Category: National Parks

… was established as Capulin Mountain National Monument in 1916 and renamed (“Volcano”) on this date in 1987.

Mammoths, giant bison, and short-faced bears were witness to the first tremblings of the earth and firework-like explosions of molten rock thousands of feet into the air. Approximately 60,000 years ago, the rain of cooling cinders and four lava flows formed Capulin Volcano, a nearly perfectly-shaped cinder cone, rising more than 1000 feet above the surrounding landscape. Although long extinct, Capulin Volcano is dramatic evidence of the volcanic processes that shaped northeastern New Mexico. Today the pine forested volcano provide habitat for mule deer, wild turkey, and black bear.

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Capulin Volcano National Monument preserves approximately 800 acres (324hectares) primarily the cinder cone volcano. More than 15 square miles (~39 km2) of associated lava flows are outside the monument boundaries. The volcano has been well-preserved with the greatest erosion being limited to where the cone is cut by a 2-mile road that spirals its way to the crater rim. The volcano rises to a height of 8182 feet (2495 m) above sea level, or 1300 feet (396 m) above the surrounding High Plains and at its base is 4 miles (6.4 km) in circumference. The crater is 415 feet (126 m) deep and 1450 feet (442 m) in diameter. The slopes of the volcano have been partially stabilized by the formation of soils, produced by the breakdown of the volcanic material by lichens and mosses. Once these soils formed, grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees took root. Chokecherry trees, which are common along the crater trails, inspired the name for this cinder cone volcano; Capulín is a Mexican-Spanish word for Chokecherry.

The monument lies in the Raton section of the Great Plains (or Interior Plains) physiographic province—an immense sweep of country that stretches north from Mexico to Canada, and east from the Rocky Mountains. This section of the Great Plains is characterized by volcanism. Capulin Volcano is just one out of many volcanoes in northeastern New Mexico….

Capulin Volcano National Monument

… was established 25 years ago today (1987).

This monument preserves 114,277 acres of which 109,260 acres are federal and 5,017 acres are private. El Malpais means “the badlands” but contrary to its name this unique area holds many surprises, many of which researchers are now unraveling. Volcanic features such as lava flows, cinder cones, pressure ridges and complex lava tube systems dominate the landscape. Closer inspection reveals unique ecosystems with complex relationships. Sandstone bluffs and mesas border the eastern side, providing access to vast wilderness.

For more than 10,000 years people have interacted with the El Malpais landscape. Historic and archeological sites provide reminders of past times. More than mere artifacts, these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical presence of contemporary Indian groups, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna,and Zuni, and the Ramah Navajo. These tribes continue their ancestral uses of El Malpais including gathering herbs and medicines, paying respect, and renewing ties.

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Despite the harsh lava landscape throughout most of the monument, El Malpais offers an array of fascinating surprises for the naturalist. Some of the oldest Douglas Fir trees on the planet can be found in the monument as can unusual and rare forms of cave life. Lizards and snakes adapt unique colorations to blend in with the basalt lava rocks. Flora clings to life in the seams of lava cracks, while bats emerge from caves and lava tubes to begin their nightly hunt for food. While you can get acquainted with many facets of El Malpais’ natural wonders right here, experiencing them firsthand by visiting the park is by far the best.

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NOTICE: All caves in El Malpais National Monument are closed to recreational use.

This closure is due to a combination of factors: The outbreak of a fungal disease killing millions of bats called White Nose Syndrome; the need to prevent continuing loss of delicate geological formations, cave ice, and sensitive biological communities; and the need to implement a cave management program to sustainably provide visitor access to caves while protecting them for future generations of Americans.

El Malpais National Monument

… was established as Colonial National Monument on this date in 1930. It became a national historical park in 1936.

On May 13, 1607, Jamestown was established as the first permanent English settlement in North America. Three cultures came together – European, Virginia Indian and African–to create a new society that would eventually seek independence from Great Britain. On October 19, 1781, American and French troops defeated the British at Yorktown in the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.

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Walk in the steps of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas where a successful English colonization of North America began. Despite early struggles to survive, the 1607 settlement evolved into a prosperous colony. As the colony expanded, the Virginia Indians were pushed out of their homeland. In 1619, the arrival of Africans was recorded, marking the origin of slavery in English North America.

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Discover what it took for the United States to be independent as you explore the site of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Here at Yorktown, in the fall of 1781, General George Washington, with allied American and French forces, besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis’s British army. On October 19, Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the war and ensuring independence.

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The Colonial Parkway is a twenty-three mile scenic roadway stretching from the York River at Yorktown to the James River at Jamestown. It connects Virginia’s historic triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Several million travelers a year use this route to enjoy the natural and cultural beauty of Virginia.

