The USA is home to 23 of over 1000 UNESCO World Heritage Sites across the globe. These 23 sites are located across 19 US states and Puerto Rico.
World Heritage Sites is about storytelling. It is through these protected sites that we all have an incredible opportunity to hear the great story of human progress. These sites are also remarkably diverse and show the full color of human diversity, and the beauty of our people and our land.
There are also two transboundary sites which are shared with Canada. These sites are designated for their universal value in natural or cultural heritage and are places as unique and diverse as East Africa’s Serengeti, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Grand Canyon in the USA.
List of World Heritage Sites in the US
1. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
2. Carlsbad Caverns National Park
3. Chaco Culture
4. Everglades National Park, Florida
5. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona & Utah
6. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
7. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Hawaii
8. Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek, Alaska
10. La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico
11. Mammoth Cave National Park
12. Mesa Verde National Park
13. Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
14. Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point
15. Olympic National Park
16. Papahnaumokukea
17. San Antonio Missions, Texas
18. Statue of Liberty, New York
19. Taos Pueblo
20. Redwood National and State Parks, California
21. Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
22. Yellowstone National Park
23. Yosemite National Park, California
Tentative US Sites on UNESCO List
The following sites have been added to the United States’ tentative list of inclusion on the World Heritage List. The tentative list of sites within the United States was last updated in 2017. In addition to sites within the 50 states, the tentative list includes one site in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States.
1. Big Bend National Park, Texas
2. Brooklyn Bridge, New York
3. California Current Conservation Complex (Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries; marine waters and certain coastal areas of Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area; Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge; & California Coastal National Monument)
4. Central Park, New York
5. Civil Rights Movement Sites (Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist Church, 16th Street Baptist Church)
6. Dayton Aviation Sites (Huffman Prairie Flying Field, Wright Cycle Company and Wright & Wright Printing, Wright Hall, Hawthorn Hill)
7. Early Chicago Skyscrapers (Auditorium Building, Second Leiter Building, Marquette Building, Rookery Building, Monadnock Building, Old Colony Building, Fisher Building Schlesinger & Mayer Building, and Ludington Building)
8. Ellis Island
9. Key Works of Modern Architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright (Unity Temple, Frederick C. Robie House, Hollyhock House, Taliesin, Fallingwater, Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House, Taliesin West, Price Tower, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Marin County Civic Center).
10. Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (Fort Ancient State Memorial, Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, Newark Earthworks State Memorial)
11. Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
12. Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa (National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and Wildlife Refuge)
13. Moravian Church Settlements (in the Moravian Bethlehem district of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
14. Mount Vernon
15. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
16. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
17. Serpent Mound
18. Thomas Jefferson Buildings (Poplar Forest, Virginia State Capitol)
19. White Sands National Monument