Originally posted 2019-06-22 13:19:33.

The United States National Monuments are a group of national monuments spread across the United States, part of the United States National Park System. Unlike United States National Parks, they can be created by presidential proclamation without an act of Congress. Accordingly, they may be a step down from the national parks in general, but they are still spectacular and fascinating pieces of natural scenery and national history; many of these places could be the highlight of a major trip or could be worth a whole trip on their own.

The map markers in this article are roughly color-coded by each monument’s main draw: gray for historic sites, maroon for Native American prehistoric sites, and green for nature. Of course, many of the monuments have some combination of these features: natural formations of historic importance, prehistoric sites surrounded by natural scenery, and so on.

Understand
In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that is similar to a national park, but can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States.

National monuments can be managed by one of several federal agencies: the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in the case of marine national monuments). Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department.

National monuments can be so designated through the power of the Antiquities Act of 1906. President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first U.S. national monument.

History
The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts (collectively termed “antiquities”) on federal lands in the American West.[citation needed] The Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Additionally, it authorized the president to proclaim “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest” on federal lands as national monuments, “the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”

The reference in the act to “objects of…scientific interest” enabled President Theodore Roosevelt to make a natural geological feature, Devils Tower in Wyoming, the first national monument three months later. Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona, another natural feature.

In 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres (3,200 km2) of the Grand Canyon as a national monument.

In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska, comprising more than 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2). Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres (11,000 km2) by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit. Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and Great Sand Dunes were also originally proclaimed as national monuments and later designated as national parks by Congress.

In response to Roosevelt’s declaration of the Grand Canyon monument, a putative mining claimant sued in federal court, claiming that Roosevelt had overstepped the Antiquities Act authority by protecting an entire canyon. In 1920, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Grand Canyon was indeed “an object of historic or scientific interest” and could be protected by proclamation, setting a precedent for the use of the Antiquities Act to preserve large areas. Federal courts have since rejected every challenge to the president’s use of Antiquities Act preservation authority, ruling that the law gives the president exclusive discretion over the determination of the size and nature of the objects protected.

Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., for addition to Grand Teton National Park after Congress had declined to authorize this park expansion. Roosevelt’s proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, and Congressional and court challenges to the proclamation authority were mounted. In 1950, Congress finally incorporated most of the monument into Grand Teton National Park, but the act doing so barred further use of the proclamation authority in Wyoming except for areas of 5,000 acres or less.

The most substantial use of the proclamation authority came in 1978, when President Jimmy Carter proclaimed 15 new national monuments in Alaska after Congress had adjourned without passing a major Alaska lands bill strongly opposed in that state. Congress passed a revised version of the bill in 1980 incorporating most of these national monuments into national parks and preserves, but the act also curtailed further use of the proclamation authority in Alaska.

The proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. This action was widely unpopular in Utah, and bills were introduced to further restrict the president’s authority., none of which have been enacted. Most of the 16 national monuments created by President Clinton are managed not by the National Park Service, but by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.[citation needed]

Presidents have used the Antiquities Act’s proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938. Lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978.

On June 24, 2016, President Barack Obama designated the Stonewall Inn and surrounding areas in Greenwich Village, New York as the Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument commemorating the struggle for LGBT rights in the United States.

National Monuments system
There are 129 protected areas in the United States known as national monuments. The President of the United States can establish a national monument by presidential proclamation, while the United States Congress can do so by legislation. The president’s authority arises from the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the president to proclaim “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest” as national monuments. Concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Indian ruins and artifacts—collectively termed antiquities—on western federal lands prompted the legislation. Its purpose was to allow the president to quickly preserve public land without waiting for legislation to pass through an unconcerned Congress. The ultimate goal was to protect all historic and prehistoric sites on U.S. federal lands.

President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national monument, Devils Tower in Wyoming, on September 24, 1906. He established eighteen national monuments, although only nine still retain that designation. Seventeen presidents have created national monuments since the program began; only Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush did not. Bill Clinton created nineteen and expanded three others. Jimmy Carter protected vast parts of Alaska, proclaiming fifteen national monuments, some of which later were promoted to national parks. President Barack Obama created or expanded thirty-four national monuments, the most of any president, with over half a billion acres of public land and water protected.

National monuments are located in 31 states as well as in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Minor Outlying Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Arizona and California have the most national monuments, each with 18, followed by New Mexico with 14. At least seventy-five national monuments protect places of natural significance, including nineteen primarily for their geological features, eight marine sites, and eight volcanic sites. Sixty-two national monuments protect historic sites, including twenty-seven associated with Native Americans, nine relating to African American history, and ten forts.

Two national monuments, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home and Mill Springs Battlefield, have been authorized but not yet established as units, pending property acquisition by the National Park Service; they are listed below but are not yet included in the total counts. Many former national monuments have been redesignated as national parks or another status by Congress, while others have been transferred to state control or disbanded.

Management agencies
Eight federal agencies in five departments manage the 129 current U.S. national monuments. Of these, 115 monuments are managed by a single agency, while 14 are co-managed by two agencies. One of the NPS’s national monuments, Grand Canyon-Parashant, is not an official unit because it overlaps with Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Agency	Department	Co-managed	Total managed
National Park Service (NPS)	Interior	2 with BLM, 1 with FWS	85
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)	Interior	2 with NPS, 5 with USFS	28
United States Forest Service (USFS)	Agriculture	5 with BLM	13
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)	Interior	5 with NOAA, 1 with NPS, 1 with DOE	9
Department of Energy (DOE)	Energy	1 with FWS	1
Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH)	Defense		1
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)	Commerce	5 with FWS	5
United States Air Force (USAF)	Defense		1
(duplications)			(14)
Total			129

