Happy 111th anniversary to Muir Woods National Monument!

On January 9, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt created the Muir Woods National Monument named after conservationist John Muir. Muir Woods became the 7th National Monument and was the first one created from land donated by a private individual.

In 1905, Congressman William Kent and his wife, Elizabeth, bought 611 acres for only $45,000. To protect the redwoods here, the Kents donated 295 acres of the land to the federal government. President Roosevelt originally suggested naming it after the Kents, but they wanted it named after Muir.

Muir Woods lies in the middle of the redwood’s latitudinal range that spans from the California/Oregon border to Big Sur, just south of Monterey. And it is quite easy to get to from San Francisco!

In 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was completed and visitors tripled in numbers to Muir Woods that year!

And in 1945, delegates met from all over the world to draft and sign the Charter of the United Nations. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died just 12 days before he was to have opened the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. President Harry Truman still proceeded this conference. In the middle of the two-month conference, over 500 delegates representing 46 nations took the time off from the conference to go to Muir Woods National Monument to honor and to pay tribute to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Muir Woods’ Cathedral Grove.  Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., U.S. Secretary of State, who spoke of Muir Woods as a symbol of Roosevelt’s ideals, saying, “These great redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument are the most enduring of all trees. Many of them stood here centuries after every man now living is dead. They are as timeless and as strong as the ideals and faith of Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

Muir Woods is a great place to see some amazing redwood trees, check out the history here, and take in a few hikes! If you’re in the Bay Area, I highly recommend that you check out Muir Woods National Monument!