Affiliated Area: Touro Synagogue National Historic Site, Rhode Island

               Hello and welcome back to our blog on the National Park Service.  In this latest post, we look at our second “Affiliated Area” to the NPS, the Touro Synagogue National Historic Site in Newport, Rhode Island.

 

The Touro Synagogue National Historic Site.

BACKGROUND:

               Today Newport, Rhode Island, is best known for its famed Gilded Age mansions.  However, in its early history it was one of the country’s foremost thriving seaports.  As a result of its international shipping industry, and Rhode Island’s colonial charter giving all its citizens the protection to their right of freedom of religion, the town attracted a wide array of ethnic and religious groups and became the location of one of the United States’ oldest Jewish congregations.

               The synagogue was constructed in 1763 for Newport’s small but well established Jewish population.  Following depredations inflicted on Newport during the American War of Independence, the congregation dwindled and struggled to survive.  For long stretches the synagogue was closed during the 1800s, often rumored to be a stop along the Underground Railroad.  The synagogue was restored in the 1880s and remains an active congregation to this day.  The Touro Synagogue was designated a National Historic Site in 1946, but as it remains a privately-owned house of worship it is only an Affiliated Area of the National Park Service and not an official unit.

 

The interior of the synagogue.

THE SITE:

               The Touro Synagogue National Historic Site consists of the synagogue, a small park on its grounds, and the Ambassador John Loeb Jr. visitor center.  The synagogue is architecturally significant, contains a prized four-hundred-year-old copy of the Torah, and is the oldest synagogue in the United States.  The Loeb visitor center contains a short film on the history of the synagogue and exhibits on the Newport congregation and prominent Jewish Americans.

 

The park lawn in front of the synagogue and the rear of the Loeb visitor center.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Touro Synagogue National Historic Site is located in the historic center of Newport Rhode Island at the intersection of Touro and Spring streets.  The historic section of Newport contains very narrow streets and parking is limited.  It is recommended that once visitors find a suitable parking lot that you then walk to the synagogue.  Fortunately, the center of Newport is compact and easily walkable.  The Touro Synagogue NHS is open year-round, with varying hours depending on the season, with tours taking place every half hour typically between 12:00pm and 1:30pm, except on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays.  The visitor center is open longer, usually from 11:30am to 2:30pm, with extended hours during the summer.  The site is handicapped accessible.  A NPS passport stamp can be found at the front desk.

22. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

               Hello and welcome back to our blog.  In this post we make our second visit to one of the big 59 National Parks, and our first visit to the nation’s 50^th State as we travel to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park!

Entrance Sign

BACKGROUND:

               The Hawaiian Islands are the product of millions of years of geological activity.  Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the islands were created through volcanic eruptions as the Pacific tectonic plate gradually moved over what is known as a ‘hot spot’, a weak area in the Earth’s crust.  At these hot spots, volcanic eruptions are frequent, and in the case of Hawaii, created the entire island chain as the hot spot built up volcano after volcano.  The hot spot in the Pacific plate currently resides under the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, the namesake of the island chain, better known simply as the Big Island.

               The geologic properties of the Pacific hot spot have led Hawaii to be the home of the world’s most active volcanoes, in particular Kilauea, which has been erupting continuously since 1983, and at the time of this writing, is erupting in two places at the same time.  The constant eruptions on the island led the Ancient Native Hawaiians to believe it was home to the Polynesian fire goddess Pele, and the volcanoes held a deep religious significance.  The lava spewed forth from the volcanoes continues to add rock and landmass to the island of Hawaii every year.

Kilauea volcano crater.

               To recognize the uniqueness of the volcanic landscape, the area surrounding Kilauea, the larger Mauna Loa volcano, and Haleakala on the island of Maui were designated Hawaii National Park in 1916.  Later in 1961, Haleakala was split off to create its own National Park, with the park lands on the Big Island re-designated Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

THE PARK:

               Hawaii Volcanoes National Park surrounds the peak of Kilauea volcano and a large area down its southwest flank extending to the island’s coastline.  The park also stretches up over the top of Mount Mauna Loa, the second tallest mountain on the island and largest mountain landmass in the world.  A section of tropical rain forest near the volcanoes is also preserved as a wilderness.

Mount Mauna Loa, which overlooks Kilauea.  Note the thin line of snow atop the summit.

               The Park is centered on the summit of Kilauea volcano.  At the summit is the volcano’s primary crater, several miles wide, at the center of which is a further two craters, the smallest of these two contains a lake of lava in constant eruption since 2008.  There are two visitor centers on the crater rim, the primary visitor center near the park entrance, and the Thomas Jagger Museum which overlooks the crater and is home to an observatory of the U.S. Geological Survey.  A road once circled the entirety of Kilauea crater, but the southern half of the road and a zone downwind of the summit has been closed for the duration of the current eruption due to safety concerns.  Also around the summit crater is the Volcano House, a hotel lodge with views of Kilauea, and the Kilauea Military Camp, a recreation area reserved for Military personnel.

