1999 Visitors: 551,208
Location: Lowell, Massachusetts
The Industrial Revolution looms large at this park that features guided tours of textile mills, worker housing, 5.6 miles of canals, and 19th-century commercial buildings. Learning about the typical day of a "mill girl" may just make you appreciate your job! All in all, the park cover 141 acres of land.
Helpful National Park Service Links:
Lowell National Historical Park Travel Basics
Activities and Facilities
Lowell National Historical Park for Kids
7. Boston African American National Historical Site
1999 Visitors: 391,235
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood is home to this National Park that is made up of 15 pre-Civil War structures associated with the city's African American history and heritage. The sites, including the African Meeting House, the oldest standing African-American church in the United States, are linked by the 1.6-mile (2.5-km) Black Heritage Trail. Guided walking tours are offered daily, or visit the sites at your own pace on a self-guided tour.
Helpful National Park Service Links:
Boston African American National Historical Site Travel Basics
Activities
8. New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
1999 Visitors: 246,920
Location: New Bedford, Massachusetts
Where can you see a 19th-century whaling port and hear whaling tales? More than a quarter million people find themselves transported back to New England's seafaring heydays when they visit the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park each year. One of the newest National Parks created in 1996, this 34-acre spot features a Visitor Center, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Seamen's Bethel, the Schooner Ernestina, and the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum.
Helpful National Park Service Links:
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Travel Basics
Activities and Facilities
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park for Kids
9. Adams National Historical Site
1999 Visitors: 84,574
Location: Quincy, Massachusetts
Explore the lives of five generations of the Adams Family. No, not those creepy TV folks, the prominent early Americans who included two Presidents and First Ladies, three United States Ministers, historians, and writers. The John Adams Birthplace and John Quincy Adams Birthplace are two of the 11 historic structures housed at this 14-acre National Park. A trolley bus is your time machine that will take you from site to site.
Helpful National Park Service Links:
Adams National Historical Site Travel Basics
Activities and Facilities
Adams National Historical Site for Kids
10. Roger Williams National Memorial
1999 Visitors: 60,916
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Roger Williams, crusader for religious freedom in America, leaps from the pages of history at the Roger Williams National Memorial, were tens of thousands of visitors each year tour exhibits at this 4.5-acre park located on this site of the original settlement at Providence.
Helpful National Park Service Links:
Roger Williams National Memorial Travel Basics
Activities and Facilities
Roger Williams National Memorial for Kids
*1999 Attendance figures reported by the National Park Service.
