The National Park Service (NPS) celebrated its 100th birthday on Aug. 25, 2016 with special events held throughout America’s national parks.
Established with the fundamental purpose to preserve the natural and cultural resources of the park system for the enjoyment of future generations, the NPS includes places that commemorate historic events and sites, including civil war battlefields and has expanded to include 412 sites covering more than 84 million acres. The Cabrillo National Monument is one of the sites managed by the NPS.
Here are some tidbits about the Cabrillo National Monument and its long history in San Diego:
1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sails aboard San Salvador into what is now
San Diego Bay
1913 President Woodrow Wilson creates the Cabrillo National Monument
1932 Site designated California Historical Landmark #56
1939 Portuguese government commissioned a statue of Cabrillo and donated it to the U.S.
1940 Statue was shipped from San Francisco to San Diego after former
Sen. Ed Fletcher obtained the sculpture
1949 Installed at Cabrillo National Monument
1988 Statue was replaced by a replica made of limestone after the original
art piece suffered weathering
Sources: National Park Service, California State Parks, Cabrillo National Monument