List of national monuments

Name	Image	Agency	Location	Date established	Area	Visitors (2018)	Description
Admiralty Island		USFS	Alaska 57.64°N 134.35°W	December 1, 1978	1,019,861 acres (4,127.2 km2)		Occupying most of Admiralty Island, the 7th largest in the United States, this monument is part of Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. The monument protects the densest known population of brown bearon Earth, along with habitat for the Sitka black-tailed deer. Most of the monument has been designated as the Kootznoowoo Wilderness, restricting future development. The Greens Creek mine lies within the monument.
African Burial Ground		NPS	New York 40.7144°N 74.0042°W	February 27, 2006	0.35 acres (0.001 km2)	45,035	Re-discovered in 1991 during excavations for a new federal building, this former burial ground that contains the remains of more than 400 free and enslaved Africans buried during the 17th and 18th centuries was designated a National Historic Landmarkmemorial in 1993.
Agate Fossil Beds		NPS	Nebraska 42.416°N 103.728°W	June 14, 1997	3,057.87 acres (12.4 km2)	16,238	The valley of the Niobrara River is known for its large number of well-preserved Miocenemammal fossils which date from about 20 million years ago.
Agua Fria		BLM	Arizona 34.15°N 112.08°W	January 11, 2000	70,980 acres (287.2 km2)		Located around the canyon of the Agua Fria River, it contains more than 450 distinct Native American structures, including large pueblos with more than 100 rooms.
Aleutian Islands World War II		FWS	Alaska 52.87°N 173.16°W	December 5, 2008	4,950 acres (20.0 km2)		During World War II Japan briefly occupied Attu Island and Kiska Island in the Aleutian chain. The monument includes the site of the 19-day battle to reclaim Attu, artifacts of the occupation at Kiska, and the crash site of a U.S. B-24D Liberator on Atka Island. Originally designated as part of World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which was divided and renamed March 12, 2019.
Alibates Flint Quarries		NPS	Texas 35.57°N 101.67°W	August 21, 1965	1,370.97 acres (5.5 km2)	7,415	Alibates was the quarry site for high-quality, rainbow-hued flint that was distributed throughout the Great Plains in pre-Columbian times. It is jointly operated with the Lake Meredith National Recreation Areaand includes the ruins of several Plains Village Indian dwellings.
Aniakchak		NPS	Alaska 56.9°N 158.15°W	December 1, 1978	137,176 acres (555.1 km2)	100	Mount Aniakchak, which erupted 3,500 years ago, and the surrounding region make up one of the least visited NPS sites. Surprise Lake, within the volcano’s 6-mile (9.7 km) wide, 2,500-foot (760 m) deep caldera, is the source of the Aniakchak River.
Aztec Ruins		NPS	New Mexico 36.83°N 107.00°W	January 24, 1923	318.4 acres (1.3 km2)	54,933	The ruins contain Pueblo structures from the 11th to 13th centuries with more than 400 masonry rooms which were misidentified by early American settlers as Aztec. It has been included in the Chaco Culture World Heritage Site, which also includes Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Bandelier		NPS	New Mexico 35.78°N 106.27°W	February 11, 1916	33,676.67 acres (136.3 km2)	198,441	Frijoles Canyon contains Ancestral Pueblohomes, kivas, rock paintings and petroglyphs. The Pueblo structures made of volcanic tuff date to 1150 CE, with other artifacts more than 11,000 years old.
Basin and Range		BLM	Nevada 37.9°N 115.4°W	July 10, 2015	703,585 acres (2,847.3 km2)		The remote Mount Irish, Seaman, and Golden Gate Ranges surround the Garden and Coal Valleys and White River Narrowsand are home to many desert species and 4,000-year-old rock art.
Bears Ears		BLM, USFS	Utah 37.63°N 109.86°W	December 28, 2016	201,876 acres (817.0 km2)		The Bears Ears are a pair of buttes that rise above sandstone canyons and mesas. Other points of geologic interest include the twin Six Shooter dome-shaped peaks, striated sandstone pinnacles, and natural arches. The wider region has tens of thousands of archaeological sites including rock art, ancient cliff dwellings, and ceremonial kivas.
Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality		NPS	District of Columbia 38.89°N 77.00°W	April 12, 2016	0.34 acres (0.001 km2)	9,081	Home of the National Woman’s Party since 1929, this Adam Federal style house near the US Capitolwas the home where party leader Alice Paul and others lived and worked.
Berryessa Snow Mountain		USFS, BLM	California 39.22°N 122.77°W	July 10, 2015	330,780 acres (1,338.6 km2)		Fewer than 100 miles (160 km) from the San Francisco Bay Area, Berryessa Snow Mountain protects part of the California Coast Range, one of the most biodiverse regions in the state, home to elk, osprey, river otters, half the state’s dragonfly species, and California’s second-largest population of wintering bald eagles.
Birmingham Civil Rights		NPS	Alabama 33.513°N 86.815°W	January 12, 2017	0.88 acres (0.004 km2)		Preserves the A. G. Gaston Motel, which was bombed by the KKK after Martin Luther King Jr. and Birmingham campaign leaders had stayed there, inciting the Birmingham riot of 1963.
Booker T. Washington		NPS	Virginia 37.123°N 79.766°W	April 2, 1956	239.01 acres (1.0 km2)	22,732	The Booker T. Washington National Monument preserves portions of the 207-acre (0.84 km2) tobacco farm on which educator and civil rights leader Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856. The site contains replicas of the house Washington was born in, a smokehouse, a blacksmith shed, a tobacco barn, and a horse barn.
Browns Canyon		BLM, USFS	Colorado 38.615°N 106.059°W	February 19, 2015	21,604 acres (87.4 km2)		Protects steep granite cliffs and colorful rock outcroppings overlooking the Arkansas River, where visitors can go whitewater rafting. Prehistoric campsites and shelters date back 11,000 years, while sites from gold mining remain from the late 1800s
Buck Island Reef		NPS	US Virgin Islands 17.79°N 64.62°W	December 28, 1961	19,015.47 acres (77.0 km2)	31,411	Most of this monument is underwater, containing a large elkhorn coral barrier reefthat provides cover for a great variety of reef fish, sea turtles and least terns. It is based around Buck Island, an uninhabited 176-acre (0.71 km2) island.
Cabrillo		NPS	California 32.67°N 117.24°W	October 14, 1913	159.94 acres (0.6 km2)	842,104	This monument commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bayon September 28, 1542, which was the first European expedition to what later became the West Coast of the U.S. The monument includes a statue of Cabrillo and 20th-century coastal artillery batteries built to protect the harbor of San Diego from enemy warships.
California Coastal		BLM	California 36.89°N 122.18°W	January 11, 2000	2,628 acres (10.6 km2)		This monument ensures the protection of all of the more than 20,000 islets, reefs and rock outcroppings from the coast of California to a distance of 12 nautical miles (22 km), along the entire 840-mile (1,350 km) long California coastline.
