For Immediate Release: March 1, 2000

Contact: John Wright 202/208-6416

Babbitt Announces the Designation of 18 Sites Important
to the Nation's History as National Historic Landmarks

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced the designation of 18 sites in 16 states as National Historic Landmarks. The designated sites from Florida to California were recommended by the National Park System Advisory Board for their diverse history and because they contain aspects of America's national heritage.

"These historic properties are the storytellers of our rich American history," Babbitt said. "Our diverse national heritage is locked in the very walls and grounds of these historic structures and will be preserved for future generations to learn from and enjoy."

The newly designated landmarks range from a 18^th Century planned cemetery to a 20^th Century shopping center. They also include George Washington's boyhood home site; Stonewall, the New York City location of the confrontation now regarded as the birth of the modern gay and lesbian rights movement in the United States; a Pennsylvania "station" on the Underground Railroad; a colonial-era fort site in Mississippi; Sotterley, a home in Maryland that represents the architectural and cultural history of the Chesapeake region; and other historic places.

National Historic Landmarks are identified by theme and special studies are prepared or overseen by National Park Service historians and archeologists. Landmark designation is the federal government's official recognition of the national importance of historic properties.

A site recognized as a National Historic Landmark receives such a designation because of its historical importance to the entire nation and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. While the National Register contains more than 67,000 historic sites, only about 2,200, or roughly 3 percent, have been selected for the higher designation as a National Historic Landmark. Owners of sites that are designated for their historical significance are free to manage their property as they choose, provided that no federal license, permit, or funding is involved. Owners of National Historic Landmarks may be able to obtain historic preservation funding, when funds are available. Federal investment tax credits for rehabilitation and other provisions also may apply.

Most National Historic Landmarks are owned by private individuals or groups. Others are owned by local, state, tribal, or federal government agencies, or may have mixed public-private ownership. Such designation offers advantages to owners who wish to preserve their properties. A bronze plaque bearing the name of the National Historic Landmark and attesting to its national significance is presented to the owner upon request.

A brief description of the designated sites announced today is attached.

RANCHO CAMULOS, Ventura County, California

One of several California ranchos visited by Helen Hunt Jackson prior to the publication of her novel, Ramona, Rancho Camulos came to be regarded as the "home" of the novel's fictional heroine. The popularity of the novel gave rise to a romanticized vision of the mission and rancho era of California history. Camulos thus became an important tourist attraction that helped to invent and broadcast the romanticized image of California's past.

SHENANDOAH-DIVES (Mayflower) MILL, San Juan County, Colorado

The Shenandoah-Dives Mill is the finest remaining example of a mill that employed the flotation process of hard-rock milling. Developed in the early 20^th century, this process revolutionized the mining and milling industries in America.

GROVE STREET CEMETERY, New Haven, Connecticut

Prior to the incorporation of the Grove Street Cemetery in 1797, providing burial space had been just one of many functions undertaken by civil government, religious societies or individual families. Founded by a group of private citizens intent on creating a dignified and functional burying ground for the entire community, Grove Street Cemetery illustrates the historical development of the American cemetery as a distinctive landscape.

WHITEHALL (Henry F. Flagler House), Palm Beach, Florida

Completed in 1901, Whitehall was the winter home of Henry Morrison Flagler--one of John D. Rockefeller's two original partners and a founder of Standard Oil Company--who was the primary developer of the State of Florida, the last American frontier east of the Mississippi. Whitehall epitomizes the luxurious American country house of the turn of the century.

HERNDON HOME, Atlanta, Georgia

This house was the home of Alonzo Herndon, the founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, one of the largest black insurance companies in the United States, and his wife Adrienne. The Herndons' represent the highest levels of elite African American society during the early 20^th century, and their home is particularly illustrative of the aspirations and lifestyle of wealthy African Americans during the "Jim Crow" era.

FORT JAMES JACKSON, Chatham County, Georgia

Built by the U.S. Government between 1808 and 1812 to defend the harbor and city of Savannah, Georgia, Fort James Jackson is one of only five surviving Second System Seacoast Fortifications. It retains most of its original 1808 design and is unique in shape from the other remaining Second System forts.

