News Release

In 2023, 325.5 million visits to National Park System units, 67,376 visits to Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site

Ranger gives a guided tour of the Longfellow House to visitors

NPS photo/Sam DiMatteo

News Release Date: February 23, 2024

Cambridge, MA—Today, the National Park Service announced that 400 units of the National Park System reported a total of 325.5 million visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million, or 4%, over 2022.

Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site is among twenty National Park Service units that broke visitation records in 2023. Visitation to the Longfellow House increased to a record high of 67,376 visits in 2023, nearly 7,000 more visits than the site’s previous record set in 2022.

Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site is a hidden gem. One of 429 units managed by the National Park Service, this historic house museum and cultural institution is located just outside of Harvard Square. Here, the National Park Service preserves a remarkable Georgian house whose occupants shaped our nation. It was a site of colonial enslavement and community activism, George Washington’s first long-term headquarters of the American Revolution, and the place where Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his canon of 19th-century American literature.

“I’m thrilled to see so many people finding their way to Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site,” said Site Manager Chris Beagan. “As we approach the 250th anniversaries of the American Revolution in 2025 and the establishment of the United States in 2026, strong visitation suggests people are building even deeper connections with this site, where American history was made and where American history was written.”

Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site chronicles more than 260 years of history. Efforts to share a fuller and more complete history resonate with visitors, as the site’s programming and research highlight Black history, LGBTQ+ history, and Indigenous history, in addition to its long-held military and literary histories.

Visitation data also shows that more people are visiting Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site in summer months—June, July, and August—as the site’s annual Summer Arts Festival, including its marquee Juneteenth Gathering, attract visitors who enjoy live outdoor music and poetry readings.

The National Park Service Visitation Statistics Dashboard provides recreational visit statistics for every National Park Service unit in the United States for 2023 and also for previous years. There are 429 units in the National Park System, and 400 counted visitors in 2023. For the first time, there are now National Park Service units reporting their visitation numbers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories.

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service:  More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 429 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.