Camp Nelson Heritage		NPS	Kentucky 37.78°N 84.60°W	October 26, 2018	373 acres (1.5 km2)		Established in 1863 as a depot for the Union Army during the Civil War, Camp Nelson became a large recruitment center for African American Union soldiers: a key site of emancipation for those soldiers and a refugee camp for their families.
Canyon de Chelly		NPS	Arizona 36.13°N 109.47°W	April 1, 1931	83,840 acres (339.3 km2)	439,306	Located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation, it preserves the valleys and rims of Canyon de Chelly, Canyon del Muerto, and Monument Canyon. Several Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings are built into the canyon walls.
Canyons of the Ancients		BLM	Colorado 37.37°N 109°W	June 9, 2000	176,370 acres (713.7 km2)		Surrounding Hovenweep National Monument, it preserves and protects more than 6,000 archeological sites, the largest concentration in the U.S. These include Lowry Pueblo, dating to 1103 CE, and Painted Hand Pueblo built by the Ancestral Puebloans
Cape Krusenstern		NPS	Alaska 67.41°N 163.50°W	December 1, 1978	649,096.15 acres (2,626.8 km2)		Co-located with the NHLD Cape Krusenstern Archeological District, this coastal plain contains large lagoons and rolling hills of limestone. The bluffs record thousands of years of change in the shorelines of the Chukchi Sea, as well as evidence of some 9,000 years of human habitation.
Capulin Volcano		NPS	New Mexico 36.79°N 103.96°W	August 9, 1916	792.84 acres (3.2 km2)	67,411	Capulin is an extinct cinder cone volcano that is approximately 59,000 years old and part of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. The crater is 400 feet (120 m) deep and its rim is more than 1,500 feet (460 m) in diameter.
Carrizo Plain		BLM	California 35.16°N 119.75°W	January 12, 2001	211,045 acres (854.1 km2)		Carrizo Plain is the largest single nativegrassland remaining in California. It contains part of the San Andreas Fault and is surrounded by the Temblor Range and the Caliente Range. At the center of the plain is Soda Lake, which is near Painted Rock.
Casa Grande Ruins		NPS	Arizona 32.99°N 111.54°W	August 3, 1918	472.5 acres (1.9 km2)	62,995	This monument preserves a group of structures surrounded by a compound wall in the Gila Valley that were built in the early 13th century. They were inhabited by the Hohokam people until they were abandoned in the mid-15th century.
Cascade–Siskiyou		BLM	Oregon, California 42.08°N 122.46°W	June 9, 2000	65,341 acres (264.4 km2)		One of the most diverse ecosystems found in the Cascade Range, it has more than 100 dwelling and root-gathering sites belonging to the Modoc, Klamath, and Shasta tribes.
Castillo de San Marcos		NPS	Florida 29.898°N 81.311°W	October 15, 1924	19.38 acres (0.1 km2)	748,058	This Spanish fort near St. Augustine, called Fort Marion when first protected, served for 205 years under four different flags. Built in 1672, it was involved in sieges with the British while under Spanish command, the American Revolution under Britain, the Civil War under the Confederacy, and the Seminole Wars and the Spanish–American War under the United States.
Castle Clinton		NPS	New York 40.7036°N 74.0169°W	August 12, 1946	1 acre (0.004 km2)	4,533,564	A circular sandstone fort built in 1811 at the southern tip of Manhattan to protect New York City from the British, Castle Clinton is now located in Battery Park. It later became a beer garden, a theater, the first immigration station (predating Ellis Island), and a public aquarium.
Castle Mountains		NPS	California 35.25°N 115.11°W	February 12, 2016	21,025.5 acres (85.1 km2)		The Castle Mountains sit in the Mojave Desert between the Nevada state line and Mojave National Preserve. It protects desert grasslands home to Joshua tree forests, wildlife including golden eagles and bighorn sheep, and historic Native American sites.
Cedar Breaks		NPS	Utah 37.63°N 112.85°W	August 22, 1933	6,154.6 acres (24.9 km2)	644,515	A natural amphitheater canyon similar to formations at Bryce Canyon National Park, it stretches over 3 miles (4.8 km) and is more than 2,000 feet (610 m) deep.
César E. Chávez		NPS	California 35.2273°N 118.5614°W	October 8, 2012	116.56 acres (0.5 km2)	12,769	This monument commemorates the life and work of labor leader and civil right activist Cesar Chavez. Called La Paz, the site was Chavez’s home for about 20 years, and his gravesite is on the premises. It is also the location of the headquarters of United Farm Workers, which was founded by Chavez.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers		NPS	Ohio 39.7072°N 83.8903°W	March 25, 2013	59.66 acres (0.2 km2)	31,448	Charles Young was the first African American to reach the rank of colonel in the US Army. He was also the first national park superintendent, of Sequoia and General Grant National Parks, and a professor at Wilberforce University. His home at Wilberforce is a museum commemorating his life.
Chimney Rock		USFS	Colorado 37.1917°N 107.3064°W	September 21, 2012	4,724 acres (19.1 km2)		The jewel of San Juan National Forest, the site was once home to the ancestors of the modern Pueblos. Roughly 1,000 years ago, the Ancestral Pueblo People built more than 200 homes and ceremonial buildings high above the valley floor.
Chiricahua		NPS	Arizona 32.02°N 109.35°W	April 18, 1924	12,024.73 acres (48.7 km2)	60,577	These pillars of rhyolite tuff are the eroded remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the region some 27 million years ago. It was called the Land of the Standing-Up Rocks by the Apache.
Colorado		NPS	Colorado 39.04°N 108.69°W	May 24, 1911	20,536.39 acres (83.1 km2)	375,467	Monument Canyon runs the width of the park and includes rock formations formed by erosion. The monument covers semi-desert land high on the Colorado Plateau and has a wide range of wildlife including pinyon pines, juniper trees, ravens, jays, desert bighorn sheep, and coyotes as well as a range of recreational activities.
Craters of the Moon		NPS, BLM	Idaho 43.42°N 113.52°W	May 2, 1924	53,437.64 acres (216.3 km2)	263,506	One of the best preserved flood basalt areas in the continental U.S. contains three lava fields along the Great Rift of Idaho as well as the world’s deepest open rift cracks and other volcanic features.
Devils Postpile		NPS	California 37.50°N 119.08°W	July 6, 1911	800.19 acres (3.2 km2)	139,724	Once part of Yosemite National Park, this monument is a dark cliff of columnar basaltcreated by a lava flow at least 100,000 years ago. It also has the 101-foot (31 m)-high Rainbow Falls.
Devils Tower		NPS	Wyoming 44.59°N 104.72°W	September 24, 1906	1,347.21 acres (5.5 km2)	468,216	The tower is a monolithic igneous intrusionof volcanic neck rising dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain. Proclaimed by Theodore Roosevelt, this was the first national monument.
Dinosaur		NPS	Colorado, Utah 40.53°N 108.98°W	October 4, 1915	210,281.92 acres (851.0 km2)	304,468	This sandstone and conglomerate bed at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Riverswas formed in the Jurassic Period and contains fossils of dinosaurs including Allosaurus and various long-neck and long-tail sauropods.
