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On March 1, 1872, General Ulysses S. Grant signed legislation establishing Yellowstone as the world's first national park, and the nation celebrated the park's centennial in 1972. This centennial celebration included the issuance of the following seven commemorative stamps by the United States Postal Service in 1972:
United States Postal Service issued the 2-cent Cape Hatteras National Seashore stamps as a block of four on April 5, 1972, in Hatteras, North Carolina. They commemorated the centennial of the National Park Service and the establishment of Cape Hatteras National Seashore on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Each of the four individual stamps features a complete seashore scene, but they create a complete larger scene when viewed as a block of four.
On August 17, 1937, Congress authorized the establishment of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, but the park was not officially opened until 1953. As planned, it includes 62,000 acres, stretching from the Virginia state line to Hatteras Inlet. The park preserves the area's "primitive wilderness" and provides recreational access to the public.
At the time, the domestic first-class rate for one-ounce letters was six cents, but it increased to eight cents on May 16, 1971. Therefore, patrons could use a 2-cent Cape Hatteras National Seashore stamp with a 6-cent stamp to pay the postage on a first-class letter.
Walter D. Richards designed the stamps, of which 172 million sets were issued - that is, approximately 43 million of each stamp.
References:
Lynn Batdorf
The United States Postal Service released the 6-cent Wolf Trap Farm Park commemorative stamp on June 26, 1972, in Vienna, Virginia. This stamp covered the mail rate for postcards mailed within the United States to Canada and Mexico. Howard Koslow designed the stamp, of which 104 million were issued.
In 1966, the National Park Service established Wolf Trap Farm Park — now the National Park for the Performing Arts — in Vienna, Virginia, on land donated by Catherine Filene Shouse. Ms. Shouse had owned the property since 1930, having used it for decades as a retreat from the hectic life she lived in the Washington, DC, area. In 1982, fire destroyed the Filene Center, Wolf Trap's outdoor venue, which the USPS featured on the 1972 stamp.
As early as 1632, according to manuscript records, wolves caused much damage in this region, and settlers offered rewards of tobacco to those who could trap wolves. An official land survey dated 1739 referred to the area as "Wolf Trap," the name used to this day.
References:
Lynn Batdorf
The United States Postal Service issued the 8-cent Yellowstone National Park commemorative stamp featuring an image of the geyser "Old Faithful" on March 1, 1972, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and Washington, DC. Named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, Yellowstone's "Old Faithful" is arguably the world's most studied and well-known geyser.
The 8-cent stamp paid the one-ounce domestic letter rate. Robert Handville designed the stamp, of which 164 million were issued.
References:
Lynn Batdorf
The United States Postal Service issued the 15-cent Mount McKinley commemorative July 28, 1972. It is one of the seven stamps in the National Parks Centennial Issue. The fifteen-cent rate paid for international mail — either airmail postcard or surface letter mail — dispatched beyond Canada and Mexico.
Named "Mount McKinley" in 1897 by gold miner William Dickey, the mountain is the tallest in North America, reaching a height of 20,320 feet. The National Park Service and Woodrow Wilson established Mount McKinley National Park in 1917, and the mountain is now within the Denali National Park and Preserve.
James Barkley designed the stamp, of which 54 million were issued.
References:
Lynn Batdorf
