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United States of America
UNESCO
main land
+
extraterritorial
world heritage sites
Alaska state
[capital = Anchorage]
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve
in
Copper Center
on
Richardson Highway
Glaciers in Wrangell–St. Elias are mostly in retreat.
Glacier Bay
in
Gustavus
@
The Park is named for its abundant tidewater and terrestrial glaciers, numbering 1,045 in total.
Arizona state
[capital = Phoenix]
Taliesin West house
in
Scottsdale
at
12621 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd
Taliesin West was architect Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death in 1959 at the age of 91. Today it is the main campus of The School of Architecture at Taliesin and houses the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Grand Canyon National Park
in
Grand Canyon Village
at
20 South Entrance Road
Carved out by the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon (nearly 1,500 m deep) is the most spectacular gorge in the world. Located in the state of Arizona, it cuts across the Grand Canyon National Park.
California state
[capital = San Francisco]
Hollyhock House
in
Los Angeles
at
4800 Hollywood Blvd
The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House is a building in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, built in 1919–1921. The building is now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park.
Yosemite National Park
in
Yosemite Valley
at
9035 Village Drive
Yosemite National Park vividly illustrates the effects of glacial erosion of granitic bedrock, creating geologic features that are unique in the world. Repeated glaciations over millions of years have resulted in a concentration of distinctive landscape features, including soaring cliffs, domes, and free-falling waterfalls. There is exceptional glaciated topography, including the spectacular Yosemite Valley, a 1 kilometer (1/2 mile) deep, glacier-carved cleft with massive sheer granite walls. These geologic features provide a scenic backdrop for mountain meadows and giant sequoia groves, resulting in a diverse landscape of exceptional natural and scenic beauty.
Redwood National and State Parks
in
Crescent City
at
1600 US-199
The park’s primary feature is the coastal redwood forest, a surviving remnant of the group of trees that has existed for 160 million years and was once found throughout many of the moist temperate regions of the world, but is now confined to the wet regions of the west coast of North America. The park contains some of the tallest and oldest known trees in the world. Rich intertidal, marine and freshwater stream flora and fauna are also present in the two distinctive physiographic environments of coastline and coastal mountains that include the old growth forest and stream communities.
Colorado state
[capital = Denver]
National Park
in
Mesa Verde
@
A great concentration of ancestral Pueblo Indian dwellings, built from the 6th to the 12th century, can be found on the Mesa Verde plateau in south-west Colorado at an altitude of more than 2,600 m. Some 4,400 sites have been recorded, including villages built on the Mesa top. There are also imposing cliff dwellings, built of stone and comprising more than 100 rooms.
Florida state
[capital = Tallahassee]
Everglades National Park
in
Homestead
at
40001 State Highway 9336
Everglades National Park is the largest designated sub-tropical wilderness reserve on the North American continent. Its juncture at the interface of temperate and sub-tropical America, fresh and brackish water, shallow bays and deeper coastal waters creates a complex of habitats supporting a high diversity of flora and fauna. It contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere, the largest continuous stand of sawgrass prairie and the most significant breeding ground for wading birds in North America.
Hawaii state
[capital = Honolulu]
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
in
Volcano
at
1 Crater Rim Drive
This site contains two of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mauna Loa (4,170 m high) and Kilauea (1,250 m high), both of which tower over the Pacific Ocean. Volcanic eruptions have created a constantly changing landscape, and the lava flows reveal surprising geological formations. Rare birds and endemic species can be found there, as well as forests of giant ferns.
Papahanaumokuakea
on
Nihoa and Makumanamana Islands
ld, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Makumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons.
Illinois state
[capital = Springfield]
Unity Temple
in
Chicago
at
875 Lake Street, Oak Park
Unity Temple was chosen by the American Institute of Architects as one of 17 buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright that should be retained as his architectural contribution to American culture.
