History of The National Park Service - Reorganization of 1933

Reorganization of 1933

On June 10, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6166 which consolidated all National Parks and National Monuments, National Military Parks, the eleven National Cemeteries, National Memorials, and the National Capital Parks into a single National Park System. The National Park Service was directed to oversee all of these areas. There were three significant results of this action:

1. it made the National Park Service the sole Federal agency responsible for all Federally owned public parks, monuments, and memorials;
2. it enlarged the National Park System idea to include at least four types of areas not clearly included in the System concept before 1933 — National Memorials, like the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty; National Military Parks, like Gettysburg and Antietam with their adjoining National Cemeteries; National Capital Parks, a great urban park system as old as the nation itself; and the first recreational area — George Washington Memorial Parkway;
3. the reorganization substantially increased the number of areas in the System by adding 12 natural areas in 9 western states and Alaska and 57 historical areas located in 17 predominantly eastern states and the District of Columbia.