Norton Introduces Bill to Rename Rock Creek Park as ‘Rock Creek National Park’
WASHINGTON, D.C – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today, on the 131st anniversary of the creation of Rock Creek Park, reintroduced her bill to rename it "Rock Creek National Park," which would acknowledge the importance of the park for the nation, visitors, tourists, and its central place for District of Columbia residents. Norton said this 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. Rock Creek is the nation's oldest federally managed urban park and the third oldest federal park in the country. This name change will help Congress to understand it must do more to support Rock Creek 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. "With its 131st anniversary today, 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."
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