The U.S. Geological Survey observatory which monitors Kilauea from the Jagger Museum.

               To the east is Kilauea’s smaller neighbor, Kilauea Iki crater, and the Thurston Lava Tube, a cave cut through the rock by a lava flow.  From there, meandering southeast, is Chain of Craters Road, which passes by a series of craters left by various eruptions in Kilauea’s East Rift Zone.  The road continues across a vast lava field and down a massive escarpment toward the ocean, terminating on the coast at the famed rock formation called the Holei Sea Arch.  The road once connected with a seaside highway, but the road was cut by lava flows in 1987 and remained closed ever since.  The source of these lava flows is Pu’u’O’o, a volcanic cone which has been erupting continuously since 1983, the world’s longest recorded eruption.

The Holei Sea Arch.

TRAVEL TIPS:

               Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is a roughly half-hour drive south from the city of Hilo, the island of Hawaii’s largest population center, and an hour and a half from Kailua-Kona on the island’s west coast.  The park is open twenty-four hours a day year-round including holidays.  The main visitor center is open from 9am to 5pm, and the Jagger Museum from 10am to 8pm.

               How visitors explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park will be a matter of personal preference.  It is recommended that visitors budget an entire day to see both visitor centers and the length of Chain of Craters Road.  Nighttime viewing of Kilauea crater from the Jagger Museum is a popular attraction, though parking at the museum may be restricted necessitating a hike from other nearby parking lots.  There are similar parking restrictions at the Thurston Lava Tube.  There are restaurants within the Volcano House open to the public for lunch and dinner.

Kilauea volcano at night seen from the Jagger Museum.

While it is prohibited to visit the Pu’u’O’o Lava cone on foot, it can be seen via helicopter rides, and the lava flows from this peak can be seen up close, however a great deal of hiking will likely be necessary to find an active flow (as one Park Ranger told us, “If the lava doesn’t kill you the hike will”).  The park has two established campgrounds.  The southern area of the park contains several sites for backcountry camping.  Mount Mauna Loa, at over 13,000 feet in height, can also be climbed but only by prepared and experienced climbers.  Climate conditions at Kilauea Crater may at times also be moderately chilly.  Visitors are advised to take heed of all warning signs due to the inherent danger of the terrain. 

There are gift shops located in both visitor centers.  The primary visitor center has a short film while the Jagger museum displays feeds of recent seismic data from the volcano.  Some areas of the Park are handicapped accessible, however most trails are not.  Passport stamps can be found at the primary visitor center and the Jagger Museum.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

Kilauea Iki crater which last erupted in 1959.  The gray line across the crater floor is a hiking trail.

The original Volcano House, near the visitor center, which is now an art gallery.

A steam vent near the crater rim.

The edge of Kilauea crater known as Steaming Bluff from the numerous steam vents along the crater rim.

Kilauea crater in the daytime.

The area known as Sulphur Banks (note British style spelling), created by sulfur vents from deep within the volcano.

A dangerous example of what happens when visitors do not heed warning signs.  This vent at Sulphur Banks was created when a visitor stepped off the boardwalk and broke through the unstable ground, resulting in serious burns.

Volcano House lodge.

Visitors pass through the Thurston Lava Tube.

The area just off Chain of Craters Road with the Mauna Ulu volcanic cone in the background.  In the foreground is a fissure where lava erupted in 1969.

A close up photo of rock from the 1969 fissure eruption showing smooth multicolored volcanic glass.

Chain of Craters Road as it passes over hardened lava flow rock.

A view from Chain of Craters Road looking down the escarpment towards the ocean.  The black discoloration on the plain below is the lava rock flows from the Pu'u'O'o lava vent which has been continuously erupting since 1983.

The road block which cuts off Crater Rim Drive which once circled Kilauea crater.  Mauna Loa is in the background.

A sample of cooled lava rock known as Pele's hair for its stringy hair-like appearance, formed as lava cooled in small strands in mid-air during an eruption.

An example of the lush tropical rain forests that surround Kilauea above ground at the Thurston Lava Tube

Snow capped Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain on Hawaii, seen from the Jagger Museum.  While it is not a part of the park, it is also a dormant volcano.

A view looking back at the escarpment from Chain of Craters Road near the coast.

The rocky coastline created by Pu'u'O'o lava cone looking northeast from the Holei Sea Arch.  Park Ranger estimate that the volcano has added roughly over five-hundred acres of land to the Big Island since it began erupting in 1983.

The Island of Hawaii's famed Black Sand Beach.  While this is not a part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the same volcanic forces at work today are responsible for the beach's appearance.

Another view of Kilauea Crater as seen from the overlook at the Volcano House.  The Jagger Museum is located on the high ground on the crater rim in the distance.