Why Gateway Arch is a National Park (but shouldn't be)

Gateway Arch IS a National Park, but shouldn't be. By any criteria we usually measure for "National Parks," Gateway Arch doesn't meet any of them. Even the Park Service itself wasn't in favor of the name change. But, this isn't just a bunch of park nerds arguing over semantics here - the implications of Gateway Arch becoming a National Park are massive for our National Parks and for the National Park System as a whole. I explain it all in this video.

Sources and Resources:

Images and Music

Storyblocks
NPS
FDR Presidential Library
Library of Congress
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[gydeme]

Being from STL I totally agree on it's suspect designation as a national park however I will take umbrage with one fact! At 4:10 you say it is 360 feet tall when the arch is 630 feet tall

[thepretzel]

I'm with that director that it should be designated a National Monument.

[spinlok]

I’m a local St. Louisan and I do love the arch. But yeah, I’m in total agreement that it should not be a national park. National monument or Memorial is much more fitting. I would love to see an actual national park here in Missouri somewhere like perhaps in the Ozarks.

[Rryki]

I was just there for the last 2 days from Chicago, and I totally agree—it feels like the only reason they changed it from a memorial is to increase tourism to St. Louis.

Wouldn’t be surprised if it gets reverted back in the next decade or so.

[huebeyduebey]

I’ve always hated people ranking national parks. I’m from rural Kansas and maybe being surrounded by wheat and corn fields makes you appreciate natural places more. I’ve never not been awestruck walking through the local tall grass prairie preserve or the few untouched woods near the rivers or streams in my area let alone the national parks I’ve been lucky enough to visit. When driving through south western Colorado my girlfriend wanted to skip mesa verde because it ranked low on the list she found. I convinced her to go and we were blown away by the natural beauty and history

[Steveofthejungle]

I’m glad you don’t do the ranking and talking about the “worst” parks. This is a massive country with an incredible diversity of landscapes, and our national park service should reflect that. Just because some natural areas don’t have the dynamic beauty of the mountains or deserts out west doesn’t mean they’re not worth protecting or honoring. And the worst part about Gateway Arch is that there’s plenty of beautiful lands in Missouri that would definitely be great national parks! However, I think a way to fix the national park designation would be to include nearby Cahokia Mounds in Southern Illinois into the NPS (which is an idea that I think has been thrown around for a while) and incorporating it as a unit of this park to highlight another important aspect of the history of this country.

[alexconrad]

One topic I think you should look into is former parks, such as Mackinac Island, Sully's Hill, and Platt National Parks.

Even more interesting is the former national monuments. Many moved designations to parks, but some aren't in the NPS at all anymore. The worst story is Fossil Cycad, which was plundered for its elegant plant fossils.
Old Kasaan, was a former Haida village that was moved and is now lost entirely.
Castle Pinckney was given to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who failed to upkeep it.
Verendrye was removed from the list when its reason for being a monument in the first place was considered inaccurate (but may not be), then flooded under a reservoir.
Mount of the Holy Cross and Wheeler were too isolated, and are now a wilderness area and a "Geologic Area" in the forest service.
Papago Saguaro, which is now Papago Park in Phoenix was not suitable for an NM.
Shoshone Caverns and Lewis and Clark Caverns were not significant enough and were dropped.
Finally, and weirdest IMO, is Father Millet Cross NM, which was the smallest part of the NPS at 18 ft x 18 ft and is now just a part of the Fort Niagara SP in New York.

[sheepherd]

Visited the arch yesterday and felt like I was in fight or flight mode the whole time. The museum feels more like an exhibit in an airport than it does a place that “holds our sacred values and beliefs” as you say towards the end. It seems to serve as nothing more than a short, 60-90 min detour than as anything nearly national park worthy.

[camustang]

If the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore are not National Parks, then the Gateway Arch shouldn’t be either.

One thing I didn’t hear you mention is resource allocation. A National Park receives a lot more resources than a National Monument (or any of the other myriad of National Things do). This means LESS resources for the other National Parks. Their bucket is only so large.

[ulba]

Not having been to the arch yet, but having been to the Statue of Liberty and to Pearl Harbor, I strongly believe that the title of National Monument would be more fitting! great video man

[JoshDoingLinux]

I hereby declare that names should mean something. Not all monuments are parks.

[lordoftheringsblows]

I have worked in land management for the past few years some work with Forest Service and Park Service, most with a non profit. A couple years ago my coworkers and I were hiking on the land we helped manage for the non profit and discussing public lands. The topic being future National Parks and different places we've been or heard of that might get the title or we think should get it (we also discussed possible other Monuments, Forests, etc). After a while the joke became "Well the St. Louis Arch is a National Park so anything can be a Park now".

[ghost]

I'm a Missouri resident, and I was very confused as to why it became a National Park.

[macmckaskle]

Was in St Louis this time last year, thought then that it was strange that the Arch was a National Park.Odd too is the fact that it does not contain the Eads Bridge, next to the park, one of the most historic constructions ever built, first crossing of the lower Mississippi and the first major structure made of steel. Worst of all is that we have a national park across the river from the Cahokia ruins the most important prehistoric city in Eastern US. How Cahokia can just be a small state park and a few miles away the Arch is a national park, that says a lot about our priorities.

[ronriesinger]

“You get a national park, you get a national park and you get a national park!”

[MagnitudeReviews]

If it makes you feel better. Several park rangers at various national parks constantly bag on Gateway Arch for it’s designation.

This also includes myself. Who has worked at Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes, and Zion.

[Mark-cgbg]

As one originally from the DC area, your comments really resonated. Your discussion of the arch made me think of the handling of Rock Creek Park in DC and many other local "memorial parks, " as well as the lands around designated monuments. While managed by the National Park Service, these park properties don't require nearly as much staffing as a national park. I'm a believer in following the money and my guess is the city and county's local and federal representatives saw deeper pockets available with the NP designation.

[Hodaggium]

I've been to Saint Louis a few times over the years, and being able to see it is nice and all. However, I go to Forest Park while in town to get scenic beauty. I'll agree that the Arch should be a monument instead of a park.

[vtjadams]

THANK YOU for perfectly summarizing my thoughts on this! Love your videos -- you have a special passion and insight that makes these educational while still engaging.

I'd love to see you do a series on the history of the founding of each NP. Obviously parks like yellowstone and grand canyon are impressive, but is the history of these places "obviously we need to protect them" or was there some ornery guy who lived on the colorado River (*ahem* first americans) who opposed it and fought against it?

Whatever you do, I love your content and can't wait for the next one!

[rbran]

Platt National Park (now Chickasaw NRA) should have never been demoted while Gateway Arch exists man. Especially having been 10 times the size and with actual natural features (it is currently 100x the size of Gateway Arch and is still very pretty!)