TIME OUT • August 14, 2025
Opened in July, the Frances Perkins National Monument is one of the country’s newest national monuments, and it would be very fitting to visit it on Labor Day, since Perkins herself was a labor activist. Get yourself to Newcastle, Maine—about an hour north of Portland—to honor the woman who made our lives significantly better. A brand-new welcome center at the Frances Perkins National Monument opened for visitors this June after the December 2024 designation as a national monument. Previously, Perkins's home and its acreage were a National Historic Landmark, designated in 2014. The Frances Perkins Center (a nonprofit dedicated to sharing her achievements and relating them to American life today) bought the property from the Perkins family in 2020 and donated it to the National Park Service. The center continues on as the official interpretive and philanthropic partner with the NPS to staff the site and its programs.