Battlefield Becomes National Park

Horace M. Albright, Director of the National Park Service from 1929-33.

NPS Photo

Who's responsible for history?

When Saratoga Battlefield became a New York State historical site in 1927, the site finally had its long-awaited formal recognition.

Under Superintendent George Slingerland, it gained acreage, visitor amenities, and interpretive offerings. The rude twists of a few short years, however, soon hobbled the Battlefield. The Great Depression’s 1929 arrival denied it essential resources. Slingerland’s death in 1932 deprived it of strong, on-site leadership.

Help was near, but not yet present. In 1933, National Park Service (NPS) Director Horace Albright advocated National Military Parks, then managed by the War Department, getting transferred to the NPS—which alone, in Albright’s mind, was suited for the task. While the War Department supported a transfer, logistical concerns stalled the move.

An April 1933 road trip with President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored some momentum. Touring some military parks with FDR, Albright took an opportune moment to ask Roosevelt about such a transfer; Roosevelt replied, “It should be done.” FDR then took the opportune moment to ask Albright, “How about Saratoga Battlefield in New York?” Rosevelt added, smiling, “Suppose you do something tomorrow about this?”

“Tomorrow” arrived slowly. In 1937, a bill to create Saratoga National Historical Park passed the House of Representatives. A similar bill passed the Senate in 1938.

On June 1, 1938, “tomorrow” arrived: Public Law 576 passed as “an Act to provide for the creation of Saratoga National Historical Park in the State of New York, and for other purposes.” New York continued with site planning and development, as the NPS served an advisory role. In 1941, the NPS formally assumed complete ownership and management of the site.

Saratoga National Historical Park needed much site development—roads, signage, research, etc.—even amid the Great Depression. FDR’s solution: send in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

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