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Thousands of people were directly affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Millions more were glued to their televisions as they watched the news coverage of the attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and rural Pennsylvania.

The former World Trade Center site was decimated by the attacks. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were part of the New York skyline for more than 40 years.

The World Trade Center spanned 16 acres and opened to the public on April 4, 1973. Including the two towers that fell, World Trade Center Building 7 and many other surrounding businesses were ultimately demolished. While 2,977 people perished in the 2001 attack, many find it miraculous that so many others were able to evacuate and escape death.

After the iconic towers fell, thoughts turned to the best ways to commemorate the memories of the people lost on 9/11, as well as the heroism that took place on that fateful September day. Out of the rubble came The National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Millions of people have visited the memorial, which opened to the public on September 12, 2011, and the museum, which opened on May 21, 2014.

Many tourists make it a point to visit the National September 11 Memorial and Museum when traveling to New York City. The memorial portion was the first to open and includes twin reflecting pools that are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The pools sit within the footprints of where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of every person who died in the 2011 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels along the edge the pools.

In the memorial plaza, visitors will find trees harvested from locations within a 500-mile radius of the WTC site, and additional trees coming from locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Visitors will also see the "Survivor Tree," which was recovered from the rubble at the World Trade Center site in October 2001.

According to The National September 11 Memorial and Museum Foundation, the museum serves as the country's principal institution concerned with exploring the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring the continuing significance of September 11. The underground museum has many different artifacts from 9/11, including steel from the Twin Towers, fire trucks and debris. It houses 110,000 square feet of exhibition space and has multimedia displays, monumental collections, archives, and stories about the men, women and children who died during the attacks.

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum archives the story of destruction that occurred, but also represents the hope and camaraderie that the attacks spawned.