Effigy Mounds		NPS	Iowa 43.09°N 91.19°W	October 25, 1949	2,526.39 acres (10.2 km2)	55,576	This monument preserves three prehistoric sites with 206 prehistoric mounds, notable for 31 unusual mounds in the shape of mammals, birds, or reptiles.
El Malpais		NPS	New Mexico 34.88°N 108.05°W	December 31, 1987	114,347.11 acres (462.7 km2)	154,368	An extremely rough, rugged lava flow covers much of the park, filling a large basin rimmed by higher sandstone that forms large, wind-carved bluffs. It has lava tubecaves that stretch over 17 miles (27 km) and the Cebolla Wilderness, a forested rimrock area that features prehistoric rock art and the Zuni-Acoma Trail, an ancient Pueblo trade route.
El Morro		NPS	New Mexico 35.04°N 108.35°W	December 8, 1906	1,278.72 acres (5.2 km2)	65,453	On the site of an ancient east-west trail is a great sandstone promontory with a pool of water at its base. There are inscriptions from the 17th century as well as older petroglyphsmade by the Ancestral Puebloans.
Florissant Fossil Beds		NPS	Colorado 38.92°N 105.27°W	August 20, 1969	6,300 acres (25.5 km2)	79,568	Huge petrified redwoods and incredibly detailed fossils of ancient insects and plants reveal a very different landscape in Coloradoof almost 35 million years ago in the Eoceneage.
Fort Frederica		NPS	Georgia 31.224°N 81.393°W	May 26, 1936	305 acres (1.2 km2)	183,591	Built by James Oglethorpe between 1736 and 1748, these remnants of a fort and town protected the southern boundary of the British colony of Georgia from Spanish raids. It was a few miles from the site of the Battle of Bloody Marsh.
Fort Matanzas		NPS	Florida 29.715°N 81.239°W	October 15, 1924	300.11 acres (1.2 km2)	608,103	This 1740 Spanish fort guarded Matanzas Inlet, the southern mouth of the Matanzas River, which allowed access to St. Augustine. The monument is managed in conjunction with Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and also protects 100 acres (0.40 km2) of salt marsh and barrier islands.
Fort McHenry		NPS	Maryland 39.263°N 76.579°W	March 3, 1925	43.26 acres (0.2 km2)	486,113	The only place designated a national monument and historic shrine, Fort McHenry is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy. It inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Fort Monroe		NPS	Virginia 37.004°N 76.308°W	November 1, 2011	367.12 acres (1.5 km2)		The six-sided star fort spans the American story from the 17th to the 21st centuries: Captain John Smith’s journeys, a haven of freedom for the enslaved during the Civil War, and a bastion of defense for the Chesapeake Bay.
Fort Ord		BLM	California 36.639167°N 121.735278°W	April 20, 2012	14,658 acres (59.3 km2)		Fort Ord was an Army post from 1917 to 1994. It now has recreational trails and various wildlife in grassland, chaparral, and woodland ecosystems.
Fort Pulaski		NPS	Georgia 32.027°N 80.890°W	October 15, 1924	5,623.1 acres (22.8 km2)	419,930	In 1862 during the American Civil War, the Union Army successfully tested a rifledcannon against the defending Confederates, rendering brick fortifications obsolete. Fort Pulaski was also used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the war. The national monument includes most of Cockspur Island(containing the fort) and all of adjacent McQueens Island.
Fort Stanwix		NPS	New York 43.218°N 75.459°W	August 21, 1935	15.52 acres (0.1 km2)	90,507	Fort Stanwix guarded a strategic 18th century portage known as the Oneida Carrying Place. It was built during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The fort successfully resisted the 1777 siege by a British invasion army during the Saratoga campaign of the American Revolutionary War. Erased by the development of Rome, New York, it was rebuilt as a national monument in the late 1970s.
Fort Union		NPS	New Mexico 35.925°N 105.009°W	April 5, 1956	720.6 acres (2.9 km2)	10,860	A frontier military post and supply depot in the late 19th century, it sat at the intersection of the Mountain and Cimarron Branches of the old Santa Fe Trail.
Fossil Butte		NPS	Wyoming 41.86°N 110.77°W	October 23, 1972	8,198 acres (33.2 km2)	21,349	Fossil Butte preserves the 50-million-year-old Green River lake beds, the best paleontological record of tertiary aquatic communities in North America. Fossils including fish, alligators, bats, turtles, dog-sized horses, insects, and many other species of plants and animals suggest that the region was a low, subtropical, freshwater basin when the sediments accumulated, over about a 2-million-year period.
Freedom Riders		NPS	Alabama 33.658°N 85.831°W	January 12, 2017	5.96 acres (0.02 km2)		Preserves two sites in and near Anniston, Alabama during the civil rights movement—a former Greyhound bus station in the town where Freedom Riders were attacked by a racist mob and the site outside town where their bus was burned.
George Washington Birthplace		NPS	Virginia 38.1861°N 76.9305°W	January 23, 1930	653.18 acres (2.6 km2)	111,058	Representative of 18th-century Virginia tobacco farms, this site is the birthplace and boyhood environment of George Washington. The entrance includes a Memorial Shaft obelisk of Vermont marble that is a one-tenth scale replica of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Also within the monument are the historic birthplace home area, a kitchen house, and the Washington family burial ground.
George Washington Carver		NPS	Missouri 36.986°N 94.354°W	July 14, 1943	210 acres (0.8 km2)	44,411	The site preserves Moses Carver’s farm, which was the boyhood home of George Washington Carver, a scientist and educator who developed many uses for peanuts. It was the first national monument dedicated to an African-American and first to a non-president.
Giant Sequoia		USFS	California 36.04°N 118.50°W	April 15, 2000	352,626 acres (1,427.0 km2)		The monument includes 38 of the 39 giant sequoia groves in the Sequoia National Forest, amounting to about half of the sequoia groves currently in existence. This includes one of the ten largest giant sequoias, the Boole Tree. Its two parts are around Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.
Gila Cliff Dwellings		NPS	New Mexico 33.24°N 108.28°W	November 16, 1907	533.13 acres (2.2 km2)	79,108	Located within the Gila Wilderness, the people of the Mogollon culture lived in these cliff dwellings 180 feet (55 m) above the canyon floor from the 1280s through the early 14th century. They lived in five caves with 46 rooms.
Gold Butte		BLM	Nevada 36.281°N 114.201°W	December 28, 2016	296,937 acres (1,201.7 km2)		Mojave Desert landscape of dramatic red sandstone, canyons, forested mountains, ancient rock art, rock shelters, roasting pits, and a mining ghost town
Governors Island		NPS	New York 40.691°N 74.016°W	January 19, 2001	22.91 acres (0.1 km2)	589,798	From 1783 to 1966, Governors Island in New York Harbor was an Army post, and from 1966 to 1996 it was a Coast Guardinstallation. Located on Governors Island are Castle Williams and Fort Jay, which served as outposts to protect New York City from sea attack.
