List of national memorials of the United States
National memorial is a designation in the United States for an officially recognized area that memorializes a historic person or event. the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, owns and administers thirty memorials as official units and provides assistance for five more, known as affiliated areas, that are operated by other organizations. Congress has also designated several additional independently operated sites as national memorials. Another six memorials have been authorized and are in the planning or construction stages. Memorials need not be located on a site directly related to the subject, and many, such as the Lincoln Memorial, do not have the word "national" in their titles.
The earliest and perhaps most recognizable is the uniquely designated Washington Monument, which was completed in 1884 and transferred to the NPS in 1933. The most recently named is the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, so designated by Congress and dedicated in 2018. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial was created out of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in 2019 and was previously just the USS Arizona Memorial. The NPS national memorials are in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C., has the most, eleven, followed by Pennsylvania and New York, each with three. The affiliated areas are in four states and the Northern Mariana Islands, while the other sites are in nine states, the District of Columbia, and Midway Atoll.
Among the NPS national memorials and affiliated areas, nine celebrate US presidents, eleven recognize other historic figures, six commemorate wars, five memorialize disasters, and five represent early exploration. Ten of the nineteen non-NPS memorials commemorate wars or veterans, another six represent groups of people who died for related reasons, and two relate to Native American history. Several major war memorials are located on or near the National Mall, contributing to the national identity. The historic areas within the National Park System are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"National Memorial" is omitted below in the names of sites that include it; others may separate the two words or just use "Memorial", and there is also one international memorial included. Self-appellations by private organizations, such as the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, that are not officially designated are not listed here, as Congress has reserved the right to create national memorials.
National Park Service national memorials
The National Park Service manages 30 national memorials as official units. It also oversees two more national memorials as part of other units, listed with the other national memorials. A few additional units, including Fort McHenry National Monument, include "national memorial" in their enabling legislation, but are not otherwise called that and are thus not listed here.| Name | Image | Location | Date established | Area | Description |
| Arkansas Post | Arkansas | Henri de Tonti established the Arkansas Post in 1686 as the first European trading post in the Mississippi River Valley as part of French Louisiana. It grew into a small settlement and was the site of skirmishes with Native Americans before becoming part of New Spain in 1763 and the US in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. A Civil War battle was won by the Union there in 1863. Visitors can tour a reconstructed fort and archaeological remains of Native American, European, and American settlements. | |||
| Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial | Virginia | This mansion was built by George Washington's adopted son George Washington Parke Custis, partially as a memorial to Washington. After Custis's death it was managed by his son-in-law Robert E. Lee, who became commander of the Confederate States Army. The US government seized it during the Civil War and established Arlington National Cemetery around it. The house and grounds have been restored with pre-war decor and artifacts of the Custis and Lee families. | |||
| Chamizal | Texas | Northward shifts in the Rio Grande led to a dispute over the Mexico–United States border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez. Summits and tribunals beginning in 1909 failed to resolve the controversy until a 1964 settlement transferred land on both sides of a rechanneled river. The museum and park next to the Bridge of the Americas checkpoint commemorate the resolution and international diplomacy. | |||
| Coronado | Arizona | Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led the first European exploration of the Southwest, from Arizona to Kansas, finding the Grand Canyon. The site on the Mexican border, where Coronado entered what is now the US, includes a cave and hiking trails through ridges and canyons. | |||
| De Soto | Florida | Hernando de Soto led the first European exploration of the Southeast, searching for gold while trading and fighting with various Native American tribes before his death along the Mississippi River in 1542. The memorial at the landing site on Tampa Bay has a reconstructed camp, reenactment events, historic artifacts, and waterfront trails. | |||
| Federal Hall | New York | This neoclassical building on Wall Street, originally the Port of New York Custom House, stands at the site of the first US Capitol building. The original Federal style building was the site of George Washington's inauguration, the 1st United States Congress, and previously the Congress of the Confederation. | |||
| Flight 93 | Pennsylvania | The fourth airplane hijacked in the September 11, 2001, attacks, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field in southwest Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against the terrorists. The memorial on the site has a white granite wall engraved with the names of the 40 victims, a -tall Tower of Voices with 40 wind chimes, and a visitor center. | |||
| Fort Caroline | Florida | Around 200 French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline as a refuge in French Florida in 1685. A year later the Spanish founded St. Augustine nearby and attacked and massacred the settlers at Fort Caroline to take unified control of the region. The current site within the Timucuan Preserve has a reconstructed fort with hiking trails, a visitor center, and monument to the executed leader Jean Ribault. | |||
| Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial | District of Columbia | Franklin D. Roosevelt was the United States' longest-serving president, leading the country during a period of enormous national challenges. Four sections of waterfalls and pools represent Roosevelt's terms in office, when he instituted the New Deal to modernize the economy during the Great Depression and unified the country during World War II. Bronze statues of Roosevelt, his wife Eleanor, his dog Fala, and scenes of period Americans stand between stone walls engraved with notable quotations. | |||
| General Grant | New York | Ulysses S. Grant was general of the Union Army and led several victories in Civil War battles before forcing surrender of Lee's Confederacy. He served two terms as president of the United States, overseeing Reconstruction and civil rights, government reform, and relations with Native Americans. Grant's Tomb is his and his wife's resting place, designed after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. | |||
| Hamilton Grange | New York | Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father who promoted adoption of the Constitution and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury to establish the nation's economic and political system. He lived in this mansion in Harlem for the last two years of his life before being killed in a duel, and his widow lived there for 29 more years. It has been relocated in the vicinity twice for preservation and restoration and now hosts tours. | |||
| Johnstown Flood | Pennsylvania | When the South Fork Dam catastrophically failed in 1889, the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was flooded and more than 2,200 people died, making the flood now the third-deadliest event in the US. The memorial at the site of the dam remains features a visitor center, short hiking trails, and a historic clubhouse. | |||
| Korean War Veterans Memorial | District of Columbia | The US led United Nations forces in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 defending South Korea against North Korea as part of the Cold War. Of the over 300,000 US servicemembers, more than 36,000 died in the war that ended in a stalemate. The memorial includes a black granite wall etched with images of soldiers, 19 statues of a platoon on patrol, and the Pool of Remembrance that reflects the surrounding linden trees. | |||
| Lincoln Boyhood | Indiana | Abraham Lincoln moved with his family from Kentucky to forested Southern Indiana in 1816 and lived there from age 7 to 21. He worked on his family's farm and taught himself with little formal schooling during these formative years. His mother died and is buried here. A living museum reenacts a period farm at a reconstructed homestead near the original home's foundation and a sculpted limestone memorial building. | |||
| Lincoln Memorial | District of Columbia | Abraham Lincoln led the Union during the Civil War, bringing back together a divided nation and abolishing slavery before being assassinated shortly after the end of the war. A -tall statue of a seated Lincoln sits in this grand temple overlooking the National Mall toward the Capitol. Inside walls are inscribed with the text of his second inaugural address and the Gettysburg Address. Thirty-six Doric columns that represent the states of the Union in 1865 support an entablature whose frieze is inscribed with the names of the 48 states at the time of construction in 1922. | |||
| Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac | District of Columbia | Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency saw passage of Great Society legislation that expanded health care access through Medicare and Medicaid, established civil and voting rights prohibiting racial discrimination, addressed poverty and rural development, and promoted conservation and environmental protection. The grove of pine and dogwood trees surrounded by flowers sits on an island in the Potomac with trails, meadows, and a commemorative granite monolith. | |||
| Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial | District of Columbia | Martin Luther King Jr. was the most significant leader of the Civil rights movement, organizing boycotts against segregated buses, solidarity marches for civil rights, and the March on Washington against inequality. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for nonviolent resistance but was assassinated in 1968. Notable quotations, including from his "I Have a Dream" speech and sermons, are etched on granite walls and a sculpture of King. | |||
| Mount Rushmore | South Dakota | Gutzon Borglum led the sculpting of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln into a mountain in the Black Hills. Limited funding resulted in carving only heads without their torsos. Mountain goats, mule deer, and yellow-bellied marmots are among the wildlife living in the hills near the visitor center and walking path. | |||
| Pearl Harbor | Hawaii | The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led to the entry of the United States into World War II. Japanese bombers in a surprise attack damaged 21 ships, killing 2,403 Americans. Only the USS Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah were total losses, and their memorials are the centerpieces of this site that also includes Battleship Row and a visitor center with boat rides to the USS Arizona Memorial at the site of the wreck. | |||
| Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial | Ohio | Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's naval fleet defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812, securing control of the lake and later peace with Britain and Canada. The world's largest Doric column, with an observation deck on top, stands tall on South Bass Island to commemorate the battle and international cooperation. | |||
