Gettysburg and Eisenhower Parks Celebrate NPS Centennial Accomplishments

Park staff at the Gettysburg and Eisenhower Parks with a "Find Your Park" banner in June 2016.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: December 21, 2016

Contact: Katie Lawhon, 717-338-4402

As the National Park Service embarks on its second century of service, Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site are celebrating the significant accomplishments of their centennial celebration and engagement with the Find Your Park / Encuentra Tu Parque initiative.
 
Gettysburg programs and events throughout 2016 engaged youth and Millennials and focused on arts programming; community and employee wellness; and expanding stewardship of park resources through philanthropy. Thousands of visitors attended events including Doors Open Gettysburg, the Gettysburg BioBlitz, Eisenhower Presidential Paint and Wine Nights, the Eisenhower Farm to Table dinner, community wellness events, Artist-in-Residency programs, Founders Day, the Gettysburg and Appomattox student exchange and other education programs and Harrisburg International Airport exhibits. 
 
“We continue to work with the Gettysburg Foundation to engage new audiences and accomplish preservation projects that ensure that Gettysburg’s two national parks will be here for future generations,” said Ed Clark, park superintendent. “In 2017, we’ll complete work at Cemetery Ridge and continue planning for rehabilitation at Little Round Top.”
 
Cemetery Ridge Rehabilitation: This official centennial project is bringing back battle era features at the center of the Union army's battle line on Cemetery Ridge, including Ziegler's grove, Ziegler's ravine, the Hancock Avenue gate and commemorative walkways. The project will be completed in the spring of 2017. The Gettysburg Foundation provided a grant of $900,000 to match NPS Centennial funding of $600,000.  
 
Little Round Top: An Environmental Assessment will be available for public review early 2017 for site improvements to Little Round Top. Draft alternatives include re-purposing previous alignments of Sykes Avenue for additional parking, converting the Little Round Top School House into non-staffed visitor facilities with parking, restrooms and informational kiosks, and creating a more formalized trail system that allows both large and small groups to experience the site with minimal to no impacts to resources. NPS Centennial funds are being provided for this project, to be matched by funds raised by the Gettysburg Foundation.
 
Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site Programs Contributed to Overall Success of the NPS Centennial
 
Across the country, centennial programs resulted in a significant level of public interest and social media engagement with the National Park Service and National Park Foundation. The NPS, NPF, and partners across nationwide reached hundreds of millions of people with the centennial’s Find Your Park message, and engaged the public in the NPS stewardship mission.
 
The Find Your Park campaign has resonated particularly well with younger audiences, which NPS and NPF targeted since they will be the next generation of national park visitors and stewards. Millennials are increasingly familiar with the Find Your Park campaign, and NPS youth programs were a key component of NPS and NPF centennial engagement.
 
“I like to say the NPS is the only federal agency with a mandate to ensure the public has fun, and the centennial has been a lot of fun,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “But more importantly, it has inspired and engaged a new generation to take on the mantle of responsibility for the most important places and stories that define us as citizens of the United States of America.”
 
Looking Ahead: Find Your Park in 2017 and Preparing for a Second Century of Service

Planning is underway to build on the success of Find Your Park / Encuentra Tu Parque as the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, and other partners will continue the campaign’s momentum in 2017. The Find Your Park movement will continue to engage new audiences, especially around significant moments, including National Park Week in April and the NPS 101st birthday in August. Throughout the year, the NPS and its partners will invite the public to explore parks they haven’t yet discovered, build personal connections to special places in their communities, and find ways to help ensure that future generations are able to fully experience their national parks and the NPS programs that steward America’s treasures.
 
Click here for more information about the success and long term legacy of the NPS Centennial. 
 
About the Gettysburg and Eisenhower National Parks
 
Gettysburg National Military Park preserves, protects and interprets for this and future generations the resources associated with the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War, the Soldiers' National Cemetery, and their commemorations.
 
Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves and interprets the home and farms of the Eisenhower family as a fitting and enduring memorial to the life, work, and times of General Dwight David Eisenhower, 34^th president of the United States, and to the events of far-reaching importance that occurred on the property. 
 
 
About the National Park Service:
 
More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 413 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter  www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube  www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.