Happy birthday to us! The New York State parks and historic sites system is now 100 years old, and we celebrated our founding and lit up almost two dozen landmarks around the state in Parks green and Centennial gold to mark the day last week.
Although several of our parks and historic sites have existed for more than 100 years—Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site and Niagara Falls State Park, for example—it was on April 18, 1924, that the State Council of Parks (SCOP) was formed, creating our modern parks system.
Established by Governor Alfred E. Smith and the New York State Legislature in 1924, SCOP and subsequent voter support for a $15 million Bond Act placed the future of many of New York’s public lands in our hands. Alongside great partners, staff at our agency have served as stewards since then, preserving New York’s most treasured lands and historically significant places. Today our system spans over 250 properties in every part of the state, improving the lives of millions of New Yorkers and connecting communities to the outdoors.
Missed our birthday? No problem. We created a video recap documenting the events of the day. You can find this video, along with other Centennial content, on our YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, as we’ll be adding even more announcement videos into this digital goody bag as the year goes on!
Continue reading Celebrating 100 Years of NY State Parks and Historic Sites