| Port Chicago Naval Magazine | California | In 1944, 430 tons of munition exploded while being loaded onto ships at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine, creating a three-mile-wide fireball that killed 320 people and seriously injured 390 more in the Port Chicago disaster. The majority of victims were Black, and a subsequent mutiny protesting unsafe conditions and segregation led to a court-martial of the mutineers and eventually integration of the armed forces. | |||
| Roger Williams | Rhode Island | Roger Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island on the basis of religious freedom, having been exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for separating from the Church of England. The memorial is a landscaped park in downtown Providence, with a visitor center in a historic home. | |||
| Thaddeus Kosciuszko | Pennsylvania | Polish engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko joined the Continental Army when the American Revolution broke out, overseeing various fort construction projects and later leading troops on the battlefield. After returning to Poland and leading a failed uprising against Russian occupation, he briefly lived at this house in Philadelphia before returning to Europe again. This is the smallest unit of the National Park System. | |||
| Theodore Roosevelt Island | District of Columbia | Theodore Roosevelt led the Rough Riders during the Spanish–American War and served as governor of New York before becoming vice president and then president when William McKinley was assassinated. His Square Deal promoted trustbusting, labor rights, and consumer protection, and he was a noted conservationist, establishing the Forest Service, the first national monuments, and wildlife refuges. This forested island in the Potomac features hiking trails and a memorial plaza with fountains, notable quotations, and a statue of Roosevelt. | |||
| Thomas Jefferson Memorial | District of Columbia | Thomas Jefferson was a Founding Father who wrote the Declaration of Independence, was the first secretary of state, and served as president from 1801 to 1809. He promoted democratic ideals, individual freedoms, and states' rights in his nationally formative writings, and as president he expanded the country's territory with the Louisiana Purchase. The memorial, based on the Pantheon and the Rotunda at the University of Virginia that Jefferson designed himself, sits on the Tidal Basin with a bronze statue facing toward the White House surrounded by notable quotations. | |||
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial | District of Columbia | Almost three million Americans were deployed to Vietnam during the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975 as part of a campaign to stop communism in the region. Reflective black granite walls, sunken below ground level, bear the names of 58,320 servicemembers who died during the conflict. There are also statues representing women who served and the diversity of soldiers. | |||
| Washington Monument | District of Columbia | As commanding general of the Continental Army, George Washington was instrumental in securing victory in the Revolutionary War, leading him to serve as the first president of the United States. His presidency laid the foundations for the politics of the republic with policies on banking, taxes, the judiciary, and foreign affairs. The Monument, the centerpiece of the National Mall, is a tall obelisk of marble, granite, and gneiss topped with a small aluminum pyramid. A variety of interior memorial stones are visible from the elevator to the observation deck. | |||
| World War I Memorial | District of Columbia | The US entered World War I in 1917 and the American Expeditionary Forces saw about 2.8 million servicemembers fight in Europe through the end of the following year, with 53,000 deaths. Originally called Pershing Park in honor of General John J. Pershing, as of 2019 the memorial is undergoing a conversion from a fountain and pond to a lawn and plaza with a wall of remembrance. | |||
| World War II Memorial | District of Columbia | Over 16 million veterans served during World War II from 1941 to 1945 alongside the other Allies against the Axis powers. The memorial recognizes their service with two triumphal arches representing the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, surrounded by 56 pillars for the states and territories. At the center is a pool with an oval of fountains, on the east are walls engraved with scenes of war, and on the west is a wall with 4,048 gold stars representing the approximately 404,800 killed in action. | |||
| Wright Brothers | North Carolina | Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered flight with the Wright Flyer at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk in 1903, developing it into the first fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III. A monument tower representing a wing commemorates their achievement and earlier aviation experimenters. Paths outline the routes of the first flights near a reproduction hangar. |
Affiliated areas of the National Park Service
The National Park Service provides technical or financial assistance to affiliated areas but does not own or administer them.| Name | Image | Location | Date established | Area | Description |
| American Memorial Park | Northern Mariana Islands | The Japanese had mandate over the Northern Mariana Islands after World War I and used them as a base for their World War II Pacific offensive. The key summer 1944 Battles of Saipan and Tinian during the Mariana Islands campaign led to the US liberation of the islands. The Commonwealth-owned memorial commemorates the thousands of American and Chamorro casualties during the campaign with a flag monument, bell tower, and granite memorial near recreational park areas and a mangrove forest. | |||
| Benjamin Franklin | Pennsylvania | Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father who served in several political and diplomatic roles during the early republic, signing both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He made a number of scientific inquiries and inventions including the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove. The marble statue of a seated Franklin sits in the Memorial Hall rotunda of the Franklin Institute. | |||
