Vacationers will have new reasons to travel in the U.S with the expansion of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership's Passport to Your National Parks Program at key historic sites and visitor centers within the region, the Partnership reports. Hallowed Ground is a non-profit group that encourages travel to the region and preservation of American historical sites.
Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area is a 180-mile long, 75-mile wide swath of land stretching from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia.
This is Where America Happened, as the region contains more history than any other region in the nation and includes: World Heritage sites, 16 National Historic Landmarks, over 10,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, 49 National Historic Districts, nine Presidential homes, 13 National Parks, hundreds of African American and Native American heritage sites, 30 Historic Main Street communities, sites from the Revolutionary War, the French-Indian War, the War of 1812 and the largest concentration of American Civil War sites in the nation.
The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership said its expansion of the Passport To Your National Parks program will include dozens of additional sites within the National Heritage Area. Since its inception in 1986, the Passport To Your National Parks program has introduced millions of visitors to the National Park System and continues to promote visitation, education, and appreciation of America’s national treasures. The program includes a passport book and online resources that lists all national parks in the United States.
The Passport To Your National Parks program is one of the most popular ways to preserve memories of visits to America’s national parks. Visitors can get their complimentary Passport cancellations at each site they visit. The rubber- stamp ink markings record the name of the location and date of the visit.
The program is already in existence at the 13 national parks located within the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area. However, the official visitor centers within the fifteen counties located within the region will now be able to stamp the passports, as well as key historic sites such as the David Wills House, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Newcomer House, Oatlands Historic House and Gardens, Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre, Montpelier, Monticello, Ash Lawn-Highland, and others.
All of these locations will be included on a new map/brochure of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, which will include a panel on which to collect cancellation stamps.
For a full list of participating locations, visit www.hallowedground/passport or www.HallowedGround.org.