Parks in the Northeast Region
Lower Manhattan | Upper Manhattan | Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, & New Jersey | Nearby Sites | Regional Iconic Parks | Of Note
Lower Manhattan
Castle Clinton National Monument: Built in 1808-11, this structure served in defense for New York Harbor, then an entertainment center and an immigration depot. Nearly 8 million people entered the U.S. through the Castle before Ellis Island opened. Located within Battery Park, it now serves as the main ticket office for Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Statue of Liberty National Monument: The 152-foot statue bears the torch of freedom and was a gift of the French people in 1886 to commemorate our two nations and their bonds in revolution. The statue came to symbolize freedom for the millions of immigrants who passed her as they arrived in NYC.
Ellis Island, just a few hundred yards away, was the portal through which nearly 12 million immigrants passed after Castle Clinton closed. The Main Hall holds the nation’s primary museum devoted entirely to immigration.
Governors Island National Monument: The region’s newest national park site, the island is ½ mile off the southern tip of Manhattan, and sits in the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. The monument includes two early 19th century forts that played strategic roles in defending New York City. Visitation is limited.
Federal Hall National Memorial: This building is on the site of the original Federal Hall, location of an early Continental Congress and NYC’s 18 th Century City Hall. Here John Zenger was acquitted for libel in an early test of the “freedom of the press”, and President George Washington took his oath of office as the first U.S. President. Demolished and re-built in 1842 as the Customs House, and then converted to a U.S. Treasury building in 1862.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site: Theodore Roosevelt was born in a brownstone house here on October 27, 1858. Demolished in 1916, the brownstone was painstakingly reconstructed and rededicated in 1923 and furnished and supplied with lots of memorabilia by the president’s widow and sisters.
African Burial Ground National Monument: Amid the hectic bustle and concrete canyons of lower Manhattan, are the final resting places of 10,000 to 20,000 African-Americans, buried in the country’s oldest known urban African cemetery. The African Burial Ground National Monument honors the culture and memory of the Africans and African-Americans who contributed to the building of our nation.
Upper Manhattan
General Grant National Memorial: Memorial to Ulysses S. Grant, the Union commander who brought the Civil War to an end, includes the tombs of General and Mrs. Grant. As president, Grant signed the act establishing Yellowstone as the first national park.
Hamilton Grange National Memorial: The Grange was the country home of Alexander Hamilton, was one George Washington’s closest aides, and later first Secretary of the Treasury, founder of the Bank of N.Y. , and an early abolitionist. Designed by the architect, John McComb, who also undertook Gracie Mansion.
Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island & New Jersey
Gateway National Recreation Area: Stretching from Sandy Hook in New Jersey, across to the Great Kill of Staten Island, and then encompassing large swaths around Jamaica Bay, the park encompasses more than 26,000 acres. Including beautiful marshes, maritime scrub, and upland grasslands the park also contains beautiful beaches, ballfields, athletic facilities, visitor centers, airfields, and lighthouses.
Nearby Sites
Fire Island National Seashore: Located just one hour east of New York City, and then stretching for another thirty miles, this park contains some of the most spectacular beaches in the nation, as well as beautiful maritime forests and great bridwatching. Visit Fire Island at numerous spots, and each may easily reached by either car or train and then a wonderful ferry ride.
Weir Farm: One of the region’s hidden secrets. This small farmstead near Wilton, Ct. was the home of the American impressionist painter Alden Weir. Hosting friends such Childe Hassam and John Twachtman. Combine trip with a visit to the Bush-Holley House, the s ite of Connecticut’s impressionist art colony and much of Hassam’s work, located in Cos Cob, Ct. ( 203.869.6899).
Regional Iconic Parks
Delaware Water Gap: This park preserves nearly forty miles along the Delaware River, and is less than a two hour drive west of New York City along Route 80. In a beautiful rural area, the park offers great water access, spectacular scenery, and multiple quaint and historic sites.
Cape Cod: Beautiful beaches, great history, and un-paralleled exposure to nature. Enjoy any of the six beaches, hike through the Beech Forest Trail, or go off-shore whale watching.
Minutemen: Located in Concord and Lexington, Mass., this is the site of America’s birth in the eyes of many. The lanterns were hung, Paul Revere rode, Sam Adams aroused them, the colonists assembled, the British fired, and for the first time the American “rabble” rose-up and sent the “Lobsterbacks” scurrying back to Boston. A must see site.
Acadia: On the exquisite coastline of Maine, this park has over 47,000 acres of rugged rocky seashore immediately bordered by northern coniferous forests presenting a unique and striking contrast. Sunrise over Cadillac Mountain, lobster dinners, and great wildlife; this park should be the terminus of any New England road trip.
Of Note
Women’s Rights National Historic Park: The site of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s home and the Wesleyan Chapel, site of the first Women’s Rights Convention, this site in western New York is the story of the quest for equality for fifty percent of our population.
Fort Stanwix: Standing on the site of the great portage through the Iroquois Confederacy, a French-Indian War era fort was first built on the site in 1758. Rebuilt by American Forces in 1777 to guard the Upper Mohawk Valley of New York, through time the site has hosted a great number of historical events marking the advancement of the American frontier and the changing relationship between Native Americans and European colonists. The fort also played a key role in the American Revolutionary War victory at Saratoga.
New Bedford Whaling NHS: Like Mystic, Ct. this sites commemorates a 19 th century whaling port, and indeed the one most famous of all. Contains numerous historic buildings, museums, and cultural events its is a truly unique national park site.
Appalachian Trail: This trail stretches from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. First developed by volunteers and opened in 1937 this train was the first so designated by the National Trails System Act in 1968. Millions of Americans have crossed it, Bertram, Muir and others followed it. Hike a bit, hike all of it! Join it at Housatonic State Forest, Ct., Bear Mountain State Park, NY, High Point and Stokes State Forest, NJ, or the Delaware Water Gap NP, on the NJ/Pa. border.