Frederick C. Robie House
in
Chicago
at
5757 S Woodlawn Ave
Built between 1909 and 1910, the building was designed as a single family home by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is renowned as the greatest example of Prairie School, the first architectural style considered uniquely American.
Cahokia Mounds
in
Collinsville
at
30 Ramey Street
Primary features at the site include Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthwork in the Americas, covering over 5 ha and standing 30 m high.
Kentucky state
[capital = Frankfort]
Mammoth Cave National Park
in
Mammoth Cave
at
1 Mammoth Cave Parkway
It is renowned for its size and vast network of extremely large horizontal passages and vertical shafts. Nearly every type of cave formation is known within the site, the product of karst topography. The flora and fauna of Mammoth Cave is the richest cave-dwelling wildlife known, with more than 130 species within the cave system.
Louisiana state
[capital = Baton Rouge]
Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point
in
Pioneer
at
6859 LA-577
This site, which dates to 3,700-3,100 BP, is an outstanding example of landscape design and monumental earthwork construction by a population of hunter-fisher-gatherers.
Montana state
[capital = Helena]
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
in
Browning
on
Livermore Creek Road
In 1932 Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) was combined with the Glacier National Park (Montana, United States) to form the world's first International Peace Park. Situated on the border between the two countries and offering outstanding scenery, the park is exceptionally rich in plant and mammal species as well as prairie, forest, and alpine and glacial features.
New Mexico state
[capital = Santa Fe]
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
in
Carlsbad
at
727 Carlsbad Cavern Highway
The more than 100 limestone caves within Carlsbad Caverns National Park are outstanding and notable world-wide because of their size, mode of origin, and the abundance, diversity and beauty of the speleothems (decorative rock formations) within. On-going geologic processes continue to form rare and unique speleothems, particularly in Lechuguilla Cave.
Taos Pueblo
in
El Prado
@
Situated in the valley of a small tributary of the Rio Grande, this adobe settlement - consisting of dwellings and ceremonial buildings - represents the culture of the Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico.
Chaco Culture
in
Pueblo Pintado
at
N35 58 28.80 W107 40 28.30
About 20 single-story rooms enclose the plaza and a large enclosed kiva. The entire great house contained 90 groundfloor rooms, 40 second-story rooms, and 5 third-story rooms. A hundred feet southeast of the building is a subterranean great kiva 58 feet in diameter.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
in
Nageezi
at
1808 County Road 7950
Today the massive buildings of the ancestral Pueblo peoples still testify to the organizational and engineering abilities not seen anywhere else in the American Southwest.
Kin Nizhoni
in
Prewitt
at
N35 22 9.90 W107 46 41.00
The Chaco Canyon sites graphically illustrate the architectural and engineering achievements of the Chacoan people, who overcame the harshness of the environment of the southwestern United States to found a culture that dominated the area for more than four centuries.
Casamero Pueblo
in
Prewitt
at
County Road 19 near Tecolote Mesa
Built with core-veneer masonry, the pueblo has 22 rooms on the ground floor and may have had 6 rooms on the second story. The settlement had 37 or more additional sites, many masonry dwellings, and a Great Kiva.
Kin Ya'a
in
Crownpoint
on
NM 371
Great Houses are thought to be ceremonial centers utilized by many surrounding communities.
Kin Bineola
in
Crownpoint
at
N35 59 31.10 W108 8 31.90
At its peak Kin Bineola contained nearly 200 rooms and 10 kivas, with an associated great kiva nearby. Irrigation canals have been uncovered at the site, which lies north of Kin Bineola Wash, where several small house sites have been found.
Pierre's site
in
San Juan County
at
N36 14 38.70 W107 56 48.80
The highly organized large-scale structures, featuring multi-storey construction and sophisticated coursed masonry, illustrate the increasing complexity of Chaco social structure, which distinguished itself within the regional culture of the ancestral Pueblo and dominated the area for more than four centuries.
Halfway House
in
San Juan County
at
N36 23 12.20 W107 56 20.20
See above.
Twin Angels
in
San Juan County
at
N36 34 44.28 W107 56 36.11
See above.
