Tirelessly agitating for more were passionate
women and men such as John Muir, a Scottish immigrant and co-founder of the Sierra Club who was
instrumental in the creation of Yosemite in 1890.
“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to
the next generation increased and not impaired in
value,” said Theodore Roosevelt, the first President
to speak of “conservation,” in 1910.
Also pushing for the parks were the railroad
companies. After all, someone had to ferry those
newly minted tourists. The Steamtown National
Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is even dedicated to vintage rail. To this day, Amtrak maintains
a close relationship with the national park system
through its Trails & Rails program, in which designated trains feature volunteer guides who deliver
historical background on the way to parks.
A Favorite American Place
Even though many early advocates such as Roosevelt
were Yankees, it took a while for national parks to
gain traction in the East. A big issue was that a lot
more of the land there was privately owned.
Eventually, Maine’s Acadia became the first
national park east of the Mississippi, and it, too,
is celebrating its centennial this year, on July 8.
Five
Northeast
Sites
That May
Surprise
You
The first national reserve to
be established by Congress
isn’t in a scenic Western
state but in … New Jersey.
Created in 1978, the
Pine-lands National Reserve (also
known as the Pine Barrens)
covers 1. 1 million acres of
both public and private land
in the southern part of the
state. nps.gov/pine
The Women’s Rights
National Historical Park
(Seneca Falls, New York)
commemorates the first
Women’s Rights Convention
held on July 19–20, 1848.
It features four properties,
including the home of convention participant Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, and sheds
fascinating insights into
early American feminism.
nps.gov/wori
Thaddeus Kosciuszko
National Memorial (
Philadelphia) is set in the very house
this Polish-born hero of the
American Revolution lived in.
At 8,700 square feet it’s large
for a home, but cozy for a
park—it’s the smallest one in
the system. nps.gov/thko
The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor is an oddity in the park
system: Stretching through
24 cities and towns—most
on or around Route 146,
between Providence, Rhode
Island, and Worcester, Massachusetts—it forms a picture
of how the U.S. Industrial
Revolution was born. Various
visitor centers along the route
assist you in organizing the
visit of the textile mills, canals
and factories that helped create the American economic
might. nps.gov/blac
Weir Farm National Historic
Site (Wilton, Connecticut) is
the only site dedicated exclusively to American painting.
Centered on a farm acquired
in 1882 by Impressionist
artist Julian Alden Weir, the
site now includes 16 historic
buildings. nps.gov/wefa
President Wilson signed the bill establishing
Acadia (as Sieur de Monts National Monument)
on July 8, 1916, with an initial donation of 5,000
acres. In 1929, the park got its current name, which
is derived from “Acadie,” the early French explorers’
translation of the Abenaki word for Mount Desert—the island on which the park stands.
Now 47,000 acres—most of them gifted by private owners such as John D. Rockefeller Jr.—the
park is the fifth smallest of the 59 majors. Yet it
encompasses a stunningly diverse landscape: dramatic pink-granite rocks and quiet lakes, boreal
spruce-fir forests and Ice Age-era cliffs, rolling
meadows and pebbled beaches. Extensive volunteer participation has led to the restoration of the
carriage-road system and to an endowed trail network—the first in a national park.
And because Acadia is relatively compact, all
of those places are within a short drive, bike ride
or hike from one another. If you desperately need
a cappuccino break or prefer a bed to a tent, you
can go to the town of Bar Harbor—so close, it’s
actually surrounded by the park.
Wanda Moran has been working there since
1992 and, for her, the park still holds its magic.
“Anywhere along the shoreline is a great place to
just sit and take in the sounds, smells and views
