Parks
Since 1916, the American people have entrusted the National Park Service with the care of their national parks. With the help of volunteers and park partners, we safeguard these more than 400 places and share their stories with more than 275 million visitors every year. Find a few of those stories here and then Find a Park to find more of all Americans' stories.
Independence National Historical Park: Explore the places associated with the birth of the nation. Learn more about Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed. There are more than a dozen other historic sites and museums in the park.
The Civil War: From 1861 to 1865, the American union was broken as brother fought brother in a Civil War that remains a defining moment in our nation's history. Its causes and consequences, including the continuing struggle for civil rights for all Americans, reverberate to this day. From the battlefields to the homefront, the cost of the war was steep...its lessons eternal.
César E. Chávez National Monument: Under the leadership of César E. Chávez and others such as Dolores Huerta and Larry Itliong, along with support from millions of Americans, the farm worker movement joined forces with other reform movements to achieve unprecedented successes that greatly improved working and living conditions and wages for farm workers. During the 1970s the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) grew and expanded from its early roots as a union for farm workers to also become a national voice for the poor and disenfranchised.
Civil Rights in America: To live freely and participate in society is a right many take for granted. Achieving and maintaining those civil rights have been a struggle for different groups throughout U.S. history. Civil rights mean more than the protests of the 1950s and 1960s and reach beyond racial and ethnic groups. Today, the struggle has gone from an issue of racial equality to equality for all and new voices are engaging in the discussion, helping to define who we are as a people and a nation.
Other Places
The National Park Service cares for America's more than 400 national parks…and works in almost every one of her 3,141 counties. We are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for our help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close to home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun. Find a few selected important places outside the parks here and explore the links for more. Then explore what you can do to share your own stories and the places that matter to you.
The Harada House:The Harada House on Lemon Street in Riverside, California was the focus of a landmark court case brought by the State of California against Jukichi Harada, a Japanese immigrant living in Riverside. The case tested the constitutionality of laws preventing immigrants, primarily from Japan, from owning property in California.Local advocates worked to preserve the house and keep this Civil Rights story alive.
Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area: This National Heritage Area was enacted by Congress and signed by the President on May 10, 2008.Forty-two central Illinois counties work together to preserve, interpret, and promote the heritage and culture of the area, in the context of Abraham Lincoln's life in the state of Illinois.
Explore Cahokia Mounds, one of the greatest urban political centers of North America. Cahokia Mounds World Heritage Site represents a truly unique example of the complex social and economic development of pre-contact indigenous Americans.
The American Presidents Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary aids visitors in exploring the lives and contributions of 43 American Presidents. Experience the places they knew during their lifetimes and that honor their memories after their deaths.
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- National Mall and Memorial Parks
George Mason Memorial
- Locations: National Mall and Memorial Parks
In front of you a statue of George Mason holds a book by Cicero, a Roman politician and orator. Mason used ideas from Cicero and others to write the Virginia Declaration of Rights in May of 1776, the first document to protect individual rights in the United States. The document served as inspiration for the Declaration of Independence written weeks later.
The Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle, Maine is the family home of Frances Perkins (1880-1965), the first female cabinet member in U.S. history.
Madison Square Garden (1925), also known as MSG III, was an arena in New York City that operated from 1925 until 1968. MSG III was the site of several major political events where Jewish Americans spoke out against the Nazi government in Germany and its antisemitic goals. At the arena, American Jews wielded economic pressure against the regime, took direct action against fascism, and raised awareness about the victims of the Nazis’ murderous campaign.
- Locations: Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, The White House and President's Park
- Offices: National Historic Landmarks Program
A key feature of the design of the Capitol city, the President has lived in a home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since 1800. Although it didn’t bear the name we know it by today – the White House – until around 1811, President John Adams and wife Abigail were the home’s first residents, and it has been the official residence of the President ever since.
Gum Springs Recreation Area is located in Winnfield, Louisiana. Gum Springs Recreation Area is a U.S. Government owned public recreation site born originally out of a Great Depression era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) development project which principally constructed an outdoor swimming pool and picnic area for operation by the United States Forest Service (USFS). The area is a part of the Kisatchie National Forest and cover about 10 acres.
- Offices: National Register of Historic Places Program
Leevy’s Funeral Home was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. The funeral home was part of a community effort by the city’s Black citizens, to create alternative spaces to gather and provide one another with essential services such as voting registration, education, and of course, funerary services.
Westminster Presbyterian Church is home to one of the oldest and largest Presbyterian congregations in Minnesota and the United States. From the 1880s into the 1950s, Westminster served as an important gathering place and resource for Minneapolis’ Chinese American community. The Church’s social and religious programs helped recent immigrants to learn English and connect with both white and Chinese neighbors.
- Santa Fe National Historic Trail
Santa Fe Plaza, New Mexico
- Locations: Santa Fe National Historic Trail
The Santa Fe Plaza has long been the spatial, economic, and social center of New Mexico’s capital city. Accordingly, it is the location of various historic buildings and events throughout New Mexico’s history.
Shadowcliff is a mansion in Rockland County, New York that served as the longtime headquarters of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), an influential peace organization. In 1915, pacifist activists established FOR to oppose World War I and promote nonviolence in human affairs. In 1942, members of FOR founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to oppose racial segregation through nonviolent protest. These tactics became central to the civil rights movement.
Union Square was a politically significant gathering place for labor activists into the twentieth century. Groups considered radical such as anarchists, socialists, and “Wobblies” (members of the Industrial Workers of the World) used Union Square as a meeting place leading up to World War I. In stride with its deeply political role in United States history, Union Square continues to be a site of protest, from annual Labor Day marches to recent Black Lives Matter activism.
Last updated: December 19, 2022