Fast Facts — Cabrillo National Monument

The National Park Service (NPS) celebrated its 100th birthday on Aug. 25, 2016 with special events held throughout America’s national parks.

Established with the fundamental purpose to preserve the natural and cultural resources of the park system for the enjoyment of future generations, the NPS includes places that commemorate historic events and sites, including civil war battlefields and has expanded to include 412 sites covering more than 84 million acres. The Cabrillo National Monument is one of the sites managed by the NPS.

Here are some tidbits about the Cabrillo National Monument and its long history in San Diego:

 

1542                Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sails aboard San Salvador into what is now

San Diego Bay

1913                President Woodrow Wilson creates the Cabrillo National Monument

1932                Site designated California Historical Landmark #56

1939                Portuguese government commissioned a statue of Cabrillo and donated it to the U.S.

1940                Statue was shipped from San Francisco to San Diego after former

Sen. Ed Fletcher obtained the sculpture

1949                Installed at Cabrillo National Monument

1988                Statue was replaced by a replica made of limestone after the original

art piece suffered weathering

 

Sources: National Park Service, California State Parks, Cabrillo National Monument