List of areas in the United States National Park System
The National Park System of the United States is the collection of physical properties owned or administered by the National Park Service. This includes all areas designated National Parks and most National Monuments, as well as several other types of protected areas of the United States.
As of 2009, there are 392 units of the National Park System. However, this number is somewhat misleading. For example: Denali National Park and Preserve is counted as two units, whereas Fort Moultrie is not counted as a unit because it is considered a feature of the Fort Sumter National Monument.
In addition to areas of the National Park System, the National Park Service also provides technical and financial assistance to several affiliated areas authorized by Congress. Affiliated areas are marked on the lists below.
The National Register of Historic Places is administered by the Park Service (with nearly 79,000 entries) and automatically includes all National Park System areas designated due to their historic significance. This includes all National Historical Parks/Historic Sites, National Battlefields/Military Parks, National Memorials, and some National Monuments.
Delaware is the only state without a unit of the National Park System. Units are found in all other states, in Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
Nearly all units managed by the National Park Service participate in the National Park Passport Stamps program.
[edit] National Parks
There are 58 officially-designated National Parks in the United States and its dependent areas.
[edit] Disbanded National Parks
Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Abraham Lincoln National Park | July 17, 1916 | August 11, 1939 | redesignated Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park |
Fort McHenry National Park | March 3, 1925 | August 11, 1939 | redesignated, uniquely, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine |
General Grant National Park | October 1, 1890 | March 4, 1940 | incorporated into Kings Canyon National Park |
Hawaii National Park | August 1, 1916 | September 13, 1960 | divided into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Haleakala National Park |
Mackinac National Park | April 15, 1875 | 1895 | now Mackinac Island State Park |
Platt National Park | June 29, 1906 | March 17, 1976 | now Chickasaw National Recreation Area |
Sullys Hill National Park | April 27, 1904 | March 3, 1931 | now Sullys Hill National Game Preserve (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) |
[edit] National Monuments
As of 2009, there are 100 U.S. National Monuments, of which 75 are administered by the NPS and are listed below. All except Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument are official units.
[edit] Decommissioned National Monuments
[edit] National Preserves
There are 18 national preserves.
[edit] National Historical Parks
There are 45 National Historical Parks.
[edit] National Historic Sites
The National Park Service administers most of the National Historic Sites. However, the U.S. Forest Service manages one, Grey Towers National Historic Site, and the BLM manages Fort Craig National Historic Site.
There are 88 National Historic Sites, of which 77 are NPS units and 11 are affiliated areas.
[edit] Disbanded National Historic Sites
Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Atlanta Campaign National Historic Site | October 13, 1944 | September 21, 1950 | transferred to state of Georgia. |
Mar-A-Lago National Historic Site | October 21, 1972 | December 23, 1980 | returned to Post Foundation. |
McLoughlin House National Historic Site | merged into Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. | ||
St. Thomas National Historic Site | December 24, 1960 | February 5, 1975 | transferred to Virgin Islands. |
[edit] Proposed National Historic Sites
Name | Law |
---|---|
Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site | (authorized by Public Law 107-137) |
William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site | (S. 245) |
[edit] International Historic Site
Name | Location |
---|---|
Saint Croix Island International Historic Site | Maine/New Brunswick |
[edit] National Battlefield Parks
Name | Location |
---|---|
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park | Georgia |
Manassas National Battlefield Park | Virginia |
Richmond National Battlefield Park | Virginia |
River Raisin National Battlefield Park (Authorized, not established, as of 30 March 2009.) |
Michigan |
[edit] National Military Parks
[edit] National Battlefields
[edit] National Battlefield Site
Name | Location |
---|---|
Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site | Mississippi |
[edit] National Memorials
There are 44 National Memorials.
[edit] Disbanded National Memorials
Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
---|---|---|---|
New Echota Marker National Memorial | August 10, 1933 | September 21, 1950 | transferred to state of Georgia. |
[edit] Proposed National Memorials
Name | Law |
---|---|
Adams Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 107-62) |
Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 107-117) |
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 104-333) |
Mount Soledad National Memorial | (authorized by Public Law 108-447) |
[edit] National Recreation Areas
There are 18 National Recreation Areas.
