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Park History: The Railroads And The National Parks

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August 20, 2014
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Railroads and the national parks will be the topic of a lecture at Zion National Park on September 3.

Railroads played a huge role in the establishment of the national parks in the early 20th century. Just how great their influence was will be discussed by Dr. Alfred Runte as part of the lecture series at Zion National Park this summer.

Dr. Runte, author of National Parks, The American Experience, as well as Trains of Discovery, Railroads and the Legacy of Our National Parks, will discuss railroads and the parks on September 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Canyon Community Center in Springdale, Utah, just outside the park's south entrance.

While railroads were integral in pushing establishment or development of a number of parks, including Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park, this lecture will revolve around the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah in general and at Zion specifically.

The Zion Canyon Field Institute's Fern and J.L. Crawford Lecture Series seeks to broaden your understanding of shared cultural heritage in southern Utah "and to encourage and foster a continued culture of preservation." The lectures are free to the public.

 

 

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Comments

Submitted by Megaera on August 21, 2014 - 7:55pm.

Wish I could be there!


Submitted by Lee Dalton on August 21, 2014 - 9:38pm.

How appropriate that a lecture series should be named in honor of Fern and J.L. Crawford.

Those two both became part of the culture of Zion.  It was a great privilege to have had an opportunity to get to know both of them.


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