Creating a National Park

The magnificence and beauty of the Grand Canyon led to calls for its preservation as early as the 1880s, and it was designated as a federal wildlife preserve in 1893. President Theodore Roosevelt, who hunted mountain lions and other game in the preserve, become an advocate for making the canyon into a public park. He signed legislation designated it as a National Monument in 1908, and in 1919 President Woodrow Wilson signed a law designating Grand Canyon National Park. Stagecoaches took the first tourists to the South Rim, and the opening of the Grand Canyon Railroad in 1901 brought even more visitors and led to the expansion of hotels, restaurants, and other facilities at Grand Canyon Village. Many of the manmade structures associated with the park were built in the first half of the 20th century, largely commissioned by park concessionaire The Fred Harvey Company and designed by architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter. The park has expanded to 1.2 million acres over the years with the addition of the North Rim, the Kaibab National Forest, Marble Canyon, and other lands. About four million people visit the park each year.