ARTHUR HEURTLEY HOUSE, Oak Park, Illinois

Widely recognized as a critical work in the history of modern architecture both nationally and internationally, the Heurtley house is understood to be the first fully mature Prairie style house. It marks a pivotal point in the early development of the career of the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

KENNEBEC ARSENAL, Augusta, Maine

Built between 1828-1838, this arsenal is the most intact early nineteenth century munitions depot in the United States. The arsenal was constructed in Augusta to protect the United States' northern border with Canada, and was associated with the bloodless Aroostook "War," a border dispute with Great Britain that lasted from 1820-1842 and nearly led to war.

BOLLMAN TRUSS RAILROAD BRIDGE, Howard County, Maryland

This bridge is the sole surviving example of a revolutionary design in the history of American bridge engineering that was invented and patented by Wendel A. Bollman, a major figure in 19th century civil engineering. In addition, the bridge is one of the oldest standing iron railroad bridges in the United States.

SOTTERLEY, St. Mary's County, Maryland

The main house is one of two surviving examples of post-in-ground framing extant in the Chesapeake region of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, and provides exceptionally rare material evidence of this construction method. In addition to its signal importance as an architectural artifact, Sotterley's physical structure also embodies valuable insights into Chesapeake society and culture.

NATHAN AND POLLY JOHNSON PROPERTIES, New Bedford, Massachusetts

This was the first home of the famed fugitive and later abolitionist Frederick Douglass after his 1838 escape from slavery. Its owners and Douglass' hosts Nathan and Polly Johnson played an important role in the antebellum effort to eradicate American slavery and assisted other slaves escaping from the South on the Underground Railroad.

FORT ST. PIERRE SITE, Warren County, Mississippi

Established in 1718, Fort St. Pierre was located about half way between two major French colonial population centers to prevent English traders from penetrating the French sphere of influence in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The fort was also a point of interaction between the French and Native American tribes in the area and was destroyed during a Natchez uprising in 1729. Archeological investigations of the site provide valuable information concerning the interaction between the French and Native groups in this region.

ABEL AND MARY NICHOLSON HOUSE, Salem County, New Jersey

Built in 1722, the original block of this house is an outstanding example of a Delaware Valley, brick, patterned-end house. It stands alone as the only known, pristine survivor of an Anglo-American building tradition that existed for three quarters of a century.

STONEWALL, New York City, New York

This area is associated with events that represent the struggle for gay civil rights in America. This site encompasses a several block district in Greenwich Village that was the location of a series of confrontations between members of the gay community and the police, collectively known as Stonewall, that occurred between June 28 and July 3, 1969. Stonewall is regarded by many as marking the birth of the modern gay and lesbian liberation movement.

EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This small, elegant church is the work of Henry Hobson Richardson, one of the great architects that emerged from nineteenth-century industrialization in America. The simplicity and strength of this work anticipate the later development of the Arts and Crafts movement in America.

JAMES AND MARY BOYKIN CHESTNUT HOUSE, Camden, South Carolina

While residing in this plantation house, Mary Boykin Chestnut recorded in her diary events of the Civil War and her observations on their effect on the home front and southern society. As later published, her diary is acknowledged by literary scholars of the subject as the most important piece of literature produced by a Confederate author

HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE, Highland Park, Texas

This complex of seven detached commercial units focused on a central pedestrian and automobile parking plaza, and represent a pivotal point in the evolution of the shopping center as a distinctive building type in 20^th century architecture in the United States. Shopping centers such as Highland Park played a major role in the decentralization of the downtown commercial core of cities across the United States.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD HOME SITE, Stafford County, Virginia

This site, also known as Ferry Farm, contains archaeological resources that have yielded new information about the material circumstances of George Washington's life, and have demonstrated the potential to yield additional data that will affect scholarly understanding of Washington's early years. In addition, the site has specific associations with stories and traditions related to Washington's youth that have become a fundamental part of American national culture and ideals.