I believe that there has always been land taxes here in the US. I'd love for the US to break up some of these huge overpowering companies today though.
US mostly has a Property Tax for state or local governments, which is different from a Land Value Tax. The property tax is levied based on the value of your property, which includes all improvements made to the property. A land value tax is specifically levied against the value of the land itself, and ignores the value of any buildings and improvements or the use value of the land you're on.
