Tourism News

For Immediate Release, March 17, 2017

Roosevelt-Vanderbilt-Van Buren National Historic Sites Attracted More Than 663,000 Visits in 2016

HYDE PARK, NEW YORK – The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, The Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site and Martin Van Buren National Historic Site recorded more than 663,000 visitors in 2016, which coincided with the National Park Service’s Centennial year celebration. The numbers reflect a 7% increase in visitation at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site and an 18.4% increase at Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, surpassing 2015 visitation figures. “Remarkable” stated Superintendent Larry Turk. “It was just a few years ago when we saw a major increase in visitation as a result of the Ken Burns documentary, The Roosevelts. We figured it would be hard to top that. It’s great to see the strong increases in visitation to the two Presidential Homes. Due in large part to our centennial campaign, Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque, and our park partners, we were able to reach new audiences and highlight more of our community involvement.” Students attending park programs and tours in 2016 at The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Site, and Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site increased 21% over 2015 figures. The Every Kid in Park program also encouraged visitation by offering every fourth grader in America a free one-year National Parks Pass for the student and his or her family. In 2016, over 300 park volunteers donated over 13,000 hours of service. These volunteers provided much needed help across the park including visitor services, interpretation, garden volunteers, train volunteers and trail maintenance. For more information about visitation, please go to the National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics web page at https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/.