| Father Marquette | Michigan | The French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette founded the first two European settlements in Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace, seeking to convert Native Americans to Catholicism. He joined Louis Jolliet on an exploration of the Upper Mississippi River. A memorial and interpretive trail in Straits State Park overlook the Mackinac Bridge. | |||
| Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | Anti-government terrorists detonated a truck bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, injuring another 680, and damaging hundreds of buildings. The memorial features a reflecting pool flanked by square bronze gates that represent the moments before and after the event at 9:01 am on April 19, 1995. A field of empty chairs and what is left of the building's walls symbolize the victims and survivors, mostly federal employees and children at a day care. | |||
| Red Hill Patrick Henry | Virginia | Patrick Henry was the first governor of Virginia and was known for his oration for the cause of independence from Britain, including his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech. He lived at his Red Hill estate the last five years of his life, which now has the original law office and reconstructed home. |
Other national memorials
Congress has designated a number of sites as national memorials but not as units or affiliated areas of the National Park Service. While some are operated by other government agencies, most of these were created by local governments or private organizations which sought federal designation for wider and official recognition; the naming does not necessarily come with federal funding. Congress has also authorized the construction of many memorials or commemorative works on federal land under the Commemorative Works Act, usually in Washington, D.C., or nearby; these are not listed unless specifically called a national memorial.| Name | Image | Location | Date established | Description |
| AIDS Memorial Grove | California | This landscaped space in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park features redwood trees, meadows, and memorial spaces dedicated to victims and patients of HIV/AIDS and the continued fight against the disease. | ||
| Astronauts Memorial | Florida | The Space Mirror Memorial at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is a reflective black granite monument engraved with the names of 24 astronauts who have died in spaceflight missions or training. Major disasters include Apollo 1 and Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia. | ||
| Battle of Midway | Midway Atoll | The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was the turning point of the Pacific War that put the US Navy on the offensive. The victory cost the lives of 307 sailors, a destroyer, and an aircraft carrier, but secured the vital base on the island and weakened the Japanese position. The Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a memorial park at the dual-named Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial, a breeding ground for albatross, Hawaiian monk seals, and other marine life. | ||
| Bosque Redondo Memorial | New Mexico | From 1864 to 1866 the military forcibly deported over 8,000 Navajo from their native Arizona as part of the Long Walk of the Navajo that killed more than 200. They were interned with 500 Mescalero Apaches at the Bosque Redondo reservation, controlled from Fort Sumner, from 1863 to 1868. It is now a state historic site with a museum and interpretive trail. | ||
| David Berger Memorial | Ohio | David Berger was an American Israeli weightlifter who competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He and ten other Israeli competitors and coaches were kidnapped and killed by terrorists in the Munich massacre. Located at a Jewish Community Center, a steel sculpture of the five Olympic rings split in half sits on eleven supporting segments. | ||
| Disabled American Veterans Vietnam Veterans | New Mexico | The parents of a soldier killed in Vietnam built a sail-shaped chapel with the assistance of Disabled American Veterans to honor all veterans of the war. The site, a New Mexico state park, also has a helicopter damaged in Vietnam and sculptures of a soldier and nurses. | ||
| Distinguished Flying Cross | – | California | The Distinguished Flying Cross has been awarded to more than 170,000 members of the US armed forces and some civilians who have shown "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight". The March Field Air Museum hosts this pyramidal monument in honor of their service. | |
| Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II | District of Columbia | The US government baselessly on challenged the loyalty of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, detaining them in a number of internment camps around the country. Despite that, 33,000 Japanese Americans served their country in the armed forces. This monument depicting cranes escaping barbed wire symbolizes their sacrifices during this injustice. It is part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit. | ||
| Medicine Creek Treaty | – | Washington | The 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek established three reservations for nine south Puget Sound-area tribes, who ceded to the US government; agreed-upon payments and hunting and fishing rights however were not respected, leading to further conflict. The signing site is managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, named for a Nisqually activist who successfully fought for the treaty rights. | |
| Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial | California | A wooden cross was originally placed on Mount Soledad in San Diego by local residents in 1913. The current -tall concrete cross was built in 1954 by Christian groups and was designated a memorial to veterans in 1989. The Department of Defense took the site from the city by eminent domain in 2006 until it was sold to a private association in 2015 following a three-decade-long Establishment Clause legal battle. Six walls are covered in plaques commemorating veterans and military units. | ||
