Philadelphia is home to the smallest National Park

The Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Old City, Philadelphia. Credit: Charles Mostoller.

For a city ripe with historic landmarks and national treasures, the country’s smallest national park doesn’t seem like a fit.

But apparently the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, formerly the home to the Polish Revolutionary War hero, is the smallest park in the country.

“It goes by acres,” said Park Ranger Adam Duncan. “It’s 0.02 acres which makes it the smallest national park in the system.”

The park, which is technically its own site after it was designated by Congress in 1972, still falls under the jurisdiction of Independence National Historic Park.

Depsite the various sizes, all 401 national parks will celebrate National Park Week, which extends from April 19 to Sunday. And there is a lot to love locally: “There is a total of 45.42 acres administered by the National Parks Service in Philadelphia,” Duncan said.

Parks by the numbers

The National Parks system encompass 84 million acres in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The largest park is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska with over 13.2 million acres.