Colonial National Historical Park

… was authorized on this date in 1980.

The primary story being told at Kalaupapa National Historical Park is the forced isolation from 1866 until 1969 of people from Hawai’i afflicted with Hansen’s disease (leprosy) to the remote northern Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of Molokai.

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Two tragedies occurred on the Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north shore of the island of Moloka`i; the first was the removal of indigenous people in 1865 and 1895, the second was the forced isolation of sick people to this remote place from 1866 until 1969. The removal of Hawaiians from where they had lived for 900 years cut the cultural ties and associations of generations of people with the `aina (land). The establishment of an isolation settlement, first at Kalawao and then at Kalaupapa, tore apart Hawaiian society as the kingdom, and subsequently, the territory of Hawai`i tried to control a feared disease. The impact of broken connections with the `aina and of family members “lost” to Kalaupapa are still felt in Hawai`i today.

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In the late 1940’s with the discovery of sulfone drugs, some of the physical barriers between patients and non-patients were removed and a number of entertainers visited Kalaupapa, including Shirley Temple, John Wayne, the Trapp Family Singers, Red Skelton, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park

… was renamed and redesignated on December 19, 1980. It had been a national monument since March 11, 1907.

For all the wild beauty of Chaco Canyon’s high-desert landscape, its long winters, short growing seasons, and marginal rainfall create an unlikely place for a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture to take root and flourish. Yet this valley was the center of a thriving culture a thousand years ago. The monumental scale of its architecture, the complexity of its community life, the high level of its community social organization, and its far-reaching commerce created a cultural vision unlike any other seen before or since.

The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid 800s and lasted more than 300 years. We can see it clearly in the grand scale of the architecture. Using masonry techniques unique for their time, they constructed massive stone buildings (Great Houses) of multiple stories containing hundreds of rooms much larger than any they had previously built. The buildings were planned from the start, in contrast to the usual practiced of adding rooms to existing structures as needed. Constructions on some of these buildings spanned decades and even centuries. Although each is unique, all great houses share architectural features that make them recognizable as Chacoan.
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In time, the people shifted away from Chacoan ways, migrated to new areas, reorganized their world, and eventually interacted with foreign cultures. Their descendants are the modern Southwest Indians. Many Southwest Indian people look upon Chaco as an important stop along their clans’ sacred migration paths-a spiritual place to be honored and respected.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

… was authorized on this date in 2003.

Before Dr. Carter G. Woodson, there was very little accurate written history about the lives and experiences of Americans of African descent. Today a National Historic Site, Dr. Woodson’s home served as the headquarters for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Dr. Woodson established Negro History Week here in 1926, which we celebrate today as Black History Month.

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The Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site is a new unit of the National Park Service, acquired in 2005. It is in need of rehabilitation and restoration and is closed to the public.

You can go to the house to view the façade.

Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site

December 19th is Woodson’s birthday. He was born in 1875 and died in 1950. The home is at 1538 9th Street NW.

… was created by presidential proclamation on December 19, 1907.

The well-preserved Lower and Upper cliff dwellings were occupied during the 13th, 14th, and early 15th centuries. The people farmed in the Salt River Valley and supplemented their diet by hunting and gathering native wildlife and plants. They were fine craftsmen, producing some of the most exquisite polychrome pottery and intricately woven textiles to be found in the Southwest. Many of these objects are on display in the Visitor Center museum.

The monument is located in the Upper Sonoran ecosystem, known primarily for its characteristic saguaro cactus. Other common plants include cholla, prickly pear, yucca, agave, ocotillo, and an amazing variety of colorful wildflowers.

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For over 100 years, these ruins have been called the Tonto Cliff Dwellings. We don’t know who named them, and there is no way of knowing when they were first seen by Europeans. Cowboys, settlers, and the cavalry were probably aware of the ruins by the 1870’s, although no known documentation exists from this period.

Tonto National Monument

… was established by presidential proclamation on December 19, 1919. The ruins remain unexcavated.

Yucca House is one of the largest archeological sites in southwest Colorado, and acted as an important community center for the Ancestral Puebloan people from A.D. 1150-1300. On July 2, 1919, Henry Van Kleeck deeded 9.6 acres of land, including most of Yucca House, to the federal government. Due to its significance as an excellent example of a valley pueblo, Woodrow Wilson made Yucca House a National Monument by Presidential Proclamation on December 19, 1919.

Yucca House National Monument is one of our earliest examples of public/private stewardship of our cultural resources and will remain protected well into the future. The long-term preservation of Yucca House ensures that archeologists will be able to continue studying Ancestral Puebloan society and what caused them to migrate from this region in the late 1200s.