Grand Canyon-Parashant		BLM, NPS	Arizona 36.4°N 113.7°W	January 11, 2000	1,021,030 acres (4,132.0 km2)		Located on the northern rim of the Grand Canyon, this diverse landscape includes an array of scientific and historic resources. About 20,000 of the monument’s 1,017,000 acres (4,120 km2) are also within Lake Mead National Recreation Area; Grand Canyon-Parashant is not considered an official NPS unit. There are no paved roads or visitor services.
Grand Portage		NPS	Minnesota 47.96°N 89.68°W	January 27, 1960	709.97 acres (2.9 km2)	94,137	The Grand Portage itself is an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) footpath which bypasses a set of waterfalls on the Pigeon River near Lake Superior. The region was a vital trade routeand center of fur trade activity as well as an Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage site.
Grand Staircase-Escalante		BLM	Utah 37.4°N 111.68°W	September 18, 1996	1,003,863 acres (4,062.5 km2)		Preserving 1,003,863 acres (4,062.49 km2), the monument consists of the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante. It is notable for its paleontological finds and geology, and it was the first monument to be maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.
Hagerman Fossil Beds		NPS	Idaho 42.79°N 114.95°W	November 18, 1988	4,351.15 acres (17.6 km2)	26,477	This monument contains the largest concentration of Hagerman horse fossils in North America. It protects the world’s richest known fossil deposits from the late Plioceneepoch, 3.5 million years ago. These plants and animals represent the last glimpse of time that existed before the Ice Age, and the earliest appearances of modern flora and fauna.
Hanford Reach		FWS, DOE	Washington 46.48°N 119.53°W	June 8, 2000	194,450.93 acres (786.9 km2)		Created from what used to be the security buffer surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, this area has been untouched by development or agriculture since 1943. The area is part of the Columbia River Plateau, formed by basalt lava flows and water erosion, and is named after the Hanford Reach, the last free flowing section of the Columbia River.
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad		FWS	Maryland	March 25, 2013	480 acres (1.9 km2)		Harriet Tubman was a famed conductor on the Underground Railroad, leading dozens of slaves to freedom. This monument includes sites relating to Tubman’s life, including the slave-built Stewart’s Canal and the home of Jacob Jackson. The areas within the national monument that are managed by the NPS have been additionally designated as a National Historical Park (NHP) and are managed by the NPS.
Hohokam Pima		NPS	Arizona 33.19°N 111.91°W	October 21, 1972	1,690 acres (6.8 km2)		Hohokam Pima is part of the Gila River Indian Community and not open to the public. The monument preserves the Snaketown-Settlement, archeological remains of the Hohokam culture, which lived in the area until 1500.
Homestead		NPS	Nebraska 40.285°N 96.822°W	March 19, 1936	211.09 acres (0.9 km2)	68,091	Daniel Freeman’s homestead was recognized by the United States Congress as the first homestead in the nation obtained through the Homestead Act of 1862. The monument contains a visitor center, a tract of tallgrass prairie, and the Freeman School.
Hovenweep		NPS	Colorado, Utah 37.38°N 109.08°W	March 2, 1923	784.93 acres (3.2 km2)	40,574	Hovenweep contains six clusters of Native American ruins. Holly Canyon, Hackberry Canyon, Cutthroat Castle and Goodman Point are in Colorado and Square Tower and Cajon are in Utah. Ancestral Puebloans lived in the Hovenweep area from 1150 to 1350.
Ironwood Forest		BLM	Arizona 32.46°N 111.57°W	June 9, 2000	129,055 acres (522.3 km2)		Located within the Sonoran Desert, significant concentrations of ironwood (Olneya tesota) trees and two endangeredanimal and plant species are found within the monument. More than 200 Hohokamand Paleoindian archeological sites have been identified from between 600 and 1450 AD
Jewel Cave		NPS	South Dakota 43.73°N 103.83°W	February 7, 1908	1,273.51 acres (5.2 km2)	142,356	Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world, with more than 195 miles (314 km) of mapped passageways beneath the Black Hillsof South Dakota. The entrance was discovered by miners in 1900 and was named for its calcite crystals.
John Day Fossil Beds		NPS	Oregon 44.67°N 120.05°W	October 26, 1974	14,062.02 acres (56.9 km2)	204,621	Located within the John Day River Basin, the Fossil Beds have a well-preserved, complete record of fossil plants and animals from more than 40 of the 65 million years of the Cenozoic Era. The monument is divided into three units: Painted Hills, named for its delicately colored stratifications; Sheep Rock; and Clarno. Blue Basin is a volcanic ash bowl transformed into claystone by eons of erosion, colored pastel blue by minerals.
Jurassic		BLM	Utah 39.32°N 110.69°W	March 12, 2019	850 acres (3.4 km2)		More than 12,000 bones from at least 74 dinosaurs have been found at the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry so far, making it the paleontological site with the greatest concentration of bones from the Jurassicperiod. The bones come from a variety of mostly carnivorous species (more than half Allosaurus) and it is unknown why they are mixed together.
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks		BLM	New Mexico 35.67°N 106.42°W	January 17, 2001	4,647 acres (18.8 km2)		Kasha-Katuwe is known for its geology of layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion. Over time, weatheringand erosion of these layers has created canyons and tent rocks. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice and tuffbeneath harder caprocks.
Katahdin Woods and Waters		NPS	Maine 45.97°N 68.62°W	August 24, 2016	87,564.27 acres (354.4 km2)		Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument protects mountains and wilderness in the North Maine Woods, including a section of the East Branch Penobscot River. It borders the eastern side of Baxter State Park.
Lava Beds		NPS	California 41.71°N 121.51°W	November 21, 1925	46,692.42 acres (189.0 km2)	127,771	This is the site of the largest concentration of lava tube caves in North America. It also includes Petroglyph Point, one of the largest panels of Native American rock art. The monument lies on the northeast flank of the Medicine Lake Volcano, the largest volcano in the Cascade Range.
Little Bighorn Battlefield		NPS	Montana 45.57°N 107.43°W	July 1, 1940	765.34 acres (3.1 km2)	272,591	The 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn between George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry and a combined Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenneand Arapaho force led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse took place here.
Marianas Trench Marine		NOAA, FWS	Northern Mariana Islands, Guam 20°N 145°E	January 6, 2009	61,077,668 acres (247,172.6 km2)		This marine monument includes the waters and submerged lands of the three northernmost islands of the Mariana Archipelago, the submerged lands of 21 designated volcanic sites, and the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth.
Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home		NPS	Mississippi 32.341°N 90.213°W	March 12, 2019			Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist who served as a field secretary for the NAACP to end segregation and promote voting rights in Mississippi. He was assassinated outside his home in Jackson by a white supremacist in 1963. His wife Myrlie moved away but owned the home until 1993 and later served as chairwoman of the NAACP.
Military Working Dog Teams		DOD	Texas 29.390°N 98.617°W	October 28, 2013			The monument at Lackland Air Force Base, the home of the U.S. Department of DefenseMilitary Working Dog Program, honors the efforts and sacrifices of military working dogs in the service of the United States.
Mill Springs Battlefield		NPS	Kentucky 37.07°N 84.74°W	March 12, 2019			The Battle of Mill Springs was fought at this site in January 1862 and was the first major victory for the Union Army. The one-day battle saw Union forces led by George Henry Thomas defeat Confederate regiments led by Felix Zollicoffer, who died in action. The site is now largely an open field with a visitor center adjacent to Mill Springs National Cemetery.
Misty Fjords		USFS	Alaska 55.62°N 130.61°W	December 1, 1978	2,294,072 acres (9,283.8 km2)		Located within the Tongass National Forestand called The Yosemite of the North for its similar geology, it also contains the Quartz Hill molybdenum deposit, possibly the largest such mineral deposit in the world. Throughout the monument is light-colored granite, about 50 to 70 million years old (Eocene Epoch to Cretaceous Period), that has been sculpted by glaciers that gouged deep U-shaped troughs. Mountain goats live in the higher elevations, while brown and black bear are also common.
Mojave Trails		BLM	California 34.6°N 116.0°W	February 12, 2016	1,600,000 acres (6,475.0 km2)		The Mojave Trails National Monument includes several rugged mountain ranges, ancient lava flows at the Amboy Crater, and the Cadiz Dunes. Human features are Native American trading routes, World War II-era training camps, and an undeveloped segment of Route 66.
Montezuma Castle		NPS	Arizona 34.61°N 111.84°W	December 8, 1906	1,015.52 acres (4.1 km2)	390,151	Montezuma Castle features cliff dwellingsbuilt by the Pre-Columbian Sinagua people between 1100 and 1400 AD. The site’s name is a misnomer as is it has no connection to Montezuma. However, some modern day native tribes that do have connections to the site include the Yavapai, Hopi, and Zuni. The monument also includes Montezuma Well, which has been used for irrigation since the 8th century.
Mount St. Helens Volcanic		USFS	Washington 46.23°N 122.18°W	August 27, 1982	113,205 acres (458.1 km2)		Following the 1980 eruption of the now-8,363-foot-tall (2,549 m) Mount St. Helens, the environment was left to respond naturally to the disturbance. The volcanic crater is surrounded by a pumice plain with deposits from the landslide, preserved wind-blown trees, and the Ape Cave lava tube.
Muir Woods		NPS	California 37.89°N 122.58°W	January 9, 1908	553.55 acres (2.2 km2)	957,932	Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, it protects one of the last old growthCoast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) groves in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as one of the most easily accessed.
Natural Bridges		NPS	Utah 37.58°N 110°W	April 16, 1908	7,636.49 acres (30.9 km2)	103,118	Located at the junction of White Canyon and Armstrong Canyon, it is part of the Colorado River drainage. It features the second- and third-largest natural bridges in the western hemisphere, carved from the white Triassicsandstone of the Cedar Mesa Formation that gives White Canyon its name.
Navajo		NPS	Arizona 36.68°N 110.53°W	March 20, 1909	360 acres (1.5 km2)	61,195	This monument preserves three of the most intact cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people. The monument is high on the Shonto plateau, overlooking the Tsegi Canyon system on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona.
Newberry Volcanic		USFS	Oregon 43.69°N 121.25°W	November 5, 1990	57,323 acres (232.0 km2)		Located within Deschutes National Forest, the monument protects the area around the Newberry Volcano and its geologic features including Lava Butte and the Lava River Cave. The volcanic site in the Cascades is still geothermally active and includes lakes and ancient lava flow fields.
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine		NOAA, FWS	Atlantic Ocean 40.4°N 68°W	September 15, 2016	3,144,320 acres (12,724.6 km2)		The monument protects four underwater seamounts and three very deep canyons in the continental shelf 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Massachusetts, home to several endangered species.
Oregon Caves		NPS	Oregon 42.10°N 123.41°W	July 12, 1909	4,554.03 acres (18.4 km2)	67,417	The monument is known for its marble caves, as well as for the Pleistocene jaguar and grizzly bear fossils found in the deeper caves. There are four primary buildings: The Oregon Caves Chateau, The Ranger Residence, The Chalet, and the old Dormitory.
Organ Pipe Cactus		NPS	Arizona 32.04°N 112.86°W	April 13, 1937	330,688.86 acres (1,338.3 km2)	260,375	This monument is the only place in the United States where the organ pipe cactusgrows wild. There are many other types of cacti and desert flora native to the Sonoran Desert. The Bates Well Ranch and Dos Lomitas Ranch are also within the monument.
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks		BLM	New Mexico 32.3°N 106.55°W	May 21, 2014	419,532 acres (1,697.8 km2)		The protected area includes five mountain ranges that rise above the Chihuahua Desert: Robledo Mountains, Sierra de las Uvas, Doña Ana Mountains, Organ Mountains and Potrillo Mountains. There are approximately 870 vascular plant species, and the area is popular for hiking and climbing.
Pacific Remote Islands Marine		NOAA, FWS	US Minor Outlying Islandssouth-southwest of Hawaii 16.75°N 169.52°W	January 6, 2009	313,941,851 acres (1,270,477.6 km2)		The marine monument consists of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Island, which are in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii. It was expanded in 2014 to include the oceans 200 nmi (370 km) offshore, approximately a 16-fold increase in size.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine		NOAA, FWS	Hawaii, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands 25.7°N 171.73°W	June 15, 2006	372,848,597 acres (1,508,864.7 km2)		The marine monument consists of ocean waters and 10 islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands including Midway Atoll (which is the site of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge). The monument was created in 2006 with 139,797 square miles (362,070 km2), and its boundaries were expanded on August 26, 2016, more than quadrupling in size to be the largest protected area on Earth, almost the size of the Gulf of Mexico. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands archipelago”is the planet’s largest seabird gathering site, with more than 14 million birds from 22 species, and is home to nearly all Laysan albatrosses and the remaining endangered Hawaiian monk seals.” It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2010.
