What’s the difference between a ‘National Park’ and ‘National Anything Else’?

David Tristan
·3 min read

PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) — The National Park Service designates the locations it administers in so many different ways. You have national parks, battlefields, historic sites, historic parks, recreation areas, and memorials, just to name a few. This can lead to a lot of confusion and questions, such as whether, for instance, Pennsylvania has a national park. (Short answer, it technically doesn’t, but stay tuned…)

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So what does Pennsylvania have? The NPS website lists 25 locations on its Pennsylvania “Find a Park” page, with 23 designated as “national”. Sorted alphabetically by designation they are:

  • NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, Fort Necessity

  • NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, First State

  • NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, Independence

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Allegheny Portage Railroad

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Edgar Allan Poe

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Eisenhower

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Friendship Hill

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Gloria Dei Church

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Hopewell Furnace

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Steamtown

  • NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, Independence

  • NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, Valley Forge

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, Captain John Smith Chesapeake

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, Lewis & Clark

  • NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL, Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route

  • NATIONAL MEMORIAL, Flight 93

  • NATIONAL MEMORIAL, Johnstown Flood

  • NATIONAL MEMORIAL, Thaddeus Kosciuszko

  • NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, Gettysburg

  • NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, Delaware Water Gap

  • NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL, Appalachian

  • NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL, North Country

  • NATIONAL WILD AND SCENIC RIVER, Lower Delaware

As you can see, Pennsylvania has no National Parks labeled as just “National Parks”; they are all National Something Parks. Pennsylvania almost had a national park designated, but World War II got in the way.

So what do these designations mean?

National Parks began with Yellowstone National Park in 1872, as the world’s first large-scale experiment in wilderness preservation. A National Park is defined by NPS as containing “a variety of resources and encompasses sufficient land or water to ensure adequate protection of the resources.” National parks tend to be areas of wild physical grandeur.

National Military Parks, National Battlefield Sites, National Battlefield Parks, and National Battlefields are basically different names for the same thing- large areas of ground, often thousands of acres, with battle lines and maneuvers clearly marked out for the benefit of both casual visitors and historians.

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National Monuments exist to preserve historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, and other objects of archeologic, historical, or scientific value. They are usually much smaller than national parks since they are required to be no larger than needed to preserve the object of interest. Unlike National parks, which are established by Congress, national monuments can be established by either Congress or Presidential Proclamation.

National Historic Sites were established by the Historic Sites Act of 1935, which declared that “it is a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States.” Since the passage of the law, it has become the go-to designation for authorizing new historic areas in the National Park System. A National Historic Site tends to concentrate on one historical feature, rather than multiple buildings or locations.

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National Historical Parks are sort of the next step up from National Historic Sites. They exist for the same basic purpose as historic sites, but tend to be larger in area.

National Memorials existed before the National Park Service and were added to the Park Service list of responsibilities in 1933. National Memorials come in all shapes and sizes, from small plaques to edifices like the Lincoln Memorial.

National Historic Trails/National Scenic Trails were established by the 1968 National Trails System Act. Up til then, the Federal Government only built and maintained trails on Federal land. The act allowed for helping establish, maintain, and most importantly, link together smaller paths into trails measuring anywhere from dozens to thousands of miles.

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Pennsylvania also has 169 National Historic Landmarks. These are historic buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts. A National Historic Landmark, according to the NPS website, “represents an outstanding aspect of American history and culture.” (There are over 2,600 NHLs nationwide.)

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