Should Rock Creek Park have ‘National’ in its name?

The biggest park in the District could be renamed “Rock Creek National Park” under a new bill that D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced in Congress Tuesday. Such a change “would acknowledge the importance of the park for the nation, visitors and tourists, in addition to its central place for District of Columbia residents,” her office said in a release.

Dedicated in 1890, Rock Creek Park is the U.S.’s oldest urban park and its third-oldest federal park. It’s over double the size of Central Park in New York, covering 1,754 acres. (Rock Creek also provides a great place to hike and relax.) Norton said the park should be more widely recognized among national parks like Yellowstone and Sequoia National Park.

“Rock Creek Park is a tourist destination different from our monument sites only in its creation by nature,” the delegate said in her introductory remarks. “Redesignating Rock Creek Park as Rock Creek National Park will help recognize the national status of the park and will assist us in getting Congress to revitalize this remarkable resource in our nation’s capital.” She added that funding is needed for the park’s trails, waterways, and other areas.

The National Park Service, which manages Rock Creek Park and other federally controlled parks in D.C., recently held its first regular meeting with local residents about those parks. The meetings are anticipated to be held every quarter so residents can share their feedback.