the room where Patrick Henry made the case for arming Virginia against Britain in March 1775 — closing, by later account, with "give me liberty or give me death". George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both in the pews.

The interior is plain, boxy and largely original, which is precisely what makes it work: it is easy to picture the Second Virginia Convention crammed into it. The surrounding churchyard holds Edgar Allan Poe's mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, among Richmond's oldest gravestones.

Practical: short guided tours run several times a day for a few dollars; on summer Sundays actors restage the 1775 debate, with the audience voting from the pews. Closed some weekdays, so check hours. The churchyard is open and free to wander.