Petroglyph		NPS	New Mexico 35.16°N 106.76°W	June 27, 1990	7,209.3 acres (29.2 km2)	268,613	This monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources, including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers. It lies on West Mesa, a volcanic basalt escarpment.
Pipe Spring		NPS	Arizona 36.86°N 112.73°W	May 31, 1923	40 acres (0.2 km2)	25,179	Rich with Native Americans, early explorer and Mormon pioneer history, this site shows Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab PaiuteIndian and pioneer life in the Old West, including the cabin where explorer John Wesley Powell’s survey crew stayed in 1871. The water of Pipe Spring, discovered in 1858, made it possible for plants, animals, and people to live in this dry desert region.
Pipestone		NPS	Minnesota 44.01°N 96.33°W	August 25, 1937	281.78 acres (1.1 km2)	73,267	This monument preserves traditional catlinitequarries used to make ceremonial pipes, vitally important to traditional Plains Indianculture. The quarries are sacred to the Siouxand Lakota people and are historically neutral territory where enrolled citizens of all tribes can quarry the stone.
Pompeys Pillar		BLM	Montana 45.99°N 108.001°W	January 17, 2001	51 acres (0.2 km2)		Pompeys Pillar is a 150-foot (46 m) sandstone pillar from the late CretaceousHell Creek Formation next to the Yellowstone River. It has an abundance of Native American petroglyphs, as well as the signature of William Clark, who named the formation after Sacagawea’s infant son.
Poverty Point		NPS	Louisiana 32.63°N 91.41°W	October 31, 1988	910.85 acres (3.7 km2)		Poverty Point is a prehistoric archeological site that dates from between 1650 and 700 BC and consisting of six earthen rings and seven mounds. The diameter of the outside ridge is 0.75 miles (1.21 km), and the largest mound rises 51 feet (16 m). It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2014.
Prehistoric Trackways		BLM	New Mexico 32.35°N 106.9°W	March 30, 2009	5,280 acres (21.4 km2)		Prehistoric Trackways contains fossilized footprints of numerous Paleozoic amphibians, reptiles, and insects, as well as fossilized plants and petrified wood dating back approximately 280 million years.
President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home		AFRH	District of Columbia 38.9416°N 77.0117°W	July 7, 2000	2.3 acres (0.01 km2)		President Abraham Lincoln and his family resided seasonally on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, which was founded in 1851 for homeless and disabled war veterans. The national monument and visitor center are preserved and operated by President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home on behalf of the Armed Forces Retirement Home.
Pullman		NPS	Illinois 41.691°N 87.610°W	February 19, 2015	0.4 acres (0.002 km2)		Built for the Pullman Company, it was the first planned industrial community in the United States as a company town for the Pullman Company that manufactured railroad cars. It was the site of the 1894 Pullman Strike over a cut in resident employee wages.
Rainbow Bridge		NPS	Utah 37.08°N 110.96°W	May 30, 1910	160 acres (0.6 km2)	110,904	Rainbow Bridge is one of the world’s largest natural bridges. It stands 290 feet (88 m) tall and spans 275 feet (84 m) wide; the top of the bridge is 42 feet (13 m) thick and 33 feet (10 m) wide. It was made from sandstoneformed during the Triassic and the Jurassicperiods.
Río Grande del Norte		BLM	New Mexico 36.66667°N 105.7°W	March 25, 2013	242,710 acres (982.2 km2)		This site includes part of the Rio Grande Gorge and extinct volcanoes of the Taos Plateau volcanic field. There are a variety of archaeological and historical artifacts including petroglyphs and Hispanic settlement sites. It is home to an assortment of wildlife and recreation opportunities.
Rose Atoll Marine		NOAA, FWS	American Samoa 14.55°S 168.54°W	January 6, 2009	8,609,045 acres (34,839.6 km2)		This marine monument consists of the two small islands of Rose Atoll, a lagoon, and a coral reef east of American Samoa. It is the southernmost point in the U.S.
Russell Cave		NPS	Alabama 34.97°N 85.80°W	May 11, 1961	310.45 acres (1.3 km2)	21,620	Donated by the National Geographic Society, the cave’s exceptionally large main entrance was used as a shelter by prehistoric Indians from the earliest known human settlement in the southeastern United States. The rock from which Russell Cave was formed over 300 million years ago at the bottom of an inland sea that covered the region.
Saint Francis Dam Disaster		USFS	California 34.55°N 118.51°W	March 12, 2019	353 acres (1.4 km2)		The St. Francis Dam was a 700 ft (210 m)-wide dam that supported a reservoir for Los Angeles’s water supply. It catastrophically failed in 1928 and the flood killed at least 431 people. The site now has ruins of the dam’s concrete base in a forested valley.
Salinas Pueblo Missions		NPS	New Mexico 34.26°N 106.06°W	November 1, 1909	1,071.42 acres (4.3 km2)	34,629	Formerly known as Gran Quivira National Monument, it is where Native Americantrade communities of Tiwa- and Tompiro-speaking Puebloans lived when Spanish Franciscan missionaries made contact in the 17th century. What remains are the ruins of four mission churches, at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira, and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas.
San Gabriel Mountains		USFS	California 34.22°N 118.06°W	October 10, 2014	345,222 acres (1,397.1 km2)		The San Gabriel mountains in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California have peaks as high as 10,068 ft (3,069 m), providing a habitat for the endangered California condor and Nelson’s bighorn sheep. It is an important watershed and recreation site for the Los Angeles area and contains more than 600 archaeological sites.
San Juan Islands		BLM	Washington 48.53°N 123.03°W	March 25, 2013	970 acres (3.9 km2)		The rugged landscapes of the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound are the habitat for orcas, eagles, and seals and provide opportunities for kayaking, birdwatching, and other activities. The monument protects numerous small rocks, islands, and points, including the Cattle Point Light.
Sand to Snow		BLM, USFS	California 34.08°N 116.68°W	February 12, 2016	154,000 acres (623.2 km2)		This monument extends from the Mojaveand Sonoran Desert floors up to over 10,000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains, including the San Gorgonio Wilderness. The site protects 1,700 Native American petroglyphs and other archaeological sites.
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains		BLM, USFS	California 33.80°N 116.70°W	October 24, 2000	280,009 acres (1,133.2 km2)		This monument preserves large portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto ranges, the northernmost of the Peninsular Ranges. Parts are within San Bernardino National Forestand the California Desert Conservation Area.
