West Point, the United States Military Academy, stands on a commanding Hudson River site first fortified by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and long valued for controlling British movement upriver. Founded there in 1802, it became the nation’s oldest service academy and was shaped decisively by leaders including Thomas Jefferson, Jonathan Williams, and Sylvanus Thayer, who established its enduring academic and disciplinary system. West Point also became a major center of engineering education and military leadership, producing officers prominent in the Mexican–American War and on both sides of the Civil War. It later expanded access, reformed hazing practices, admitted women in 1976, and continues as a working Army academy.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain