January 18, 2017
Independence National Historical Park welcomed more visitors last year than it had in nearly three decades, according to the National Park Service.
More than 5 million people flooded the Philadelphia park to see gaze upon the Liberty Bell, tour Independence Hall or stroll through Washington Square, among other historic attractions.
The 5.067 million visitors in 2016 marked a 17 percent increase from the prior year, when the park hosted 4.31 million visitors.
The biggest monthly uptick came in June, when visitation soared by 52.7 percent. It only decreased once — in January, when visitation fell by 24.21 percent.
Interestingly, July — the same month as the Democratic National Convention — only saw a meager 3.4 percent increase, the lowest monthly bump. But its 695,923 visitors still marked the park's busiest month of 2016.
November, which included a massive campaign rally for Hillary Clinton, increased by 32.3 percent.
Independence National Historical Park last eclipsed 5 million visitors in 1989, the last of three consecutive years surpassing that numerical plateau. Visitation peaked in 1987, when 7.3 million came to the park.
