The U.S. National Park Service is 100!

On August 25, 1916 President Woodrow Wilson created the US National Park Service - ranging from stellar landscapes to homes such as "Hampton".  And what a house... and kitchen!  When built in 1790 it supposedly was the largest private house in the United States.  The state-of-the-art kitchen included a stew stove and Reip metal wall oven.

The NPS will celebrate by having free admittance from August 25th through the 28th to all 412 national parks. see link below

In the Baltimore area the NPS operates Fort McHenry and "Hampton" which remained in the Ridgely family from 1790-1948, so it is filled with original family items.  It was designated a National Historic Site in 1948 and became part of the NPS in 1979.  Many original outbuildings such as a dairy, slave quarters, and barns survive.

An article I wrote about Hampton - “A Federal-era Kitchen: Hampton’s Stew Stove, Iron Oven, and Hearth” in Food and Material Culture : proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2013  p248-255. HERE

For past and future posts click for Stew stove and Reip Oven

For Free Museums around the US on Smithsonian Day Sept. 24 click to see which museums are participating this year

LINKS
NPS centennial events
Hampton
Fort McHenry

©2016 Patricia Bixler Reber
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