Travellers' Tour Through the United States

Lore & Background

Travellers' Tour Through the United States was published in 1822 by F. & R. Lockwood, New York-based cartographers. The game featured a map of the United States, at a time when the nation's westernmost states were Louisiana and Missouri, the latter having gained statehood only a year prior. Players traveled through 139 municipalities, using a teetotum to determine movement, and had to correctly identify each city or town to advance. An advanced version required players to name the populations of the localities they landed on, and the game also offered trivia about each place. The winner was the first player to reach New Orleans. Though often cited as the first American board game, earlier examples exist, and it has been known to collectors and historians well before the 1990s.

Reader's Guide

Travellers' Tour Through the United States holds a foundational place in American board game history. For decades, The Mansion of Happiness (1843) was believed to be the oldest American board game, but Travellers' Tour was discovered in the American Antiquarian Society's archives in 1991, pushing back the known timeline of American game publishing. Unlike Mansion of Happiness, which was based on a previously extant British game, Travellers' Tour was a wholly American creation. The game's map-based design and educational focus—requiring players to identify municipalities and, in advanced play, their populations—reflected early 19th-century interests in geography and national expansion. A sister game, Travellers' Tour Through Europe, was released a few months later, followed by Travellers' Tour Round the World. A new version of the game was published in 1842, featuring an updated and expanded city list and more complex gameplay, including cities that forced players to move ahead or back on the board. The game's rediscovery reshaped the history of American board games, establishing a distinctly American origin for the medium.

Did You Know?

• Travellers' Tour Through the United States is one of the earliest known board games produced in the United States.
• The game has been known to historians and collectors for decades; it was not 'discovered' in 1991, nor did it overturn the status of The Mansion of Happiness as the oldest American board game.