Yucca House National Monument

Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charles Mason rode out on what is now Sun Point in search of lost cattle 124 years ago today (1888) and found Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde. That afternoon, Richard found Spruce Tree House, and the next day, the two men discovered Square Tower House. Al Wetherill, Richard’s brother, saw Cliff Palace sometime the year before, but he did not enter the dwelling, so the credit for “discovering” the dwelling has been given to Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason.

In 1901, Richard Wetherill homesteaded land that included Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo Del Arroyo, and Chetro Ketl in what is now Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Wetherill remained in Chaco Canyon, homesteading and operating a trading post at Pueblo Bonito until his murder in 1910. Chiishch’ilin Biy, charged with the murder, served time in prison, but was released in 1914 due to poor health. Wetherill is buried in the small cemetery west of Pueblo Bonito.

NewMexiKen took the photo of Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park in 2006 and that of the Richard Wetherell [sic] grave marker at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in 2003. Click images for larger versions.

… was designated a National Park 41 years ago today (1971). It had been a national monument since 1937.

The Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth’s crust known as a monocline, extends from nearby Thousand Lakes Mountain to the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). Capitol Reef National Park was established to protect this grand and colorful geologic feature, as well as the unique natural and cultural history found in the area.

Capitol Reef National Park

… was so designated on this date in 1919. It is one of five National Park Service sites in Nebraska.

Towering eight hundred feet above the North Platte River, Scotts Bluff has been a natural landmark for many peoples, and it served as the path marker for those on the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express Trails.

Scotts Bluff National Monument preserves 3,000 acres of unusual land formations which rise over the otherwise flat prairieland below.

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From various tribes of Native Americans living and travelling through the area to our modern towns with populations made of many different cultures, Scotts Bluff has served as a landmark for a huge diversity of peoples.

Although earlier people did not leave very much that shows what the bluffs meant to them, evidence shows they did camp at the foot of the bluff. On the other hand, the westward emigrants of the 19th century often mentioned Scotts Bluff in their diaries and journals. In fact, it was the second most referred to landmark on the Oregon, Mormon and California trails after Chimney Rock. Over 250,000 people made their way through the area between 1843 and 1869, often pausing in wonder to see such a natural marvel and many remembered it long after their journeys were over.

Scotts Bluff National Monument

… was designated a national historic site on this date in 1946. It became a national historical park in 1998.

The John Adams and John Quincy Adams Birthplaces are the oldest presidential birthplaces in the United States. In 1735, John Adams was born in the “salt box” house located only 75 feet away from the birthplace of his son John Quincy Adams. In the John Quincy Adams Birthplace, young John and his bride Abigail started their family and the future President launched his career in politics and law. John Adams maintained his law office in the house and it was here that he, Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin wrote the Massachusetts Constitution. This document, still in use today, greatly influenced development of the United States Constitution.

The Old House, built in 1731, became the residence of the Adams family for four generations from 1788 to 1927. It was home to Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams; First Ladies Abigail and Louisa Catherine Adams; Civil War Minister to Great Britain Charles Francis Adams; and literary historians Henry and Brooks Adams. …

Adams National Historical Park

… was proclaimed on this date in 1924 (December 9, 1924).

Wupatki National Monument was established by President Calvin Coolidge on December 9, 1924, to preserve Citadel and Wupatki pueblos. Monument boundaries have been adjusted several times since then, and now include additional pueblos and other archeological resources on a total of 35,422 acres.

Wupatki represents a cultural crossroads, home to numerous groups of people over thousands of years. Understanding of earlier people comes from multiple perspectives, including the traditional history of the people themselves and interpretations by archeologists of structures and artifacts that remain. …

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Today, Wupatki National Monument protects 56 square miles … of high desert directly west of the Little Colorado River and the Navajo Reservation. Its vistas preserve clues to geologic history, ecological change, and human settlement. All are intertwined.

Wupatki National Monument

… was established by President Theodore Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act 106 years ago today (December 8, 1906).

Paso por aqui . . . A reliable waterhole hidden at the base of a massive sandstone bluff made El Morro (the bluff) a popular campsite. Ancestral Puebloans settled on the mesa top over 700 years ago. Spanish and American travelers rested, drank from the pool and carved their signatures, dates and messages for hundreds of years. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins.

