Thomas Edison National Historical Park

For our day-after-Thanksgiving adventure, my brother, his wife, and I drove into New Jersey to see my 199th NPS site, the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. It's the site of the house where he lived for the last 45 years of his life, and the site of an amazingly well-preserved laboratory and industrial complex.

Our first stop was the Chemistry Lab, which requires a free but timed ticket. It was like going back in time -- to high school and beyond. They maintained the lab just as it was back in tehe 30's -- beakers, testtubes, chemicals, books, everything. Edison's last experiment was in trying to find a domestic source of rubber, and he was trying goldenrod sap. He found a way to make tires, but they weren't robust enough to compete with rubber.

The factory portion had been mostly dedicated to making rechargable batteries, which was in the end his biggest moneymaker, far beyond the electric light, phonograph, or even movie. Those other inventions were highlighted in other areas of the labs -- it was just overwhelming seeing how many of life's conveniences he impacted.

His house was very nice -- again, with all his original furniture, where he raised his 6 children. Since the furnishings date to the 30's, it wasn't that historic or remarkable. Still, interesting seeing where The Man lived.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 4 -- The scene of many of the greatest inventions from the greatest American inventor -- and his house as a bonus.
Beauty: 1 -- a factory and a nice house in a park.
Fun: 2 -- mostly a museum, but fun in its own way.
Overall: 3

Accessibility: East Orange, NJ -- within a couple hours of Philly, very close to NYC
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent rangers/tour guides, great displays, signs.
Time required: 2 hours minimum, and with timed tickets, you have to commit once you arrive as to how much time you'll spend
Time to visit: anytime the roads are passable
Kid friendliness: low -- lots to see but not touch. I didn't see any kids areas. I bet they're somewhere...

Flight 93 National Memorial

My last stop on my Pennsylvania tour was another sobering, poignant one -- the Flight 93 National Memorial. It's a bit ironic that it's so close (30 minutes...) to the Johnstown Flood site as it's another time when people tragically got swept up in events so outside their control.

While not the newest NPS unit, it represents, perhaps by far, the most recent event, the events of 9/11 being only 10 years ago. And the heroic actions of the 40 people on board to try to take back the plane are well worthy of honor -- they in all likelihood prevented the Capitol or the White House from being destroyed, saving at least hundreds of lives without saving their own.

The site is still in development, but I took encouragement from a Washington Post article urging people to visit now, and I agree. The central impact point of the plane is marked with flags, with a walkway 50 yards away leading to a gate of sorts. On the walls leading to the gate are simply the names of the 40, one per panel. Family members alone can walk through the gate to the impact point.

Many more tributes are planned splawling across this quiet Pennsylvania farmscape, but I think this is enough. Strangers can mourn and honor from a respectful distance while the families can grieve closer, in relative privacy.

Being such a new site, with much of the story still unwinding with the war in Afghanistan continuing, it's hard to tell how the significance of this site will morph with time. With the New York and Pentagon sites under other jurisdictions, this could become the National Memorial to the greater attacks and on-going wars. Or perhaps it will remain a testimony to these 40 souls alone who did the right thing at the ultimate cost.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- Maybe time will change this, but the most significant event of a generation deserves a central place to remember and mourn.
Beauty: 1 -- like a battlefield park, it's a farmer's field in the middle of nowhere -- and even the monument itself isn't especially beautiful, but if there's beauty in sacrifice, it's here.
Fun: 1 -- perhaps the least fun in the whole NPS system because the reality is so close.
Overall: 5

Accessibility: rather remote -- about an hour off the PA turnpike, a few hours from DC, Baltimore
Logistics/signs: 3 -- not much here yet, but enough to get the job done. A few more signs and the movie that none of us needs to see await.
Time required: 30 minutes will do -- a quarter mile walk both ways, a few plackards, and some time to reflect.
Time to visit: totally outside, so spring/fall are best.
Kid friendliness: awfully low -- think the Vietnam Memorial. Perhaps with the additional construction will include interpretive elements more child-centered.

And with that, I'm at #198 out of (now) 396 NPS sites -- halfway done...

Johnstown Flood National Memorial

Within a half hour of the Allegheny site is the memorial for the Johnstown Flood, which occurred in 1889. I could not think of another park that commemorates a disaster like this, though I could think of many that may be in the future, like Hurricane Katrina. Katrina wasn't once mentioned, but you could feel the parallels.

Outside of a war, never had America seen a day like May 31, 1889, when over 2,000 people died as a result of flooding from a burst dam in central Pennsylvania. The disaster had class-based implications, as the dam created a reservoir which wealthy folks used for the fishing and pleasure boating club. The victims were overwhelmingly working class people who worked at the town's many factories. Johnstown is in a bowl, which is still plainly evident today.

