WEST ORANGE, NJ — As the National Park Service embarks on its second century of service, Thomas Edison National Historical Park is celebrating the significant accomplishments of its centennial celebration and engagement with the Find Your Park / Encuentra Tu Parque initiative.
Thomas Edison National Historical Park recorded 57,694 visits in 2016, its best visitation year since the laboratory’s grand re-opening in 2009-10 after the completion of a $15 million rehabilitation, when 63,009 visitors came through its doors. Edison NHP Superintendent Tom Ross credited the increased visitation to the Find Your Park national marketing campaign and centennial programming at the park.
“We owe a great deal of appreciation to our community partners who collaborated in offering a broad array of new and diverse programs which met our goal of increasing and diversifying our visitors to the park,” Ross said in a press release.
This trend occurred across the country where centennial programs resulted in a significant level of public interest and social media engagement with the National Park Service and National Park Foundation.
“Stunning,” acting National Park Service Director Michael T. Reynolds said of the 331 million visits counted across the National Park System. “We expected more visitors in 2016 as the NPS celebrated its centennial with special events and activities, but these numbers really show the depth of feeling people have for their national parks, especially considering that increased visitation was recorded not just at the biggest and best known parks but at smaller historical and cultural sites as well.”
Planning is under way 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 from April 16 to 24 and the NPS 101st birthday on Aug. 25. 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.
For more information about visitation, visit the National Park Service visitor use statistics web page at https://irma.nps.gov/stats/.
About the Author
