Hispanic Heritage Parks

An Iberian Project

by

National Park Service
Department of the Interior

The National Park Service preserves and interprets the heritage of our nation. This heritage includes the history of the Spanish Colonial epoch.

Information on America's legacy (introduction into the National Park System), the Iberian Connection (a glimpse of some units of the NPS with a connection to Iberia), and parks related to Hispanic heritage are the main topics highlighted below.

America's Legacy: The National Park Service

The National Park Service preserves and interprets our nation’s rich heritage through 388 units (parks) that comprise the National Park System. This is a brief introduction to the “best idea that America ever had.”

America’s National Park System comprises 388 areas and covers more than 84 million acres in 49 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The annual visitation is over 286 million.

Over 23,000 professionals including: naturalists, foresters, engineers, biologists geologists, historians, archeologists, uides, rangers, administrative and support staff.

While the National Park Service is perhaps best known for Park Rangers and caring for western wilderness parks where millions of Americans and international visitors head for memorable family vacations, the National Park Service also preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this, and future generations.

America's National Parks are:
Places where you can walk the battlefield that changed the tide of the American Civil War
or learn about the man who made civil rights a reality.
Places that help us remember the pain,
historical personages,
and the places that forged the American character.
Places that help us learn from ancient civilizations
and get away from civilization altogether.
Places with faces – historical, curious and furious
and wide open spaces.
Places with inspiring stories.
Places in big cities
and small towns
and places that give us stories to tell.

Visit web pages containg information about the hundreds of NPS units at www.nps.gov

An Iberian Connection

The rich Hispanic heritage that exists in different parts of our country – from Puerto Rico to the vast expanses of Alaska – has a direct connection to the Iberian Peninsula. This presentation assists you in experiencing the Hispanic heritage that is preserved and interpreted in some units of the National Park System.

Modern day Portugal and Spain make up the Iberian Peninsula. Iberia is surrounded by water except for its northern boundary where the Pyrenees divide Spain and France. To the east is the Mediterranean Sea and to the west the Atlantic Ocean. The southernmost point of Spain is separated from northern Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries two nations, Portugal and Spain, pioneered the European discovery of sea routes that were the first channels of interaction between all of the world's continents, beginning the process of globalization in which we live in today.

The National Park Service dedicates itself to the preservation and interpretation of the heritage of the United States-- a multidimensional heritage represented by 388 units (parks). This multidimensional heritage includes the history of the Spanish Colonial epoch, whose importance is preserved in various units of the system of parks. This important chapter of this North American country is shared with you through the NPS units below.

San Juan National Historic Site – Puerto Rico
This site commemorates the 16th century establishment of one of Spain’s grandest fortifications in the Caribbean, which ran its course from the Spanish Colonial period to the American takeover during the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Biscayne National Park – Florida
The park interprets the Spanish influence on the Tequesta tribe demonstrating that the European presence may have led to political consolidation among them, as well as the influence that introduction of Spanish goods had on the cultural elements of these peoples.

De Soto National Memorial – Florida
The landing of the Spanish Explorer Hernando de Soto in Florida in 1539 and the first extensive organized exploration of what is now the southeastern U.S. by Europeans are commemorated here.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument – Florida
In order to provide protection to the fledgling settlement of St. Augustine, this fort with its walls of 10 meters in height was constructed during the years 1672 and 1697. Its purpose was to protect the Spanish claims against the attacks and interests of their French and English rivals.

Fort Matanzas National Monument -- Florida
This site interprets the history of the Spanish occupation of Florida and the interests and intents of the English to overpower the Spanish in the control of Florida.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park – Texas
The park presents the history of the Spanish missionary period during the 18th and 19th centuries in its four missions in the Province of Texas -- Concepción, San José, San Juan and San Francisco -- whose churches still provide religious services to their communicants.

Pecos National Historical Park -- New Mexico
This park presents the history of Spanish exploration in the region during the 16th century as well as the history of the Spanish missionary efforts during two centuries -- 1630 - 1830.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument -- New Mexico
The history of the Spanish missionary period in three Indian Pueblos -- Abó, Quarai and Gran Quivira -- during the 17th century is presented at the three sites.

El Morro National Monument – New Mexico
“Inscription Rock” is a soft sandstone monolith, rising 200 feet above the valley floor, on which are carved hundreds of inscriptions of historical personages dating from the Spanish Colonial period to the territorial days.

Coronado National Memorial – Arizona
The first European explorations of the Southwestern U.S. by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540 - 1542, are commemorated and interpreted at the site, which is near the point of entrance in what is now the United States.

Tumacacori National Historical Park -- Arizona
The park commemorates the missionary story in the northern end of a chain of Jesuits and Franciscan missions that led to the Spanish settlement of the Sonora-Arizona region.

Cabrillo National Monument -- California
In the year 1542 the Portuguese, Juan Rodríguez de Cabrillo, sailing under the flag of Spain arrived by sea at this point defined today as Cabrillo National Monument. This story of the discovery of the coast of California is preserved and interpreted there.

Channel Islands National Park – California
The first expedition in the 16th century by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo along the coast of California is represented and interpreted at the park. The remains of Cabrillo are buried in San Miguel Island, one of the Channel Islands.

John Muir National Historical Site -- California
This site interprets the late Spanish Colonial and early Mexican period history of this area of the Province of California. The site provides a fine example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the Martínez House.

Point Reyes National Seashore – California
The seashore preserves an important part of the western coast of the United States and commemorates the 1595 shipwreck of the San Agustín, a Manila galleon, commanded by Sebastían Rodríguez Cermeño.

Fort Point National Historic Site -- California
The original fort was constructed on this site during the years 1793 – 1794 to augment the defense of the Presidio of San Francisco founded in 1776 against British, Russian and Anglo-American expansion.

Parks with Hispanic Heritage

Choose from a list of National Park Service Units, with Hispanic heritage themes, below to view information about them.

Biscayne NP
Cabrillo NM
Castillo de San Marcos NM
Chamizal NM
Channel Islands NP
Coronado NMem
De Soto NMem
Dry Tortugas NP
El Morro NM
Fort Matanzas NM
Fort Point NHS
Golden Gate NRA
Gulf Islands NS
John Muir HHS
Juan Bautista de Anza NHT
Padre Island NS
Palo Alto Battlefield NHS
Pecos NHP
Point Reyes NS
Salinas Pueblo Missions NM
Salt River Bay NHPEP
San Antonio Missions NHP
San Juan NHS
Tumacacori NHP

For additional information on all Spanish Colonial Heritage sites within the National Park Service, visit the Spanish Colonial Research Center.

Credits

The original presentation in CD ROM format was produced and arranged by Ernest W. Ortega, State Director-New Mexico, and Patricia Pacheco Turley, Public Affairs Specialist, Regional Director’s Office, Intermountain Region. Textual and linguistic support was provided by Dr. Joseph Sánchez, Dr. Jerry Gurulé and Edwina Abreu of the Spanish Colonial Research Center, NPS, at the University of New Mexico. Park information was assembled by John Lujan, Superintendent, El Malpaís National Monument. The presentation was adapted for web page compatibility by Eric Sheetz, Information Technology Specialist, OCIO, NPS, Washington, D.C.

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