Centennial Celebration at Arizona's Natural Wonder

CENTENNIAL Celebration of Arizona’s Natural Wonder

This year the Grand Canyon National Park is celebrating its 100th Anniversary. In honor of the Centennial milestone, the Grand Canyon Conservancy and the Grand Canyon National Park will host a variety of events throughout the year at the canyon and in cities around Arizona.

The actual date of the Grand Canyon becoming a National Park was February 26, 1919 — just three years after the inception of the National Park Service itself. On the anniversary date in 2019, there will be a Centennial Celebration at the canyon. Many other special events are scheduled throughout 2019 to commemorate this historic achievement.

For thousands of years, people have called the canyon their home. The ancestral Puebloan people left behind dwellings and other artifacts that signify their presence, and modern tribes still consider the Grand Canyon their homeland today. The important work that has taken place over the past century of preserving this natural wonder for generations to come is worthy of celebration.

In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a work program for the poor during the Great Depression. The important work these companies of men completed included trail construction, erosion control, tree planting, park development and fire fighting measures; all while they too lived and worked in the canyon. The 9 years that the CCC operated were considered among the most productive and successful of the social programs during that time period.

Throughout the centennial year, visitors can look forward to such special events as Exhibits (through September); Symphony performances (January and March); Storytelling (April); and FREE admission days (January 15th, April 20th, and September 28th). AZ

The labor of love performed by the CCC is visible in this section of Grand Canyon Park wall.

Grand Canyon National Park (928) 638-7888 or visit www.nps.gov/grca/

ArizonaKEY.com