National Parks an American Model
The celebration of July 4 would not be complete without reflection on America’s National Parks, owned equally by all Americans. Yellowstone National Park, established by Congress in 1872 was America’s first, and is recognized as the world’s first national park, making the national park concept an American model for other countries to follow.
Few places in America have such a dense concentration of National Park sites as the Laurel Highlands. Our park sites here commemorate historical events important to the nation’s early history, but one honors a much more recent and tragic event.
Below is an introduction to the five national park sites of the Laurel Highlands. In general, all the parks operate on the same schedule, with grounds open from sunrise to sunset, year-round and seven days a week. Visitor centers and other preserved structures generally accept visitors from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For details before a visit, call the numbers provided for each park.
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Located along Route 40 — The National Road — at Farmington, Fayette County, Fort Necessity was the site of the first major battle of the French and Indian War, the mid-18th century conflict that pitted England against France for dominance in North America. In early July 1754, George Washington, then an officer in the British colonial forces, with about 300 Virginia militia and 100 British regulars defended their hastily constructed stockade against 700 French soldiers, French-Canadian volunteers, and their Indian allies. After a day of fighting in heavy rain, with casualties mounting and powder and supplies dwindling, Washington accepted the French terms for surrender of Fort Necessity.
The 900-acre Fort Necessity National Battlefield has a network of hiking trails offering loop-routes through woods and fields. A remote but inviting picnic area with tables, grills and restrooms can be reached by car during the summer season. Hikers and picnickers often see deer, wild turkeys, and the occasional bear. The Park Service in cooperation with the National Road Heritage Corridor operates a visitor center near the fort. Outside the visitor center, kids can explore and enjoy an educational Fort Necessity-themed playground.
Frequent reenactments and interpretive events throughout the summer help visitors understand the international significance of the Fort Necessity battle.
Fort Necessity is about 11 miles east of Uniontown on Route 40. For more information call 724-329-5512.
Friendship Hill National Historic Site
Perched on a high bluff above the Monongahela River between Point Marion and New Geneva, Friendship Hill was the country estate of Albert Gallatin, the longest serving Secretary of the Treasury in American history. Gallatin served as U. S. Treasurer from 1801 to 1814 under presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In that capacity, he helped arrange the Louisiana Purchase and plan the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Before his appointment as treasury secretary, Gallatin helped to defuse the Whiskey Rebellion by convincing western Pennsylvania farmers to accept a lower whiskey tax than that initially proposed by the federal government.
The 600-acre Friendship Hill National Historic Site preserves Gallatin’s home and its surrounding fields and woods. Outdoor enthusiasts can explore 10 miles of hiking trails that lead through old-growth forest to waterfalls on streams entering the Monongahela River. The park is a good site for bird-watching. Diverse bird species utilize the woodland, field, and riparian habitats.
Reach Friendship Hill via Route 166 two miles north of Point Marion. Call 724-329-2500 for details.
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
One of America’s early engineering marvels is commemorated at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. To grasp its significance, think “portage” (meaning to carry a watercraft overland past an obstacle) more than railroad.
In the 1830s, canals were considered the transportation mode of the future. Pennsylvania financed its Mainline Canal to compete with New York’s Erie Canal and Maryland’s Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. But there was no way to dig a canal over the spine of the Allegheny Mountains, so engineers built the Allegheny Portage Railroad, a system of 10 inclined planes fitted with railroad track to carry canal boats over the Allegheny Front range between canals of the Susquehanna watershed on the east and the Ohio watershed on the west. Stationary motors pulled the boats up, and eased them down, the inclines, much as the familiar inclines function in present-day Pittsburgh, but the grades were less steep because of their switchback construction.
Today the National Park Service manages 1,300 acres on the Cambria-Blair county border as the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site.
Reach the park by the Gallitzin Exit from Route 22 between Ebensburg and Cresson, about two hours northeast of Uniontown. Call 814-886-6150 for details.
Flight 93 National Memorial
Atop the Allegheny Plateau in Somerset County, amid farms and the remains of old strip mines, the Flight 93 National Memorial preserves the Sept. 11, 2001, crash site of one of four commercial jets hijacked by terrorists in a plot to strike key American targets.
A new Visitor Center Complex opened at Flight 93 in Sept. 2015. Touring the complex is sobering but also uplifting. From the visitor center, spare yet elegant walkways lead to the Memorial Plaza crash site and the Memorial Groves, one grove for each passenger and crew member.
The Visitor Center at Flight 93 is closed on New Year’s, Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Flight 93 National Memorial is accessible from Route 30, six miles east of Route 219 in Somerset County. For details call 814-893-6322.
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
In late May 1889, a freak storm dumped record torrents of rain on the headwaters of the Little Conemaugh River. On May 31 the South Fork Dam, owned by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club burst, sending a wall of water 14 miles down the twisting, confined valley (crossing the path of the Allegheny Portage Railroad) into Johnstown. The wreckage from hundreds of homes snagged on a stone railroad bridge and caught fire. More than 2,200 residents of the Conemaugh Valley lost their lives, the costliest natural disaster in American history at that time.
The National Memorial preserves the South Fork Fishing and Hunting clubhouse and a portion of the dam site. The Lake View Visitor Center features interpretive exhibits and a film about the disaster, shown at 1-hour intervals. Visitors can also take walking tours or ranger-led van tours of the flood route through the valley during the summer season. Details and schedules are available by calling 814-886-6170.
n n n
It is important for Americans to understand and value their national parks and other public lands. Recent political events in America indicate there is reason to foresee attempts to dismantle federal historic and conserved lands and turn them over to private ownership or to the states, which, in many cases, would amount to much the same thing.