By all accounts, the dam was well made in its time, but the club used various gates to prevent their imported fish from leaving through the spillway. They also plugged the pipes at the bottom which could've been used to control the water levels. Sure enough, the inevitable happened -- a massive rainstorm that lasted for a day in the wake of a wet spring with high snow run-off.

The water topped the dam (which the Club had lowered 3 feet to allow for easier access across it!), and with earthen dams, that's bad, bad news. The water began to wear away the sagging middle of the dam, causing more water to flow over, causing more erosion. A catastrophic failure ensued.

Telegraph operators attempted to warn the towns downstream, but few heeded the call. a 40-foot tidal wave roared down the narrow valley, sweeping away rail cars, a bridge, and entire homes. Johnstown was 10 miles away (!!), but it still got thrashed.

The visitor center is by the dam, which was never rebuilt. The house for the dam maintainer also stands -- he apparently tried valiently to shore up the dam, but it didn't work. The movie is vivid, piecing together various early Hollywood silent films about the disaster, spliced with period photographs and scenes from the local graveyard.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- important as representative of both one incredible disaster and many others made worse by man's action
Beauty: 3 -- heart of the Allegheny's
Fun: 1 -- Like a battlefield park, it's not designed for that, and you can't even really hike
Overall: 3

Accessibility: fairly remote -- an hour off the PA turnpike, a few hours from DC, Baltimore
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent movie, helpful rangers, lots of signs
Time required: 60 minutes for the movie and time to explore the dam. The city itself is not part of the park, and they have more exhibits there
Time to visit: almost anytime it's not snowy
Kid friendliness: pretty low as the main attraction, the movie, is only appropriate for older children. No place to play.

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

I had another unexpectedly open weekend this weekend, so I made another dash, this time to a group of NPS sites in Pennsylvania. I drove to Bedford, PA, on Friday and then this morning headed north to Creeson near Alatoona. On the way, I took I-99, which I didn't even know existed! I've been to the vast majority of US interstates at this point, and certainly didn't expect to find a new one.

My first stop was Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, one of the few NPS sites dedicated to the wonders of engineering! It was the 1830's, and as America expanded westward, different states tried means to get goods and crops across the state expediently. New York had a lot of success with the Eric Canal, and Maryland was attempting the C&O canal. Pennsylvania was stuck though -- there was no obvious way to dig a canal across the Allegheny mountains. Nor were locomotives of the day powerful enough to pull significant cargo over the mountains.

Their solution was pretty amazing -- dig canals on both sides as far as reasonable, then build inclines with a steam engine at the top. The canal boats would be placed on special rail cars, and the cars would be drug to the top by ropes (and eventually cables) attached to the steam engine. There would be one such "dragging station" every mile or so, so there were many transfers to be made, and it was incredibly manpower-intensive. But it cut a trip from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh from 23 days on the roads down to 5 days (!!).

As complex as it was, it worked for 20 years, until a proper railway was built through the area, killing this and the C&O canal. It was a recurring theme in the area -- tons of capital investment to build an infrastructure that may not have staying power. We often talk about the pace of change today, but we're still using the rail infrastructure from over 100 years ago and the interstate highway system from the 50's...my promised Jetson-style flying cars haven't emerged yet...

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- celebrates American ingenuity, flexibility, mixed with nostalgia
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of western PA
Fun: 2 -- it's not a recreational park, more like a living museum, which was cool. They have a full-scale mock up of the old dragging station and one of the old taverns still stands.
Overall: 3 -- here's to the engineers! This joins the Falkirk Wheel as one of the coolest tributes to engineers.

Accessibility: 40 minutes off the PA turnpike, a few hours from DC, Baltimore
Logistics/signs: 4 -- excellent movie, helpful rangers, lots of signs, well laid out
Time required: 90 minutes if you walk down to the bridge.
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium -- trains, engines, some walking

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

I've been visiting national parks with some intention for about 6 years now. I'm nearly halfway done nationally, but I only had one left to the many in Virginia, so this weekend I decided to make dash down to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

On top of being the last in Virginia for me, it's also the last of the Civil War sites around here. Fitting enough since it marks if not the actual end, the event most poignantly signifying The End of the American Civil War. And this is one excellent commemoration.

The park is especially good because of the history of the town after Lee surrendere to Grant. The village was slowly being abandoned even it in 1865 since the railroad passed south of there, and pople started settling closer to the station 3 miles away. That meant that the area around the courthouse was easy to acquire. The few homes have been rebuilt, and it's now SO easy to picture how those last days transpired.

