On the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the first Acadians in the region in 1682, the Grand-Pré memorial park was designated the "Grand-Pré National Historic Site of Canada" in commemoration of the settlement, and later deportation of the Acadians. In 1995, the site and its surrounding regions were assigned the "Grand-Pré Rural Historic District National Historic Site of Canada". It was given in honour of the rural cultural landscape which features one of the oldest land occupation and use patterns of European origin in Canada.