FIRST - State Park of Pennsylvania - Valley Forge, PA - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

The area around Washington's Headquarters was chosen as the park site. In 1923, the VFPC was brought under the Department of Forests and Waters and later incorporated into the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1971. Valley Forge was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1961 and was listed in the initial National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In 1976, Pennsylvania gave the park as a gift to the nation for the Bicentennial. The U.S. Congress passed a law, signed by President Gerald Ford on July 4, 1976, authorizing the addition of Valley Forge National Historical Park to the National Park System.

Valley Forge was the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army. The park commemorates the sacrifices and perseverance of the Revolutionary War generation and honors the ability of citizens to pull together and overcome adversity during extraordinary times.

I found the perfect site which tells the story of this first. Here is a smattering of what is there: Pennsylvanians had been trying for years to preserve Valley Forge, where George Washington encamped the army during the American Revolution. Private citizens formed the Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge in 1878. Within a year the organization took possession of Washington's Headquarters and eventually acquired full ownership. The state legislature appropriated 5,000 dollars to maintain the headquarters.

Failing to get federal money, on May 30, 1893, Governor Robert E. Pattison signed Act 130 "for the acquisition of ground at Valley Forge for a public park." This act also created a ten-person commission that worked to acquire more land and get facilities constructed.

Source cited below.

The posted coordinates are for the welcome center. Stop there and get a map before venturing out into the park. This was how I discovered this was a first. I spoke with one of the volunteers at the desk who informed me of this first status of this former state park, now a national park.

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