I arrived just in time to hear a ranger, in character as a Confederate Lieutenant from that era, tell the story. He spoke of how they'd been fleeing Richmond and Petersburg and were trying to first make it to that very railroad station to get the rations waiting there. They would then turn south to join other armies in North Carolina. But that chance never came.

Federal cavalry raced ahead and seized the shipment, and all roads south were blocked. The Confederates last hope was to break through the cavalry in front of them. To their dismay, they soon heard and saw many thousands of troops coming at them from that direction. They were utterly pinned.

Much was made of Grant's civilized terms he granted Lee, including passes for each man to take as he surrendered, guaranteeing him safe passage home. But where was home? Perhaps 1000 miles away, and after years of camaraderie and living with the army, the tension faced by the men faced with the End of the war was palpable. I wonder how many never made it, or never readjusted.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 5 -- a site of the end, and new beginnings, and grave uncertainties.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of Virginia
Fun: 2 -- not designed for that, but many period houses to explore, and you can walk the actual steps of the Confederate surrender, and walk into the room where the terms of surrender were signed.
Overall: 4 -- well worth the trip if you're visiting Richmond (see battlefield parks there and in Petersburg first) or living anywhere in the region.

Accessibility: an hour off any major path -- I-81, I-64, I-295
Logistics/signs: 5 -- excellent movie, awesome portrayal by the ranger, lots of helpful signs, good visitor's center -- some real care went into it.
Time required: Seeing the major sites would take a few hours.
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium/low -- some walking, lots of look-but-don't-touch, and a complicated story.

Oxon Hill Farm

Not far from my house is one of the least known parts of the national park system here in DC, Oxon Hill Farm at Oxon Cove Park. It's not its own unit in the NPS system, being part of "National Capital Parks -- East" along with Anacostia Park, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and many of the civil rights sites in the city.

With its location just off the DC beltway, it's likely passed by tens of thousands of people a day, but all you can see from the road is trees. But, if you go there, you'll find a pleasant little 1850's-era, 500-acre farm to explore.

They make it clear -- this is no petting zoo, and they'll be glad to put you to work. Each day the cows need milking, chickens need feeding, eggs need gathering, and pigs need feeding. On one visit with friends, we arrived at just the right time (9:30 am) to get to do all of these things in turn.

You'll also see horses, geese, and cats among the many barns. These barns also hold antique farm equipment on display. The central visitor station has special displays for kids, including puppets for a puppet show. The old farmhouse is still under renovation, but from the porch you can see the Potomac River into Alexandria.

This is perhaps the most kid-friendly park I've found for the 5-10-year old set. If they're burned out with museums and wandering the Mall, this would be an excellent break if you're in the DC, even if it's cold and rainy :-)

Morristown National Historical Park

Back from Colorado, I had a full 5 days back in my own home before I hit the road again, this time to Connecticut for a wedding. The I-95 corridor is amazingly crowded for very long distances, so I knew I wouldn't make it all the way to CT after work on a Friday, so I stopped near Morristown National Historical Park and explored it the next morning.

Morristown is the site of a winter encampment of Washington's army during the Revolutionary War, very similar to Valley Forge. The winter was by all accounts more brutal than for Valley Forge, but fewer people died, mostly because the Army was better seasoned and wiser by this point in the war. The park has 4 main areas -- the main encampment site at Jockey's Hollow, a smaller encampment for New Jersey Brigade, Washington's headquarters in town, and Fort Nonsense in town.

I went to the NJ Brigade site first, and you can only get there by foot, so I had a nice morning walk through a forest. Nothing remains of the site, I found -- it's simply where the latest comers that winter stayed.

Jockey's Hollow has some re-created huts and tons of trails/roads for walking and biking.

Fort Nonsense was the lookout post keeping an eye on British movements from New York City. The location of the whole encampment had to do with this lookout point. The derisive name was given after the fact by cynical soldiers who thought they built it only to be kept busy.

Washington's HQ is yet another colonial-era house, but a nice one. No pictures allowed inside this time.

Visitor's Ratings (out of 5)
Significance: 3 -- worst winter ever, but none of the notoriety as Valley Forge.
Beauty: 2 -- rolling hills of Northern New Jersey
Fun: 3 -- extensive footpaths, bike trails, history to explore
Overall: 3 -- like Valley Forge, but without the crowds

Accessibility: on I-295 around the NJ side of New York City.
Logistics/signs: 3 -- good movie, nice visitor's center, clear signs
Time required: depends on how much you want to walk. Seeing the major sites by car would take a few hours.
Time to visit: fall/spring as it's mostly outdoors.
Kid friendliness: medium -- if they're happy walking in the forests.