WASHINGTON — Rock Creek Park in Northwest D.C. is one of the oldest parks in the nation, and a favorite among DMV residents. Now, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced a bill to rename the park Rock Creek National Park.
Norton said the name would highlight Rock Creek Park as one of the nation's great historic parks, along with national parks such as Yosemite and Sequoia National Park.
"We are grateful to enjoy all the amenities of a beautiful park running through our city, but Rock Creek Park also deserves its place among the nation's great historic parks," Norton said. "Rock Creek Park is one of America's oldest and most revered parks, enjoyed not only by hundreds of thousands of D.C. residents, but by the millions who visit the nation's capital each year. Rock Creek Park is a tourist destination different from our monument sites only in its creation by nature. Renaming Rock Creek Park as ‘Rock Creek National Park' would help recognize the national status of the park and would assist us in getting Congress to revitalize this remarkable resource in the nation's capital."
Rock Creek Park was established by Congress in 1890 “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the United States.” Rock Creek Park was the first federally managed urban park and the third federal park ever created, after Yellowstone and Sequoia. The park also preserves the ancient history of the land, as it was used for temporary settlements and as a quarry for weapons and tools by Native Americans from 7000 BCE until the 1600s.
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