| National D-Day Memorial | Virginia | American troops joined Allied forces in the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, to begin the liberation of France. More than 150,000 Allied troops landed in a sustained airborne and amphibious assault on five beaches that saw more than 10,000 casualties. The memorial includes a central pool, Operation Overlord arch, numerous statues of commandos in action and General Eisenhower, and flags of participating nations. | ||
| National Fallen Firefighters Memorial | Maryland | On the campus of the National Fire Academy, a sculpted St. Florian cross and eternal flame are surrounded by a Wall of Honor with the names of firefighters who died in the line of duty. | ||
| National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial | District of Columbia | Honoring more than 21,000 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, the memorial plaza has tree-lined pathways protected by twelve bronze lions. | ||
| National Memorial to Fallen Educators | Kansas | Located at the National Teachers Hall of Fame, this monument honors educators who lost their lives in the course of their roles, including victims of school shootings and school bus accidents. | ||
| National Veterans Memorial and Museum | Ohio | This is the first museum dedicated to veterans and their families, focusing on their individual stories and sacrifices rather than the military and war. Exhibits show servicemembers' journeys throughout American history and how veterans are recognized in society. An elm-lined memorial grove with waterfalls into a reflecting pool offers space for remembrance. | ||
| Prisoner of War/Missing in Action | California | This memorial at Riverside National Cemetery depicts a man on his knees and bound by his captors, surrounded by pillars of black marble. It commemorates American servicemembers who have been taken prisoner of war or went missing in action. | ||
| United States Marine Corps War Memorial | Virginia | This memorial is dedicated to the dead of the US Marine Corps since its founding in 1775. Located at George Washington Memorial Parkway it depicts the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, a symbol of the Corps's dedication in amphibious warfare. | ||
| USS Indianapolis Memorial | Indiana | The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a submarine after it delivered parts of the Little Boy atomic bomb to Tinian, killing 300 sailors when it sank. Another 600 perished during four days adrift and only 316 survived, making it the US Navy's greatest loss of life at sea due to its failure to monitor the ship's movement. The granite memorial resembles the shape of a ship and depicts the Indianapolis with the names of the crew. | ||
| White Cross World War I Memorial | California | A white cross was originally erected by Veterans of Foreign Wars in the Mojave Desert in 1934 as a memorial to American participation in World War I and those who served. Previously in Mojave National Preserve, the land around the cross was conveyed to the VFW due to separation of church and state concerns, the constitutionality of which transfer was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010. |
Future national memorials
These memorials have been authorized by Congress but have not yet been constructed and established.| Name | Location | Date authorized | Description |
| Adams Memorial | District of Columbia | Will honor presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, their wives, and other members of the Adams political family. Neither a location nor design has been selected but a new commission was established in 2019. | |
| National Emergency Medical Services Memorial | District of Columbia | Will honor the services of emergency medical services personnel. There is a 2025 deadline to raise funds and finalize a design for the memorial. | |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial | District of Columbia | Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States in the 1950s. His accomplishments included enforcing school integration, creating NASA and the Interstate Highway System, and ending the Korean War. The memorial is under construction and will include stacked blocks showing quotations and sculptures and a steel tapestry with an abstract depiction of D-Day. The NPS is expected to manage the site after dedication in May 2020. | |
| National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial | District of Columbia | Will commemorate the events and veterans of the Gulf War, a six-month troop buildup and conflict that ended the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. There is a 2021 deadline to raise funds and finalize a proposed spiral-shaped wall design. | |
| National Global War on Terrorism Memorial | District of Columbia | Will commemorate the events and veterans of the War on Terror, including the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan and other military campaigns. There is a 2024 deadline to raise funds and finalize a design for the memorial. | |
| National Liberty Memorial | District of Columbia | Will commemorate slaves and free black persons who served in the American Revolution. There is a 2021 deadline to raise funds and finalize a design for the memorial. | |
| National Native American Veterans Memorial | District of Columbia | This memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian will honor the military service of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian veterans. A steel circle standing on a stone drum is under construction with dedication expected in November 2020. | |
| Saint Francis Dam Disaster | California | The St. Francis Dam was a 700 ft -wide dam that supported a reservoir for Los Angeles's water supply. It catastrophically failed in 1928 and the flood killed at least 431 people. A memorial will be built within Angeles National Forest by the US Forest Service. |