Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–1778 near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolutionary War. The National Historical Park preserves the site and interprets the history of the Valley Forge encampment. Originally Valley Forge State Park, it became a national historical park in 1976. The Park contains historical buildings, recreated encampment structures, memorials, museums, and recreation facilities.
The park encompasses 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) and is visited by over 1.2 million people each year. Visitors can see restored historic structures, reconstructed structures such as the iconic log huts, and monuments erected by the states from which the Continental soldiers came. Visitor facilities include a welcome center and museum featuring original artifacts, providing a concise introduction to the American Revolution and the Valley Forge encampment. Programs, tours, and activities are available year round. The park also provides 26 miles (42 km) of hiking and biking trails, which are connected to a robust regional trails system. Wildlife watching, fishing, and boating on the nearby Schuylkill River also are popular.
Read more about Valley Forge National Historical Park: Historical Encampment, Park History, Train Station, Modern Problems
Famous quotes containing the words valley, forge, national, historical and/or park:
“How old the world is! I walk between two eternities.... What is my fleeting existence in comparison with that decaying rock, that valley digging its channel ever deeper, that forest that is tottering and those great masses above my head about to fall? I see the marble of tombs crumbling into dust; and yet I dont want to die!”
—Denis Diderot (17131784)
“We forge gradually our greatest instrument for understanding the worldintrospection. We discover that humanity may resemble us very considerablythat the best way of knowing the inwardness of our neighbors is to know ourselves.”
—Walter Lippmann (18891974)
“The Federated Republic of Europethe United States of Europethat is what must be. National autonomy no longer suffices. Economic evolution demands the abolition of national frontiers. If Europe is to remain split into national groups, then Imperialism will recommence its work. Only a Federated Republic of Europe can give peace to the world.”
—Leon Trotsky (18791940)
“Some of us still get all weepy when we think about the Gaia Hypothesis, the idea that earth is a big furry goddess-creature who resembles everybodys mom in that she knows whats best for us. But if you look at the historical recordKrakatoa, Mt. Vesuvius, Hurricane Charley, poison ivy, and so forth down the agesyou have to ask yourself: Whose side is she on, anyway?”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Is a park any better than a coal mine? Whats a mountain got that a slag pile hasnt? What would you rather have in your gardenan almond tree or an oil well?”
—Jean Giraudoux (18821944)