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Explorers and travelers have known of the pool by the great rock for centuries. A valuable water source and resting place, many who passed by inscribed their names and messages in the rock next to petroglyphs left by ancient Puebloans. The ruins of a large pueblo located on top of El Morro were vacated by the time the Spaniards arrived in the late 1500s, and its inhabitants may have moved to the nearby pueblos in Zuni and Acoma. As the American West grew in population, El Morro became a break along the trail for those passing through and a destination for sightseers. As the popularity of the area increased, so did the tradition of carving inscriptions on the rock. To preserve the historical importance of the area and initiate preservation efforts on the old inscriptions, El Morro was established as a national monument by a presidential proclamation on December 8, 1906.

El Morro National Monument

… was designated on December 8, 1982.

Harry S Truman National Historic Site includes the Truman Home in Independence, Missouri, and the Truman Farm Home in Grandview, Missouri.

Harry S Truman (1884-1972), 33rd President of the United States, lived here from 1919 until his death. The white Victorian style house at 219 North Delaware Street was built by the maternal grandfather of Bess Wallace Truman (1885-1982), and was known as the “Summer White House” during the Truman administration (1945-1953).

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After serving nearly eight years as President, Truman went home in 1953. For Harry and Bess, the love of his life, home meant 219 North Delaware Street in Independence, where they had lived together since their marriage in 1919. Mr. Truman lived more like a retired mayor than a former President. Upon leaving the White House, he had no Secret Service protection, often drove his own car, and sometimes helped with the dishes. Ordinary citizens lined the front gate each morning hoping for an autograph, a handshake, or just a tip of his hat. Mr. Truman obliged them. “I realize they’ve come to see the striped mule of Missouri, and I don’t want them to be disappointed.”

Travelers to Independence can still experience Truman’s town and follow in his footsteps on a neighborhood walking tour, smell the concord grapes ripening on his back porch, and even read the oral histories of his friends and family.

219 North Delaware is the heart of Harry S Truman National Historic Site. The National Park Service also cares for four other Truman related homes that, along with the Delaware Street neighborhood, help tell the story of this “People’s President.”

Harry S Truman National Historic Site.

… was first proclaimed a national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act 106 years ago today (December 8, 1906). It became a national park in 1962.

With one of the world’s largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood, multi-hued badlands of the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites, and displays of 225 million year old fossils, this is a surprising land of scenic wonders and fascinating science.

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Petrified Forest was set aside as a national monument in 1906 to preserve and protect the petrified wood for its scientific value. It is recognized today for having so much more, including a broad representation of the Late Triassic paleo-ecosystem, significant human history, clear night skies, fragile grasslands ecosystem, and unspoiled scenic vistas.

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Petrified Forest is one of the national parks that has Class I air. Class I National Park Service areas have the highest level of air quality protection under the law. These areas are defined as national parks larger than 6,000 acres or wilderness areas over 5,000 acres that were in existence when the Clean Air Act was amended in 1977.

Petrified Forest National Park

… was established by President Theodore Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act 106 years ago today (December 8, 1906).

Nestled into a limestone recess high above the flood plain of Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley stands one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. The five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling served as a “high-rise apartment building” for prehistoric Sinagua Indians over 600 years ago. Early settlers to the area assumed that the imposing structure was associated with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but the castle was abandoned almost a century before Montezuma was born.

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Montezuma Castle National Monument encompasses 826 acres and lies in the Verde Valley at the junction of the Colorado Plateau and Basin and Range physiographic provinces. Although the climate is arid with less than 12 inches of rainfall annually, several perennial streams thread their way from upland headwaters to the Verde Valley below, creating lush riparian ribbons of green against an otherwise parched landscape of rolling, juniper-covered hills.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

… was designated on December 6, 1955. The following July the nearby Edison Laboratory National Monument was proclaimed. The sites were combined in 1962 and then renamed and designated Thomas Edison National Historical Park in 2009. That is Glenmont, the Edison home, pictured.

Thomas Edison National Historical Park was established “to commemorate the outstanding achievements of the great American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison” (Presidential Proclamation 3148). The site was conveyed to the National Park Service through a series of legal agreements between the government and Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (later McGraw Edison Company) between 1955 and 1962. It is located within the township of West Orange in New Jersey. Containing 21.25 acres, the park preserves Thomas Alva Edison’s laboratory, his estate Glenmont, and collections in perpetuity and makes this valuable part of America’s heritage available to over 60,000 visitors each year for their enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation.

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Spend an afternoon exploring Glenmont, the estate of Thomas and Mina Edison. Thomas Edison purchased this grand estate for his new bride, Mina Miller Edison, in 1886. It is here that the Edisons raised their children and entertained friends, family, and Edison business associates.

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

… was authorized in 1934 but finally established 65 years ago today (1947).

This national park is the 3rd largest in the lower 48 states, covering 2358 square miles (1.5 million acres). There are a number of locations you can begin your adventure here in south Florida from Everglades City to Homestead to Key Largo.

