VIP Guided Tours with James Lacefield

Offered by appointment. Book yours today!

Are you interested in lost worlds, ancient civilizations, or mysterious local history? Do you enjoy exploring, discovering, and appreciating the world around you? Do you want a personalized, hands-on learning experience for you and a private group of your choice? Then a VIP Tour of America’s Stonehenge is for you!

The VIP experience gives you exclusive access to America’s Stonehenge, guided by experts of local history who have been there and done that. This 2.5 hour guided tour will not only cover the highlights, like the Oracle Chamber, astronomical alignments, and the artifact room, it will provide the most comprehensive understanding of this historic hilltop only matched by working on the site for half a decade. On this journey through the past, you will be able to see the lesser-known features of the site and explore structures not ordinarily open to the public, or hear stories from the lives of local heroes and legends of the Merrimack Valley.

To book your tour, please email our guide, James Lacefield, at info@StonehengeUSA.com with the subject line “VIP Tour” to request more information about our VIP experiences.

Tour Details

• Tickets are $150 per person, and group size is limited to 15 people.
• Guests will each receive a complimentary wrist band, map, and water for the tour.
• Tours last approximately 2.5 hours.
• Tours are available during our standard operating hours (9:00-5:00 in the summer, 9:00-4:00 in the winter), and must begin at least 3 hours prior to closing.
• While all content discussed on the tour is family-friendly, the duration of the tour and breadth of material covered may not be suitable for young children.
• The trail to the main site is steadily sloping with uneven terrain. Supportive footwear and clothing suitable for moderate hiking in the given season are encouraged when attending the tour.

Tour Topics

Feel free to mix and match topics for a truly personalized experience!

Although this tour will feature the site, we like to say the VIP experience is all about you! You pick the topic, you ask the questions, and you discover the answers! You can choose from a variety of topics which we will cover on the tour, from ancient civilizations, to local lore, to the modern technology we use to research the site (a full list of topics can be found below). You also aren’t signing up for a lecture. Rather, you are encouraged to have a dialogue with your personal guide, asking as many questions about the site as you wish. On the tour, you won’t just be given an answer to a question either; you will be invited to explore the ruins, chambers, monoliths, or features that will reveal the truth of this historic wonder.

• General Tour
  We'll hit the highlights of each topic listed below, and spend time exploring the main site and outlying structures, as well as interacting with artifacts displayed in the museum or in our archives. While there is a lot of history to cover, more than 4,000 years to be exact, this experience will delve into the little-known and nearly forgotten realms of local history, from the builders of these ancient structures to the Pattee family’s role in early American history, to ongoing preservation and research of the site.
• Ancient Architecture
  This topic features the stonework used in constructing this site, and many others throughout the Northeast. We will take a deep-dive into the architecture of each chamber, wall, and monolith, before breaking off from the main trail and discovering ancient quarry sites. We will also view many of the stone tools discovered on the site, including hammer stones used to quarry and shape the slabs on the main site. From complex window arrangements to effigies built with stone, this tour will cover it all.
• Archaeology
  It is important to remember that America's Stonehenge is still an active archaeological site, and has been for nearly a century! This topic will cover the very first excavations conducted by William Goodwin, particularly his discoveries and more notable errors. From there, we will discuss the Early Sites Foundation started by Malcolm Pearson, and the New England Antiquities Research Association founded by Robert Stone, as well as the research which continued during the middle part of the 20th century. From here, we will cover the modern technology which is now aiding researchers in their search for the truth, particularly LiDAR and GPR mapping, C-14 and OSL dating, and aerial photography.
• Astronomy
  America's Stonehenge, like many other ancient sites throughout the world, is accurately aligned with dozens of astronomical events. Of particular note are the Solstices and Equinoxes, though there are also cross-quarter day alignments at both sunrise and sunset, lunar alignments, and alignments with the several stars, as well as illuminations. This tour will not only discuss the alignments themselves, but what they could have meant for people in the past, as ancient holidays were often associated with astronomical events. We will also discuss the process of rediscovering these alignments and clearing them for observers today.
• Indigenous Cultures of the Merrimack Valley
  While it is unknown what culture is responsible for constructing the ancient ruins at America's Stonehenge, Native Americans certainly made their mark on the land here. Several artifacts associated with Indigenous cultures living and working in this area have been found. This tour will highlight these artifacts and the sites where they were discovered, while also discussing the history of these people both before and after colonization.
• The Pattee Family and Early New England
  There are several layers of history to be discussed at America's Stonehenge, and one of them is rooted in the very fabric of America. The Pattee family lived in the area through the 18th and 19th centuries, and one branch settled on this very hilltop in 1802. While they are not the original builders of the stone ruins, they left an incredible mark on the hill, and the nation itself. This tour will cover the history of Salem, NH, and how the Pattee family played a role in its expansion. A family of war-heroes and humble shoemakers alike, the Pattee family also kept a dangerous secret. This very hilltop was a stop on the Underground Railroad, as abolitionist Jonathan Pattee hid Freedom Seekers in his cellar to keep them safe from slave catchers. This tour is not a discussion of just one family, but the entirety of early American history.
• Theories and Evidence
  Who built the site? No one knows for sure, but this tour will cover the smattering of theories regarding the site’s construction, from ancient seafaring Europeans to a crazed colonial farmer, or a 21st century hoax to visitors from another dimension. We’ll discuss what evidence has been found, how it has been verified, and what else we would need to discover in order to prove, once and for all, who built these mysterious structures.
• Other
  Have a suggestion? Don’t see what you’re interested in listed here? Let us know so we can do some research and add that discussion to your personalized VIP experience!

Meet Your Tour Guide

James Lacefield has worked at America's Stonehenge since 2018, but has been passionate about history all his life. As a child, family vacations were more often taken at national parks and historic sites than themed resorts, and he enjoyed every minute of it, often thinking about working in a museum or as a park ranger one day. James has lived in nearby Haverhill, Massachusetts all his life, and has worked to learn all there is to know about the history of the Merrimack Valley. James worked at the site during the summers through high school and college, before graduating magna cum laude from Saint Anselm College. He then started full-time as our general manager in 2023. In his time here, James has learned a great deal from Dennis Stone - the president of America’s Stonehenge, a number of researchers who have worked on the site, and from his own research. An avid student, James is now working on a Master’s of History through Southern New Hampshire University in his spare time.