Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University is one of the oldest universities in the United States, founded in 1749 and later endowed by George Washington — which is how it got its first name. The Lee half came after Robert E. Lee served as president from 1865 to 1870, transforming it from a small local college into a more ambitious institution. The campus is handsome, set on a hill with colonnaded brick buildings that give it the look of old Virginia academic life at its most photogenic.

The University Chapel (Lee Chapel) is the principal sight on campus — a National Historic Landmark that contains Lee's tomb and Valentine's famous recumbent marble statue of the general. The Lee-Jackson House on campus, where Lee lived during his presidency, is also open to visitors. The surrounding campus is a pleasant place to walk.

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Robert E. Lee served as president of what was then Washington College from 1865 until his death in 1870 — immediately after the Civil War, when he could have retreated into embittered retirement but instead chose to lead a Southern institution in rebuilding. He is buried in the Lee Chapel on campus, along with his horse Traveller, whose remains lie just outside the chapel door.