List of national memorials of the United States

[1] As of September 2020[update] the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the Department of the Interior, owns and administers thirty-one memorials as official units and provides assistance for five more, known as affiliated areas, that are operated by other organizations.

[2] Congress has also designated twenty-two additional independently operated sites as national memorials.

[4] The earliest and perhaps most recognizable is the uniquely designated Washington Monument, which was completed in 1884 and transferred to the NPS in 1933.

Creation of new memorials in Washington, D.C. is governed by the Commemorative Works Act, while outside the District there are no systematic regulations.

The National Park Service provides technical or financial assistance to affiliated areas but does not own or administer them.

[56] Congress has also authorized the construction of many memorials or commemorative works on federal land under the Commemorative Works Act, usually in Washington, D.C., or nearby;[57] these are not listed unless specifically called a national memorial.