History Attractions in Yosemite National Park

Maybe 9000 years ago the first people came to what we now call Yosemite; its significant heritage has been building ever since. The story of the Indians is still going on today here, and visitors will find it in many places, including a new cultural center west of Yosemite Lodge.

Eight years before Yellowstone, the US government set aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove as a park for the nation. This was a pioneering event on a global scale, which some have called "America's best idea." Yosemite is also a World Heritage Site, partly for this history of Native Americans and for the initiation of public lands preservation. Almost everywhere you turn you'll encounter a human heritage of interaction with the land.

The southern community of Wawona says "history" throughout, from the stately Wawona Hotel, to one of California's few covered bridges, the nearby Mariposa Grove that Abe Lincoln preserved, to the Pioneer Yosemite History Center. The history center is a collection of buildings from throughout the park, brought together in a village layout. These special structures are interpreted by costumed volunteers who'll explain the park's story as you visit a blacksmithy (watch out for sparks!), the Army headquarters, the Wells Fargo office, and some homesteads.

In Yosemite Valley, the chapel is one of the oldest buildings still in use in Yosemite, located all by itself where Yosemite Village used to be. Near the Visitor Center are the historic cemetery, the reconstructed Indian Village (still used for ceremonies), the first museum for the park system and more.

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