Fun fact: Yellowstone National Park is not only America’s first national park, it’s considered the first national park in the world. Yellowstone was established in 1872, prior to the establishment of the National Park Service. The NPS was created in 1916.
Here are some more interesting dates and facts about our parks:
1832: Hot Springs Reservation was established. It would be designated as a national park in 1921.
1890: Sequoia became the country’s second national park on Sept. 25. Kings Canyon and Yosemite became national parks just a few days later on Oct. 1.
1899: Mt. Rainier became the last national park to be founded in the 1800s.
1919: Grand Canyon became the 1st national park created after the founding of the National Park Service.
2020: New River Gorge became the country’s newest national park.
“The National Park Service manages more than 400 individual units, from national parks to national battlefields to national lakeshores and more, all commonly referred to simply as parks,” the NPS website states.
