1939: National Parks And Monuments

According to the Department of the Interior, a total of 1,623,295 acres was added to the scenic, recreational, and historical areas administered by the National Park Service during the year ending June 30, 1939. The number of areas administered by the Federal Park system increased from 144 to 154 and several of the existing areas were enlarged.

No national parks have been added since the establishment of Olympic National Park, June 29, 1938, and the status of two areas formerly so classified was changed, making an official total of twenty-five areas administered as National Parks. Abraham Lincoln National Park, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, was changed to a national historical park; and Fort McHenry National Park, near Baltimore, Maryland, became a national monument and historical shrine, according to a bill signed Aug. 16, 1939, by the President.

Including Fort McHenry, six national monuments were established during the year ending Sept. 30, 1939, making a total of eighty.

Ackia Battleground National Monument, established by presidential proclamation Oct. 25, 1938, is an area of 49.15 acres near Tupelo, Mississippi.

Homestead National Monument of America, near Beatrice, Nebraska, preserves the first claim to be filed for lands under the General Homestead Act signed by President Lincoln in 1862 which opened the West to free settlement. This first farm was given to Daniel Freeman. Area: 160.82 acres.

Badlands National Monument, in the Black Hills section of South Dakota, was established Jan. 25, 1939. It includes 150,103.41 acres and extends for 39 miles in a curving arc north of the White River and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Santa Rosa Island National Monument, comprising 9,500 acres of a barrier reef of exceedingly clear white sand off the coast of Florida, southeast of Pensacola, was established May 17, 1939. The reef is 44 miles long and from one-eighth to one-half mile wide.

Tuzigoot National Monument, established July 25, 1939, includes 42,663 acres on the Verde River near Clarksdale in north central Arizona. Tuzigoot Ruin, a rambling prehistoric pueblo, which this monument was established to preserve, is of archeological interest.

During the past year three National Historical Sites have been established. This makes, with Salem Maritime Historical Site, established March 17, 1938, a total of four areas under this new classification.

Hopewell Village Historical Site, near Reading, Pennsylvania, is one of the finest examples of American 18th century iron-making villages. A total of 213.70 acres were set aside Aug. 3, 1938 for this site which is being developed in connection with a 5,000 acre Recreational Demonstration Project.

Federal Hall Memorial National Historical Site, at Broad and Wall Streets, New York City, now occupied by the old Subtreasury building, was set aside May 26, 1939, in connection with the celebration of the Sesquicentennial of the inauguration of George Washington as first president of the United States.

Old Philadelphia Custom House National Historical Site was established May 26, 1939. The building, completed in 1824, is one of the earliest and finest examples of Greek architecture in the United States.

The Blue Ridge National Parkway, the George Washington Memorial National Parkway (which includes the former Mt. Vernon Memorial Highway), and the Natchez Trace National Parkway were removed from the classification of projects and listed with areas administered by the National Park Service.

The following boundary revisions were included in changes during the past year: the area of Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska, was increased from 1,164,800 acres to 2,299,520 acres; Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, from 10,080 acres to 49,568 acres; Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, from 80 acres to 203,965 acres; Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona, from 960 acres to 1,879 acres; and Big Hole Battlefield National Monument, Montana, from 5 acres to 200 acres.

Recorded tourist travel to all the units of the Federal park system in the travel year ending Sept. 30, 1939 reached a grand total of 15,454,367 persons. Visitors to the twenty-five national parks accounted for 6,804,216 of this total, an increase of nearly a quarter of a million persons over the 1938 park-travel figure. Travel to the 63 reporting national monuments of the system also increased from 2,313,630 in 1938 to 2,566,452 in 1939. The number of persons visiting Boulder Dam National Recreational Area in Nevada and Arizona rose from 564,800 to 611,895. A decline in attendance was shown by national historical parks, battlefield sites and national military parks.

Although on paper, the Federal Park system attendance for 1938 exceeds that for 1939 by 779,321 persons, in reality, 1939 saw a general increase in attendance. This seeming contradiction is accounted for by the fact that, due to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, the number of visitors at Gettysburg National Military Park in 1938 exceeded the 1939 record by 946,109 persons.

National parks and monuments on or adjacent to the coast to coast route between the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs all showed marked increase in visitors. An interesting item is the 50 per cent increase reported by Mount McKinley National Park in Alaska — 1,487 in 1938 vs. 2,262 in 1939.

Shenandoah National Park in northwestern Virginia with a recorded attendance of 911,612 persons and 270,833 automobiles, due to the popularity of its magnificent new Skyline Drive continues to lead all parks in travel. See also CONSERVATION; UNITED STATES: Budget.