US Postal Service stamps for the centennial

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service (NPS) in legislation signed in 1916 by Woodrow Wilson. Happy birthday to the NPS and to our parks! Everyone is celebrating including the US Postal Service with a special set of commemorative stamps.

Race Point Light in Provincetown Massachusetts

More than 400 sites in the National Park System host millions of people every year –day trippers, campers, visitors from abroad who enjoy the monuments, seashores, scenic rivers, urban parks, historic properties and national parks. Here’s a complete list of the parks, state by state.

Atlantic White Cedar Swamp trail on Cape Cod

The beauty of the West inspired some of America’s greatest artists — painters from the Hudson River School — to  produce grand, dramatic landscapes like the one below by Albert Bierstadt.

Grand Tetons landscape by Albert Bierstadt painted between 1865 and 1869. Today housed at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

We all have our favorite moments at America’s national parks and monuments

The ponies at Assateague Island, transformed here into a postage stamp

Big Meadows at Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia, where hundreds of years ago, native Americans hunted for buffalo

Enjoy the lodge at Big Meadows, with a gigantic stone fireplace and views down into the valley below. This is the highest point in Shenandoah.

Proud to have so many places that Americans and people worldwide can enjoy for the the excitement (Old Faithful), serene places, exuberant wildlife, and historic assets of our nation. Happy Birthday to NPS –and a big thank you to John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt), and countless advocates for our natural and scenic heritage.