Thaddeus Koscuiszko National Memorial

26Apr15

Year in and year out, the Thaddeus Koscuiszko National Memorial is one of the least visited sites in the National Park Service system.

Annually just over 2000 individuals visit the memorial, which pales in comparison to the millions that go to Yellowstone, the Great Smoky Mountains and other wonderful places. In fact almost 300 million people attend at least one national park site every year.

So what causes the Koscuiszko Memorial to be so unpopular? Originally I thought the lack of visitors was due to the fact that few people know how Thaddeus Koscuiszko was. For the record, he was a Polish freedom fighter whose defenses and fortifications helped protect Saratoga and West Point during the American Revolution.

So he isn’t actually a household name. But still, the memorial is located in Philadelphia just a few blocks from Independence Hall and other Revolutionary War sites. Surely more than 2000 people should go there every year.

When I was in Philadelphia I decided to see the Koscuiszko Memorial was like and hopefully help the site get out of the National Park “least visited cellar.”

It was then that I discovered why the Koscuiszko Memorial isn’t very popular.

It’s NEVER open.

Now that’s a little bit of an exaggeration. The memorial is open from noon to 4 p.m. but only on Saturdays and Sundays from April to September. Not exactly primetime hours.

So I missed out on going to the memorial by a few days. But even then, I would have had to extend my trip by a day because I left on a Friday.

It really makes no sense to me what this site isn’t accessible more to the public. Granted, Koscuiszko isn’t well known and a report I read not too long ago says this is the smallest site in the parks system. But surely the Park Service can spare one of the countless rangers that seem to be on every corner in the Independence Hall area.

Ironically, I learned more about Koscuiszko far away from Philadelphia. Last spring when I was driving the Natchez Trace I stopped at a Visitor Center on the outskirts of Kosciusko, Miss. There I learned the town was named for the Revolutionary War hero, although it is spelled somewhat differently.

That big of info came from a nice gentleman who told us all about Koscuiszko’s life and also about the town. Seems Kosciusko, Miss., is the hometown of several well-known individuals including Oprah, civil rights figure James Meredith and baseball pitcher Roy Oswalt.

I’m guessing that if the Koscuisko Memorial in Philadelphia did an exhibit on Oprah, the attendance would more likely rival Yellowstone instead of being among the least visited sites.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment