National Historic Site ( NHS ) and National Historical Park ( NHP ) are designations for officially recognized areas of nationally historic significance in the United States. They are usually owned and managed by the federal government. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject, while an NHP is an area that generally extends beyond single properties or buildings to include a mix of historic and later structures and sometimes significant natural features.
26-581: Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located just west of Walla Walla, Washington , at the site of the former Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu . On November 29, 1847, Dr. Marcus Whitman , his wife Narcissa Whitman , and 11 others were slain by Native Americans of the Cayuse . The site commemorates the Whitmans, their role in establishing the Oregon Trail , and
52-614: A US territory, and precipitated the Cayuse War . Five Cayuse were hanged for murder; see Cayuse Five . In more recent times, the site has been excavated for important artifacts, and then reburied. A memorial obelisk, erected fifty years after the event, stands on a nearby hill. The historic site was established in 1936 as Whitman National Monument and was redesignated a National Historic Site on January 1, 1963. National Historic Sites (United States) As of 2024, there are 63 NHPs and 85 NHSes. Most NHPs and NHSs are managed by
78-596: A conceptual framework, whereby both new and existing park units would be examined more holistically for ways to study history such as "creating social movements and institutions," "developing the American economy," and "peopling places." In the 20th century, potential new park units have been recommended not so much on "an orderly, balanced, and comprehensive" preservation of "outstanding examples", as Chief Historian Ronald Lee put it, but on those mandated to be studied by Congress, most of whose requests are recommended against by
104-822: A park is not itself "historic", but can be called "historical" when it contains historic resources. It is the resources which are historic, not the park. There are 63 national historical parks. Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park was formally established by the United States and Canada in 1998, the year of the centennial of the gold rush the park commemorates. The park comprises Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Washington and Alaska (above) and Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site in British Columbia. Tens of thousands of prospectors took this trail in hopes of making their fortunes in
130-492: Is not yet owned or formally developed by the National Park Service, but may eventually be owned and established as a national historic site. National historical parks tend to be larger and more complex than national historic sites. In the United States, sites are "historic", while parks are "historical". The NPS explains that a site can be intrinsically historic, while a park is a modern legal invention. As such,
156-818: The American Civil War , four from the American Revolutionary War , one from the War of 1812 , one from the French and Indian War , and two were attacks on Native Americans. Big Hole is the only site in the Western United States . In 1890, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was the first such site created by Congress . Originally these sites were maintained by the War Department , but were transferred to
182-655: The Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown battlefield in Virginia as one of the first new historical areas, and it was renamed a national historical park in 1936. It then established Morristown National Historical Park , the 1779–1780 winter encampment of the Continental Army in New Jersey, on March 2, 1933, as the first NHP: The U.S. House committee noted that the new designation was logical for
208-570: The Klondike River district of Yukon . Download coordinates as: National Military Park National Military Park , National Battlefield , National Battlefield Park , and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 25 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance. The designation applies to "sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during
234-675: The National Park Service (NPS). Some federally designated sites are owned by local authorities or privately owned, but are authorized to request assistance from the NPS as affiliated areas. One property is managed by the U.S. Forest Service , Grey Towers National Historic Site . Since October 15, 1966, all historic areas, including NHPs and NHSs, in the NPS are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). There are also about 90,000 NRHP sites,
260-821: The National Park Service on August 10, 1933. The different designations appear to represent Congressional attitudes at the time of authorization of each individual site, although "park" appears to be reserved for the larger sites. Only Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site , which is small, still bears that designation; others have since been redesignated. Some battlefields are designated as National Monuments, such as Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument , Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument , and ten forts, several of which saw battle; National Historical Parks, such as Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park ; or National Historic Sites, such as Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site . As with all historic areas in
286-539: The 1950s, the Mission 66 program revived historic studies that had lagged during World War II and saw the creation of the National Historic Landmarks program as a method to recognize important sites. From the 1960s to 1990s, the NPS evolved from a thematic framework, in which numerous specific themes and subthemes of American history were expected to each be included in some way in the system, to
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#1732773149367312-671: The Interior , but most have been authorized by acts of Congress . In 1937, the first NHS was created in Salem, Massachusetts , in order to preserve and interpret the maritime history of New England and the United States. There is one National Historic Area in the US park system, a unique designation given to the Aleutian World War II National Historic Area . There is one International Historic Site in