Aztec Ruins National Monument
in
Aztec
at
725 Ruins Road
The Aztec ruins date from the 11th to the 13th centuries. American settlers in the 19th century named them the "Aztec ruins" based on their erroneous belief that the Aztec civilization built them.
New York state
[capital = Albany]
Statue of Liberty
in
New York
at
Liberty Island
Made in Paris by the French sculptor Bartholdi, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel (who was responsible for the steel framework), this towering monument to liberty was a gift from France on the centenary of American independence. Inaugurated in 1886, the sculpture stands at the entrance to New York Harbour and has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States ever since.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
in
New York
at
1071 5th Ave
It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, under the guidance of its first director, the artist Hilla von Rebay.
Ohio state
[capital = Columbus]
Octagon Earthworks
in
Newark
at
125 N 33rd St
Enclosing 50 acres, the Octagon Earthworks has eight walls, each measuring about 550 feet long and from five to six feet in height. The Octagon Earthworks are joined by parallel walls to a circular embankment enclosing 20 acres.
Great Circle Earthworks
in
Heath
at
455 Hebron Rd
The Great Circle Earthworks is nearly 1,200 feet in diameter and was likely used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders.
Hopeton Earthworks
in
Chillicothe
at
990 Hopetown Rd
The architecture of the Hopeton Earthworks is dominated by two immense geometric enclosures--a large, irregular square with rounded corners and a slight outward curvature in its northeastern face, and a more nearly perfect circle slightly overlapping it. These two figures have nearly equal areas, and together encompass 15.16 hectares (37.5 acres). Smaller circular structures also join the square at various points, and linear parallel earthworks extend westward toward the river for about 730 meters from the northwest corner of the square.
Mount City Earthworks / Hopewell Mound Group
in
Chillicothe
at
16062 State Route 104
In the 1920s, archaeologists of the Ohio History Connection discovered the large, well-built shrines beneath each of the mounds, as well as clay altars, cremations, and spectacular objects.
Seip Earthworks
in
Bainbridge
at
7058 US-50 Scenic
Seip Earthworks: over two miles of embankment wall enclosing over 36 hectares (89 acres), a large, partial circular enclosure is 494 meters (1620 feet) in diameter, a smaller circle with a diameter of 289 meters (948 feet) is attached on the west and a smaller, very precise square, 329 meters (1079 feet) on each side, is attached on the southeast.
Fort Ancient Earthworks
in
Oregonia
at
6123 State Road 350
In the Northeast corner of the complex, four circular stone-covered mounds are arranged in a square. The southwest mound of the four is interpreted to have functioned as a point that aligned with gateway openings in the embankment walls to mark significant solar and lunar events.
Pennsylvania state
[capital = Harrisburg]
Independence Hall
in
Philadelphia
at
520 Chestnut Street
The Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Constitution of the United States (1787) were both signed in this building in Philadelphia.
Fallingwater house
in
Mill Run
at
1491 Mill Run Road
In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named Fallingwater the "best all-time work of American architecture" and in 2007, it was ranked 29th on the list of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA.
Puerto Rico territory
[capital = San Juan]
San Felipe del Morro Castle
in
San Juan
at
501 Calle Norzagaray
The fortification, also referred to as el Morro or 'the promontory,' was designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from seaborne enemies.
The fortress
in
San Juan
at
63 Calle Fortaleza
Since the 16th century, La Fortaleza has acted as the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico, making it the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas. On November 27, 1822, its traditional status as the executive mansion was made official. The fortress underwent a massive reconstruction in 1846 to change its military appearance into a palatial fassade.
Bastion de las Palmas de San Jose
in
San Juan
at
100 Calle de Tetuan
Reflecting Italian Renaissance, Baroque, and French Enlightenment designs, the defenses express successive techniques and technologies in fortification construction.