[edit] Disbanded National Recreation Areas
Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Cuyahoga Valley National Rec. Area | December 27, 1974 | October 11, 2000 | redesignated Cuyahoga Valley National Park |
Shasta Lake Recreation Area | May 22, 1945 | July 1, 1948 | transferred to Forest Service |
Lake Texoma Recreation Area | April 18, 1946 | June 30, 1949 | returned to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
Millerton Lake Recreation Area | May 22, 1945 | November 1, 1957 | transferred to state of California |
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area | July 22, 1963 | October 1, 1968 | transferred to Forest Service |
Shadow Mountain Recreation Area | June 27, 1952 | March 1, 1979 | transferred to Forest Service |
[edit] National Seashores
There are 10 National Seashores.
[edit] National Lakeshores
There are four National Lakeshores, located in Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
Name | Location |
---|---|
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore | Wisconsin |
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore | Indiana |
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore | Michigan |
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore | Michigan |
[edit] National Rivers
There are 5 National Rivers and 10 National Wild and Scenic Rivers administered as distinct units of the National Park System.
[edit] National Reserves
Name | Location |
---|---|
City of Rocks National Reserve | Idaho |
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve | Washington |
New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve (affiliated area) | New Jersey |
[edit] National Parkways
Name | Location |
---|---|
Baltimore-Washington Parkway (affiliated area) | Maryland, Washington, D.C. |
Blue Ridge Parkway | Virginia, North Carolina |
Colonial Parkway (part of Colonial National Historical Park) | Virginia |
Foothills Parkway | Tennessee |
George Washington Memorial Parkway (In 1989, the Maryland and DC portions of the Parkway were renamed Clara Barton Parkway to overcome motorist confusion). | Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. |
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway | Wyoming |
Natchez Trace Parkway | Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee |
Oxon Run Parkway (affiliated area) | Washington, D.C. |
Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway (affiliated area) | Washington, D.C. |
Suitland Parkway (affiliated area) | Maryland |
[edit] National Historic and Scenic Trails
These National Park Service trails are part of the larger National Trails System. Only 3 of the trails are considered official units of the Park system.
[edit] National Cemeteries
Most National Cemeteries are administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, although a few are managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Army. None of the cemeteries are considered official units of the system; they are all affiliated with other parks.
[edit] Transferred National Cemeteries
Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Chattanooga National Cemetery | August 10, 1933 | December 7, 1944 | returned to War Department |
[edit] National Heritage Areas
- See also:
The National Park Service provides limited assistance to National Heritage Areas, but does not administer them.
[edit] Other NPS Protected Areas and Administrative Groups
There are 10 NPS units of other designations, as well as other affiliated areas. The National Mall and National Capital Parks have many sites, some of which are also units of other designations and some are also National Historic Sites.
There are also various administrative groups of listed parks, such as Manhattan Sites, National Parks of New York Harbor, and Western Arctic National Parklands. The NPS also owns conservation easements (but not the land itself) for part of the area called the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District.
[edit] Disbanded Other Areas
Name | Established | Disbanded | Result |
---|---|---|---|
National Visitor Center, Washington, D.C. | March 12, 1968 | December 29, 1981 | transferred to Department of Transportation. |
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | June 16, 1972 | July 21, 1994 | transferred to Kennedy Center Trustees. |
[edit] See also
- List of all national parks of the world
- List of U.S. state parks
- United States Memorials
- National Park Passport Stamps
- List of National Natural Landmarks
- List of tourist attractions worldwide
[edit] References
- Bureau Historian (2006). "Former National Park System Units: An Analysis".
- National Park Service. "National Monument Proclamations under the Antiquities Act"
- National Park Service Office of Public Affairs (2009). "Units in the National Park System". Last November 5, 2009. (Lists 392 NPS units by classification).
[edit] External links
- Alphabetical list of places at the National Park Service website
- Former National Park System Units: An Analysis
- National Park Service
- National Park Foundation
- Parks by Date of Establishment
- United States National Parks travel guide from Wikitravel
- America's Hidden Treasures, an essay on the lesser known National Parks
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