Where I've Been: National Historical Parks

When most people think of the National Park System, they think of places like Yosemite, Yellowstone, or the Grand Canyon. Our 63 National Parks are incredible; I've visited 19 National Parks and am eager to experience more of them. While well-deserving of their fame, these parks represent only about 1/7 of all of our National Park units. The National Park System includes 433 locations, including National Battlefields, National Monuments, National Preserves, and units in 16 other categories, covering over 85 million acres. Today I want to focus on National Historical Parks. 

There are 64 National Historical Parks (NHP) in the National Park System. These units "preserve places and commemorate persons, events, and activities important in the nation's history." Units designated as NHP tend to be physically larger and more complex than the units designated as a National Historic Site (NHS). While an NHS usually has a single historical feature (such as a historic house), an NHP often extends beyond a single building and includes later structures and/or significant natural features. Below is a list of all 64 National Historical Parks, along with their locations. I've starred the ones I've visited, and added links for any I've been to since I started blogging about travel. 

---------

Where I've Been: National Historical Parks

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Kentucky

Adams National Historical Park, Massachusetts

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia

Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, Rhode Island

*Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts

*Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, Kansas

Cane River Creole National Historical Park, Louisiana

Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, Virginia

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, District of Columbia, Maryland, and West Virginia

*Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, Ohio

*First State National Historical Park, Delaware

Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, South Carolina

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Indiana

Golden Spike National Historical Park, Utah

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia

Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, New York

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, Maryland

*Homestead National Historical Park, Nebraska

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio

*Independence National Historical Park, Pennsylvania

*Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Louisiana

Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, Georgia

Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Hawaii

Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawaii

*Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Alaska and Washington

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Oregon and Washington

Lowell National Historical Park, Massachusetts

*Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Texas

Keweenaw National Historical Park, Michigan

Manhattan Project National Historical Park, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Washington

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Vermont

*Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, Georgia

*Minute Man National Historical Park, Massachusetts

Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey

Natchez National Historical Park, Mississippi

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Massachusetts

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, Louisiana

Nez Perce National Historical Park, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Georgia

Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, Texas

Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, New Jersey

Pecos National Historical Park, New Mexico

Pullman National Historical Park, Illinois

Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, Hawaii

Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, South Carolina

*Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, California

Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, Virgin Islands

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Texas

*San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, California

San Juan Island National Historical Park, Washington

Saratoga National Historical Park, New York

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, New Hampshire

Salem Maritime National Historical Park, Massachusetts

Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park, Missouri

Sitka National Historical Park, Alaska

Thomas Edison National Historical Park, New Jersey

Tumacacori National Historical Park, Arizona

*Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pennsylvania

War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam

Weir Farm National Historical Park, Connecticut

*Women's Rights National Historical Park, New York

I've been to 15 of the 64 National Historical Parks. That's fewer than I expected - a lot fewer. There are some where I'm not sure if I've been there, like Sitka NHP. I've been to the Alaska Raptor Center that is 0.3 mile away multiple times, so there's a decent chance that I visited the NHP. Another example: I thought I'd been to Salem Maritime NHP, but we drove by it on a guided tour and heard all about without actually getting out and seeing it ourselves. Regardless, there are a lot of great places on the list that I hope to visit someday.