Articles and Essays

  • Brief History of the National Parks Many of America's most scenic and historic places have been set aside for the use of the public as national parks. "National Parks are spacious land . . . areas essentially in their primeval condition and so outstandingly superior in beauty to average examples of their several types as to demand preservation intact and in their entirety for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of ...
  • Maps of Acadia National Park Acadia, established in 1919, was the first national park east of the Mississippi River. It was also the first national park on a coast, and the first to be donated to the federal government by private individuals who gave land that they had previously owned as well as land specifically purchased, in order to preserve it for the use of the public.
  • Maps of Grand Canyon National Park The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona is one of the earth's greatest natural wonders. It became a national park in 1919. So famous is this landmark to modern Americans that it seems surprising that it took more than thirty years for it to become a national park. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the rim in 1903 and exclaimed:
  • Maps of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park, encompassing some of the oldest mountains on earth, is located in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The state boundary line bisects the park, which is one of the largest in the eastern United States. Measuring fifty-four miles long and nineteen miles across at its widest point the park consists of slightly more than half a million ...
  • Yellowstone, the First National Park Among those who played key roles in establishing Yellowstone as the Nation's first national park was Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden. His accomplishments in 1871-72 were the high point of a long and distinguished career in public service.