America’s National Parks Podcast

The House on Brattle Street

Decades before Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would call the house on Brattle Street home, a General, tasked with leading the nation to freedom, would take up residency, and an enslaved couple would have a lasting and profound effect on Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

National Park News | New Mask Rules, Fewer Humpbacks, Missions Damaged, & a New Nat’l Historic Site

In this month's national park news roundup, we share info about the newest unit in the National Park Service system, the Amache National Historic Site. Plus, we cover things you might want to know about visiting a park this year — from new mask rules, to cashless payments, to prescribed fires, and we share some striking news about humpback whales in Glacier Bay National Park.

Discovering Yellowstone

150 years ago, the National Park idea was born, in a place called Yellowstone. That idea was helped along in part by a painter, Thomas Moran, who brought images of early Yellowstone exploration to the world, convincing Congress to take action. 

Steamtown and Pheobe Snow

In the heart of Pennsylvania coal country, trains had their heyday. As freight transportation matured beyond the canals of the early industrial days, railroads became the predominant means of moving goods, including anthracite coal, from the region. 
The time: the turn of the twentieth century. The place: the Lackawanna Valley. The woman: a young socialite named Phoebe Snow, whose surname, Snow, conjures up the exact opposite of the black dirt of the steam railroad. 
Today's Sponsors: 
L.L.Bean: https://llbean.com for all the gear to fuel your next outdoor adventure. 
Campendium: https://campendium.com to find your next great campground

Ansel Adams

For all of the heroes of the National Parks we’ve covered on this podcast over nearly 200 episodes, it’s a wonder we haven’t spent time with a photographer who brought the beauty, grandeur and spirit of nature to the world -  showing the need for preservation and curating a desire for a nation to visit them. 
Ansel Adams is, to be sure, the most famous photographer ever. And his contributions to the natural world rival his innovations and artistry in his medium. 

National Park News | 2021 Visitation Shatters Records, New Park Reservations, a First for USS Constitution

Welcome to this month's "News from the Parks" our monthly roundup of top stories from the National Parks. The official overall NPS visitation number has yet to be released, but some parks have already turned in their reporting and the numbers at some of our most popular parks are staggering. Plus, project improvements continue, the sad fate of Lake Powell, Judge rules in favor of the Endangered Species Act. the USS Constitution sees a change in command and a first for the ship, Canadian doctors see the health benefits in National Parks, and more.

Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct

In the 1800s, the Lackawaxen region of the Upper Delaware River was a bustling area, punctuated by industrial transportation. The canal era provided access to water transport where there was no natural river or lake. John Augustus Roebling, a civil engineer with an innovative approach to suspension bridges, was hired to build four aqueduct bridges that became the basis for modern bridge construction still used today. 

Imprisoned at Fort McHenry

Right at the end of the outcropping where the Patuxent River meets the Baltimore Harbor sits a star-shaped fort that had been instrumental in the War of 1812, and which led to the writing of our national anthem. But Fort McHenry carries other stories, too, few more striking than its use for imprisoning prominent Southern-leaning citizens of Maryland during the Civil War, including members of the Maryland legislature and journalists. 
 
patreon.com/nationalparkspodcast