338-444: The NPS developed criteria for nationally significant historic sites in the late 1930s, it aimed to identify unique sites that could each tell a broad story and would fit together to cover all aspects of American history. Surveys of sites were guided by themes and chronologies to ensure a diverse and comprehensive selection of those most representative of different eras and geographies, with less political influence over site selection. In
364-692: The NPS's mandate. In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act ( Pub. L. 49–666 ), which established that "it is a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States." This expanded upon the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gave the President the ability to order "the protection of objects of historic and scientific interest." The Historic Sites Act directed
390-461: The NPS. A 1973 NPS publication outlined policies for administration of historical areas, which were distinct from its natural and recreational areas. This included not only NHSs and NHPs but also national military parks, national battlefields, national battlefield parks, national battlefield sites, national memorials, and some national monuments; at that time there were 178 such areas, and management focused on "maintaining and where necessary restoring
416-555: The National Park Service to survey historic sites which may be of national significance, as well as restore and acquire properties. The Historic American Buildings Survey began to document the country's architectural heritage and identify buildings for potential protection. Initially the Secretary of the Interior could designate national historic sites, though this did not include funding for acquition or administration without congressional action. Salem Maritime National Historic Site
442-517: The US park system, a unique designation given to Saint Croix Island , Maine, on the New Brunswick border. The title, given to the site of the first permanent French settlement in America, recognizes the influence that it has had on both Canada and the United States. The NPS does not distinguish among these designations in terms of their preservation or management policies. The following site
468-472: The area and set a new precedent, with comparison to the national military parks , which were then in the War Department. The park's establishment allowed the NPS to have an administrative historical program with professional historians. President Franklin D. Roosevelt reorganized the agency to also oversee memorials and military parks with historic significance later in 1933, substantially broadening
494-405: The armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States...." There are eleven National Battlefields (NB), nine National Military Parks (NMP), four National Battlefield Parks (NBP), and one National Battlefield Site (NBS). The National Park Service does not distinguish among the four designations in terms of their preservation or management policies. Seventeen sites are from
520-554: The challenges encountered when two cultures meet. In 1836, a small group of Presbyterian missionaries traveled with the annual fur trapper's caravan into Oregon Country . Among the group, Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Hart Spalding became the first white women to travel across the continent. Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman established the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, near the Walla Walla River. The mission
546-585: The historical integrity of structures, sites and objects significant to the commemoration or illustration of the historical story". But because most units contained a combination of natural, historic, and recreational lands, the General Authorities Act of 1970 made all areas equal within the National Park System ; separate policy manuals for each were replaced in 1975 with one that would tailor policies in each park respective to
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#1732773149367572-592: The land. A measles outbreak in November 1847 killed half the local Cayuse. The measles also broke out in the Mission but more white settlers survived. Some of the Cayuse blamed the devastation of their tribe on Dr. Whitman and Mrs. Whitman. They were killed along with eleven others; forty-seven other mission residents were taken hostage. The deaths of the Whitmans shocked the country, prompting Congress to make Oregon
598-511: The large majority of which are neither owned nor managed by the NPS. Of these, about 2,600 have been designated at the highest status as National Historic Landmark (NHL) sites. After its founding in 1916, the National Park Service initially oversaw sites of primarily scenic and natural significance, including national parks and national monuments . Historians soon began recommending preservation of sites relating to human history. Congress created Colonial National Monument in 1930 to protect
624-594: The purpose of zones within. National historic sites are generally federally owned and administered properties, though some remain under private or local government ownership. There are currently 86 NHSs, of which 76 are official NPS units, 9 are NPS affiliated areas, and one is managed by the United States Forest Service . Derived from the Historic Sites Act of 1935, a number of NHSs were established by United States Secretaries of
650-460: Was in Cayuse territory. The Cayuse welcomed the Whitmans to their land in 1836 after learning of them the previous year from Samuel Parker . The Mission became an important stop along the Oregon Trail from 1843–1847, and passing immigrants added to the tension. With the influx of white settlers the Cayuse became suspicious of the Whitmans again, fearing that the white man was coming to take
676-625: Was the first place to be preserved as a national historic site, created by Secretary Harold L. Ickes 's secretarial order on March 17, 1938. It had followed his designation of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in 1935; many historic sites in the National Park System continue to be protected under different designation types. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site was designated later that year, another example of industrial heritage. As
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