Coltsville Timeline

This guide is a timeline for the process of Coltsville petitioning to become part of the National Park Service. The major focus is on the federal legislation driving this process and the general history related to what is now called Coltsville. It is updated periodically. For histories of the Colt firearms: search our catalog; explore archives finding aids; look at the Colt Industries web site; go to the National Park site; and look at the "Further Research and Reading" and "Additional Resources" pages on this guide (updated periodically).

Public Law 113-291 includes a series of "Conditions for Establishment" that must be met before the park may be formally established. The National Park Service (NPS) is in the process of meeting the criteria.

Previously this research guide linked to most steps in the legislative process. As of April 2022, this guide will be streamlined by linking to the federal bill histories for the legislative process. Bill histories in Congress.gov include links to the relevant documents for a federal legislative history. Consult our research guide on federal legislative histories or  contact our reference librarians for additional information on the process. For detailed information about Coltsville becoming part of the National Park Service, please see our older archived guide:

Much of the information on Coltsville from the National Park Service (NPS) has migrated to their website for the National Historical Park. 

Congress.gov has legislative history for each bill in the Bill History link under the actions tab. There are links to texts, except for the hearings. Hearings may be found by searching our catalog and/or subscription databases. Suggested links for federal legislative histories are below.