Ranger Things #5: Plate Expectations

In the early days of National Park Service (NPS) vehicles, parks created their own license plate designs. It wasn't until May 6, 1938, that Departmental Order No. 1277 required standardization. In response, the NPS chose an embossed steel plate design that featured dark green letters, numerals, and border on a white background.

NPS license plate 22 from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (NPS History Collection, HFCA 401)

License plates were attached to all NPS “roadway equipment which moves under its own power.” They could also be used for non-automotive equipment such as graders for identification purposes. Vehicle tags were made at the US Northeastern Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania for about 28 cents a pair. Motorcycle license plates were supplied by the Columbia Penal Institutions reformatory in Lorton, Virginia for 22 cents a pair.

When equipment was disposed of, the license plates were supposed to be destroyed, but that didn't always happen. Numbers 1 through 27 and number 1732 were officially exempt from destruction. Why? Because 1-27 were assigned to parks in order by their dates of establishment (Yellowstone National Park through Olympic National Park) and 1732 was assigned to George Washington Birthplace National Monument for the year Washington was born. These special plates were assigned to the superintendent’s cars in each park and, unlike other plates, could be reused on other vehicles when new ones were acquired over time.

Among the NPS History Collection's small collection of NPS license plates is #22 which was issued to the superintendent at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

These white and green plates were replaced by the first standardized all-government license plates in 1942.

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Learn more about NPS history with museum objects and archival collections at NPS History Collection.