Scotts Bluff		NPS	Nebraska 41.83°N 103.70°W	December 12, 1919	3,004.73 acres (12.2 km2)	142,028	Scotts Bluff is an important 19th century geologic formation and landmark on the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail. It contains multiple bluffs on the south side of the North Platte River, but it is named after a prominent bluff called Scotts Bluff which rises more than 830 feet (250 m) above the plains at its highest point. The monument is composed of five rock formations named Crown Rock, Dome Rock, Eagle Rock, Saddle Rock, and Sentinel Rock.
Sonoran Desert		BLM	Arizona 33.00°N 112.46°W	January 17, 2001	486,400 acres (1,968.4 km2)		This monument protects a small portion of the Sonoran Desert. It is home to several federally listed endangered species and also has three wilderness areas, many significant archeological and historic sites, and remnants of several important historic trails.
Statue of Liberty		NPS	New York, New Jersey 40.69°N 74.04°W	October 15, 1924	58.38 acres (0.2 km2)	4,335,431	This iconic statue, built in 1886 on Liberty Island and 151 feet (46 m) tall, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and is a gesture of friendship from France to the U.S. Liberty Enlightening the World is a symbol of welcoming immigrants to the U.S. and is listed as a World Heritage Site. Ellis Island, where 12 million immigrants entering the U.S. passed through, is included in the monument.
Stonewall		NPS	New York 40.73364°N 74.00212°W	June 24, 2016	7.7 acres (0.0 km2)	511,220	The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall, is a gay bar in New York City and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberationmovement and the modern fight for LGBTrights in the United States. Also included is Christopher Street Park, across the street.
Sunset Crater Volcano		NPS	Arizona 35.36°N 111.50°W	May 30, 1930	3,040 acres (12.3 km2)	104,583	Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes in the San Francisco volcanic fieldthat is related to the nearby San Francisco Peaks. Final volcanic activity in the 13th century painted the upper portion of the cone with bright red and orange rocks, giving the volcano its name.
Timpanogos Cave		NPS	Utah 40.44°N 111.71°W	October 14, 1922	250 acres (1.0 km2)	121,311	The Timpanogos cave system is in the Wasatch Range in the American Fork Canyon. Three main chambers are accessible: Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. Many colorful cave features or speleothems can be seen, including helictites, cave bacon, cave columns, flowstone, cave popcorn, and cave drapery.
Tonto		NPS	Arizona 33.65°N 111.09°W	October 21, 1907	1,120 acres (4.5 km2)	39,822	Lying on the northeastern edge of the Sonoran Desert along the Salt River, Tonto preserves two cliff dwellings that were occupied by the Salado culture during the 13th to 15th centuries. The monument is surrounded by Tonto National Forest.
Tule Lake		NPS, FWS	California 41.89°N 121.37°W	December 5, 2008	1,391 acres (5.629 km2)		Tule Lake Segregation Center was the largest of ten concentration camps used for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. 29,800 US citizens and immigrants were held there, including those segregated from other camps for political reasons. The site includes the main segregation camp; Camp Tulelake, which was originally a Civilian Conservation Corps work site and later a prisoner-of-war camp and extension of the segregation center; and the Peninsula/Castle Rock bluff. Originally designated as part of World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, which was divided and renamed March 12, 2019.
Tule Springs Fossil Beds		NPS	Nevada 36.32°N 115.27°W	December 19, 2014	22,650 acres (91.7 km2)		A major archaeological site north of Las Vegas where thousands of prehistoric fossils, including mammoth, lion, and camel, have been found in an area that was once a wetland.
Tuzigoot		NPS	Arizona 34.79°N 112.04°W	July 25, 1939	811.89 acres (3.3 km2)	98,090	Tuzigoot preserves a two- to three-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge in the Verde Valley. It was built by the Sinagua people between 1125 and 1400.
Upper Missouri River Breaks		BLM	Montana 47.78°N 109.02°W	January 17, 2001	377,346 acres (1,527.1 km2)		A series of badland areas characterized by rock outcroppings, steep bluffs and grassy plains along the 149-mile (240 km) Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River in central Montana, The Breaks is home to at least 60 mammal species and hundreds of bird species. Charles Marion Russell often painted here, and Lewis and Clark traveled on this pathway.
Vermilion Cliffs		BLM	Arizona 36.81°N 111.74°W	November 9, 2000	279,566 acres (1,131.4 km2)		Steep eroded escarpments consisting primarily of sandstone, siltstone, limestoneand shale rise as much as 3,000 feet (910 m) above their base. These sedimentary rocks have been deeply eroded for millions of years, exposing hundreds of layers of richly colored rock strata along Paria Canyon. The Coyote Buttes, across the Paria Plateau from the Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs, include undulating slopes like The Wave.
Virgin Islands Coral Reef		NPS	US Virgin Islands 18.31°N 64.72°W	January 17, 2001	12,708.07 acres (51.4 km2)		These coral reefs, sandy sea bottoms, seagrass beds, and mangrove forests are in a 3-mile (4.8 km) marine belt that surrounds St John and Virgin Islands National Park.
Waco Mammoth		NPS	Texas 31.606°N 97.174°W	July 10, 2015	107.23 acres (0.4 km2)	106,932	The Waco Mammoth National Monument is a paleontological site and museum in Waco, Texas, where fossils of twenty-four Columbian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) and other mammals from the Pleistocene Epoch have been uncovered. The site is the largest known concentration of a single herd of mammoths dying from the same event, which is believed to have been a flash flood.
Walnut Canyon		NPS	Arizona 35.17°N 111.51°W	November 30, 1915	3,529.26 acres (14.3 km2)	167,736	Walnut Canyon protects 25 cliff dwelling rooms constructed by the Sinagua people. It lies on the Colorado Plateau and cuts through the Permian Kaibab Limestone, which exposes the Toroweap Formation and Coconino Sandstone.
White Sands		NPS	New Mexico 32.78°N 106.17°W	January 18, 1933	143,703.55 acres (581.5 km2)	603,008	Located in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin valley area, White Sands consists of the southern part of a 275-square-mile (710 km2) field of white sand dunescomposed of gypsum crystals. It is completely within the White Sands Missile Range and is subject to closure when tests are conducted.
Wupatki		NPS	Arizona 35.52°N 111.37°W	December 9, 1924	35,422.13 acres (143.3 km2)	205,122	Many settlement sites built by the Sinagua, Cohonina, and Ancestral Puebloans are scattered throughout the monument. About 2000 Ancient Pueblo People moved here to farm after an 11th century eruption of Sunset Crater.
Yucca House		NPS	Colorado 37.25°N 108.69°W	December 19, 1919	33.87 acres (0.1 km2)		Designated a research national monument, it is a large unexcavated Ancestral Puebloanarcheological site. The site is one of many Ancestral Puebloan village sites in the Montezuma Valley occupied between 900 and 1300 CE.