{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-smith-announce-establishment-of-ste-genevieve-national-historical-park", "Blunt, Smith Announce Establishment of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park", "2020-10-30", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  U.S. Senator\r\nRoy Blunt (Mo.) and U.S. Representative Jason Smith (Mo.) today announced that\r\nU.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt has completed the final step\r\nto formally establish the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park. Blunt and\r\nSmith led the legislation, which was signed into law in March 2018, to\r\nestablish the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park and designate it as a\r\nunit of the National Park System. This is the first National Historical Park to\r\nbe established in Missouri.\r\n\r\n Today, Ste. Genevieve is taking its rightful place among our nation's\r\nmost historically and culturally significant destinations, said Blunt.\r\nEstablishing Ste. Genevieve as part of the National Park System has been a\r\nyears-long effort and we owe this success to all of the local residents who\r\nhave worked tirelessly to preserve and share this unique part of our state and\r\nnation's history. I've been proud to champion this effort in the Senate and I\r\nappreciate Secretary Bernhardt's support for getting this done. I hope more\r\nAmericans will be encouraged to visit our nation's newest national park and experience\r\nfirsthand what life was like in French colonial America.\r\n\r\n So many people have worked so\r\nhard on this project for so long, said Smith. It was my great pleasure\r\nto lead the efforts in Congress along with Senator Blunt to establish this\r\nhistoric national park. I applaud the good folks of Ste. Genevieve for their\r\nvision to share their city's rich history. Ste. Genevieve is a jewel in the\r\n8th Congressional District and now, the world will surely come to know why as\r\nvisitors discover its roots and the thriving community it is today.\r\n\r\n The new Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park is another\r\nexample of President Trump's dedication to preserving our important national\r\nhistory for the benefit of present and future generations, said Secretary\r\nBernhardt. This pre-Revolutionary War settlement along the banks of\r\nthe Mississippi River provides a rich story of early French colonization, the\r\nincreased British presence after the Louisiana Purchase and, later, German\r\nAmerican settlers carving out a hard life on the American frontier.\r\n\r\n Blunt and Smith first introduced\r\nlegislation to make Ste. Genevieve a national park in 2016. \r\nThe NPS released its final Ste. Genevieve Special Resource Study in May 2016,\r\nwhich found that portions of the Ste. Genevieve historic district met the\r\ncriteria for inclusion in the National Park System.\r\nBlunt and Smith reintroduced the legislation in June 2017. It passed the\r\nHouse in February 2018 and the Senate in March 2018.    In May of this year, Missouri State Representative Dale Wright led the\r\nstate legislative effort, along with State Senator Wayne Wallingford, to\r\nauthorize state-owned historical homes in Ste. Genevieve to be placed under the\r\ndirection of the National Park Service. \r\n \r\nThe village of Ste. Genevieve dates back to the early 1700s, making it\r\nMissouri's oldest town. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in\r\n1960, also making it one of the oldest National Historic Landmark districts in\r\nthe country. It is known for its centuries-old homes featuring unique French\r\nvertical log architecture.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-smith-announce-establishment-of-ste-genevieve-national-historical-park"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5468429774045944, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}