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With the dedication of Everglades National Park in 1947, a new precedent was set in the growing conservation movement. For the first time in American history, a large tract of wilderness was permanently protected not for its scenic value, but for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained.

The mosaic of habitats found within the Greater Everglades Ecosystem supports an assemblage of plant and animal species not found elsewhere on the planet. While nine distinct habitats have been identified, the landscape remains dynamic. Ecosystems remain in a constant state of flux, subject to the elements of south Florida.

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The boundaries of Everglades National Park protect only the southern one-fifth of the historic Everglades ecosystem. In its entirety, this massive watershed boasts a multitude of habitats that provide a subtropical refuge to a unique assemblage of wildlife.

With the passage of time and the growth of human population centers in south Florida, the park serves a new role — serving as a touchstone against which to gauge the impacts of man on the natural world. Scientific study is the key to better understanding, and managing, the resources entrusted to our care and protection.

Everglades National Park

… was proclaimed on this date, December 5th, four years ago (2008).

This monument comprises nine historic sites representing various aspects of World War II history in the Pacific. Five sites are in the Pearl Harbor area: the USS Arizona Memorial and visitor center; the USS Utah Memorial; the USS Oklahoma Memorial; the six chief petty officer bungalows on Ford Island; and mooring quays F6, F7, and F8, which constituted part of Battleship Row. Three sites are located in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands: the crash site of a consolidated B-24D liberator bomber on Atka Island, the Kiska Island site of Imperial Japan’s occupation that began in June 1942; and Attu Island, the site of the only land battle fought in North America during World War II. The last of the nine designations is the Tule Lake Segregation Center National Historic Landmark and nearby Camp Tule Lake in California—both of which housed Japanese Americans relocated from the west coast of the United States.

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Contrary to popular belief, the USS Arizona is no longer in commission. As a special tribute to the ship and her lost crew, the United States flag flies from the flagpole, which is attached to the severed mainmast of the sunken battleship. The USS Arizona Memorial has come to commemorate all military personnel killed in the Pearl Harbor attack.

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument

… was proclaimed on November 30, 1915.

Come gaze across the curved canyon walls! Among the remarkable geological cliff formations of the canyon itself, the shapes of the former homes of ancient inhabitants of Walnut Canyon are easily evident. On a hike along the Rim or Island Trails you can imagine what life was like along and within Walnut Canyon while visiting actual pueblos and walking in the steps of those who came before us.

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In the pine forests near Flagstaff, Arizona, a steep canyon severs the rolling plateau. Twenty miles long, 400 feet deep and ¼-mile wide, it was carved by Walnut Creek over a period of 6 million years. Within its winding walls are natural riches – an abundant mix of plants and animals drawn there by water and varied topography. It seems a timeless place.

Walls of buff sandstone form the canyon’s inner gorge; the rock contours reveal their origins in the wind-scoured dunes of an ancient desert. The limestone ledges of the upper canyon contain delicate marine fossils, remnants of a later sea. Much later, the people of this canyon built their sturdy homes in shallow alcoves along these ledges.

For a brief time, from about 1100 to 1250, the canyon echoed with the rhythmic beat of a stone axe, the voice of an aged storyteller, children laughing on the rocky slopes. Masonry walls hint of this past, of a time when 100 or more people made their homes and livings here. …

Walnut Canyon National Monument

… was authorized on this date in 1999.

The Cold War lives on at Minuteman Missile NHS! Minuteman missiles held the power to destroy civilization. Yet the same destructive force acted as a nuclear deterrent which kept the peace for three decades. At Minuteman Missile it is possible to learn how the threat of nuclear war came to haunt the world.

Launch Control Facility Delta-01

This building functioned as topside support for the underground launch control center. It acted as a multi purpose facility to help personnel perform their mission.

Its primary purpose was to assist the missileers stationed underground in carrying out their mission. Mechanical implements such as a backup generator for auxiliary power and environmental control equipment provided backup support in the event of an emergency. The building contained a security control center where all security activities were coordinated from and personnel would be processed when coming on site.

The structure also included living quarters, a day room, dining area and recreational room that Air Force personnel used during three day duty shifts.

Launch Facility missile silo Delta-09

There is no better place to witness the Minuteman’s role in the Cold War then at Launch Facility Delta-09. From 1963 until 1991 Delta-09 contained a fully operational Minuteman Missile. The Delta-09 silo was one of 150 spread across western South Dakota. In total there were 1,000 Minuteman’s deployed at the height of the Cold War. These nuclear sentinels waited silent and deadly to perform their destructive duty at a moment’s notice.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.