San Cristobal fortress
in
San Juan
at
209 Calle Norzagaray
In its prime, it covered 27 acres with a maze of six interconnected forts protecting a central core with 150ft walls, moats, booby-trapped bridges and tunnels. It has a fascinating museum, military archives, a reproduction of military barracks, a store and stunning Atlantic and city views.
John of the Cross Fortlet
in
Toa Baja
at
PR-870, Palo Seco
El Canuelo was the smallest fort in the harbor defense system. Cannon fire from the fort and from Castillo San Felipe del Morro created a crossfire to protect the entrance to San Juan bay. The fort also guarded the mouth of the Bayamón River on the other side.
Tennessee state
[capital = Nashville]
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
in
Gatlinburg,
at
1420 Little River Road
Stretching over more than 200,000 ha, this exceptionally beautiful park is home to more than 3,500 plant species, including almost as many trees (130 natural species) as in all of Europe. Many endangered animal species are also found there, including what is probably the greatest variety of salamanders in the world.
Texas state
[capital = Austin]
Valero Mission
in
San Antonio
at
300 Alamo Plaza
The historic district was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, built for the education of local American Indians after their conversion to Christianity.
Concepcion Mission
in
San Antonio
at
807 Mission Road
The mission was originally meant to be a base for converting the Hasinai to Catholicism and teaching them what they needed to know to become Spanish citizens.
San Jose Mission
in
San Antonio
at
6701 San Jose Drive
The mission was founded on February 23, 1720, because Mission San Antonio de Valero had become overcrowded shortly after its founding with refugees from the closed East Texas missions.
San Juan Capistrano Mission
in
San Antonio
at
9101 Graf Road
Mission San Juan did not prosper to the same extent as the other San Antonio missions because lands allotted to it were not sufficient to plant vast quantities of crops, or breed large numbers of horses and cattle.
Espada Mission
in
San Antonio
at
10328 Espada Road
Mission Espada’s acequia is the nation’s oldest in continuous use.
Ranch of the Goats
in
Floresville
at
375 County Road 144
Today it is in ruins, and no reconstruction is planned.
Virginia state
[capital = Richmond]
Monticello Plantation Home
in
Charlottesville
at
931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway
Along a prominent lane adjacent to the house, Mulberry Row, the plantation came to include numerous outbuildings for specialized functions, e.g., a nailery; quarters for domestic slaves; gardens for flowers, produce, and Jefferson's experiments in plant breeding—along with tobacco fields and mixed crops. Cabins for field slaves were farther from the mansion.
Academical Village of the University of Virginia
in
Charlottesville
at
1826 University Avenue
Jefferson modeled the Rotunda after the Pantheon, a second-century temple in Rome. Construction began in 1822 and was completed in 1826, shortly after Jefferson’s death on July 4 of that year.
Washington state
[capital = Olympia]
Olympic National Park
in
Big Creek
at
N Lake Cushman Rd
Olympic National Park features a spectacular coastline, scenic lakes, majestic mountains and glaciers, and a magnificent virgin temperate rainforest. Olympic National Park has a wealth of geological formations – including rocky islets along the coast formed by a continuously receding and changing coastline, deep canyons and valleys formed by erosion and craggy peaks and beautiful cirques sculpted by glaciation.
Wisconsin state
[capital = Milwaukee]
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House
in
Madison
at
441 Toepfer Avenue
Designed by noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was constructed in 1937 and is considered by most to be the first Usonian home. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003.
Taliesin Preservation
in
Spring Green
at
5607 County Road C
Taliesin is the name of Wright's 37,000 square foot home as well as the estate that includes buildings from nearly every decade of Wright's career from the 1890s to the 1950s.
Wyoming state
[capital = Cheyenne]
National Park
in
Yellowstone
at
Highway 20 E
Yellowstone contains half of all the world's known geothermal features, with more than 10,000 examples. It also has the world's largest concentration of geysers (more than 300 geyers, or two thirds of all those on the planet). Established in 1872, Yellowstone is equally known for its wildlife, such as grizzly bears, wolves, bison and wapitis.