U.S. National Monuments
The United States has 100 protected areas known as
national monuments. The President of the United States can
establish a national monument by executive order, and the United
States Congress can by legislation. The Antiquities Act of 1906
authorized the president to proclaim "historic landmarks,
historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of
historic or scientific interest" as national monuments. Concerns
about protecting mostly prehistoric Indian ruins and
artifacts—collectively termed antiquities—on western federal
lands prompted the legislation. Its purpose was to allow the
president to quickly preserve public land without waiting for
legislation to pass through an unconcerned Congress. The
ultimate goal was to protect all historic and prehistoric sites
on U.S. federal lands.
President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national
monument, Devils Tower in Wyoming, on September 24, 1906. He
established eighteen national monuments, although only nine
still retain that designation. Fifteen presidents have created
national monuments since the program began; only Richard Nixon,
Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush did not. Bill Clinton
created the most monuments, nineteen, and expanded three others.
Jimmy Carter protected vast parts of Alaska, proclaiming fifteen
national monuments, some of which later were promoted to
national parks. The most recent national monument designated by
Presidential Proclamation was by George W. Bush on January 6,
2009. Three marine locations in the central Pacific Ocean were
protected, covering a total of 195,274 square miles.
United States Monuments
Admiralty Island NM, Alaska
African Burial Ground NM, New York
Agate Fossil Beds NM, Nebraska
Agua Fria NM, Arizona
Alibates Flint Quarries NM, Texas
Aniakchak NM, Alaska
Aztec Ruins NM, New Mexico
Bandelier NM, New Mexico
Booker T. Washington NM, Virginia
Buck Island Reef NM, Virgin Islands
Cabrillo NM, California
California Coastal NM, California
Canyon de Chelly NM, Arizona
Canyons of the Ancients NM, Colorado
Cape Krusenstern NM, Alaska
Capulin Volcano NM, New Mexico
Carrizo Plain NM, California
Casa Grande Ruins NM, Arizona
Cascade–Siskiyou NM, Oregon
Castillo de San Marcos NM, Florida
Castle Clinton NM, New York
Cedar Breaks NM, Utah
Chiricahua NM, Arizona
Colorado NM, Colorado
Craters of the Moon NM, Idaho
Devils Postpile NM, California
Devils Tower NM, Wyoming
Dinosaur NM, Colorado, Utah
Effigy Mounds NM, Iowa
El Malpais NM, New Mexico
El Morro NM, New Mexico
Florissant Fossil Beds NM, Colorado
Fort Frederica NM, Georgia
Fort Matanzas NM, Florida
Fort McHenry NM, Maryland
Fort Pulaski NM, Georgia
Fort Stanwix NM, New York
Fort Sumter NM, South Carolina
Fort Union NM, New Mexico
Fossil Butte NM, Wyoming
George Washington Birthplace NM, Virginia
George Washington Carver NM, Missouri
Giant Sequoia NM, California
Gila Cliff Dwellings NM, New Mexico
Governors Island NM, New York
Grand Canyon-Parashant NM, Arizona
Grand Portage NM, Minnesota
Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Utah
Hagerman Fossil Beds NM, Idaho
Hanford Reach NM, Washington
Hohokam Pima NM, Arizona
Homestead NM, Nebraska
Hovenweep NM, Colorado, Utah
Ironwood Forest NM, Arizona
Jewel Cave NM, South Dakota
John Day Fossil Beds NM, Oregon
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks NM, New Mexico
Lava Beds NM, California
Little Bighorn Battlefield NM, Montana
Marianas Trench Marine NM, Northern Mariana Islands
Misty Fjords NM, Alaska
Montezuma Castle NM, Arizona
Mount St. Helens NM, Washington
Muir Woods NM, California
Natural Bridges NM, Utah
Navajo NM, Arizona
Newberry NM, Oregon
Ocmulgee NM, Georgia
Oregon Caves NM, Oregon
Organ Pipe Cactus NM, Arizona
Pacific Remote Islands Marine NM, United States Minor Outlying
Islands sw of Hawaii
Papahānaumokuākea Marine NM, Hawaii
Petroglyph NM, New Mexico
Pinnacles NM, California
Pipe Spring NM, Arizona
Pipestone NM, Minnesota
Pompeys Pillar NM, Montana
Poverty Point NM, Louisiana
Prehistoric Trackways NM, New Mexico
President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home NM, District of Columbia
Rainbow Bridge NM, Utah
Rose Atoll Marine NM, American Samoa
Russell Cave NM, Alabama
Salinas Pueblo Missions NM, New Mexico
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains NM, California
Scotts Bluff NM, Nebraska
Sonoran Desert NM, Arizona
Statue of Liberty NM, New York, New Jersey
Sunset Crater Volcano NM, Arizona
Timpanogos Cave NM, Utah
Tonto NM, Arizona
Tuzigoot NM, Arizona
Upper Missouri River Breaks NM, Montana
Vermilion Cliffs NM, Arizona
Virgin Islands Coral Reef NM, Virgin Islands
Walnut Canyon NM, Arizona
White Sands NM, New Mexico
World War II Valor in the Pacific NM, Hawaii, Alaska,California
Wupatki NM, Arizona
Yucca House NM, Colorado
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