NEW YORK, NY.- The National September 11 Memorial & Museum welcomed its one millionth visitor to the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site, a space devoted to educating the public about the Memorial and Museum under construction at the World Trade Center site.

The milestone was reached less than a year after the Preview Site opened its doors at 20 Vesey St. in lower Manhattan on August 26, 2009. It was established to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the Memorial and Museum, see construction progress and record their own 9/11 stories for use in future Museum exhibits. To date, more than 2,900 people have recorded their 9/11 story in more than 10 different languages at the Preview Site.

“We are proud to have established a space where a million people have already visited in less than a year’s time and had the opportunity to learn about the lives stripped away on 9/11 and about the Memorial and Museum being built in their honor,” 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels said. “It was equally important to us to provide clear and authoritative information about the September 11 attacks and the remarkable expressions of volunteerism, public service, and compassion that characterized our response to them.”

9/11 Memorial Museum Director Alice M. Greenwald and 9/11 Memorial Board Member Anthoula Katsimatides, whose brother John was killed in the September 11 attacks, presented the one millionth visitor with a certificate for a dedicated cobblestone that will be permanently placed on the Memorial Plaza on behalf of the visitor, joining other supporters in the ongoing cobblestone campaign.

"This cobblestone represents the hope that we aspire in visitors next year at our Memorial and Museum,” Memorial Board Member Anthoula Katsimatides said. “We are so grateful to the overwhelming number of people who come to the Preview Site to pay tribute to our loved ones and help ensure they are not forgotten."

The Preview Site has had visitors from at least 63 different countries, according to an internal survey* on visitation in the first two quarters of 2010.

Visitors from the United States totaled 47 percent, while 53 percent were international tourists. In the United States, visitors came from 47 different states with California, New York and Texas in the top three. The majority of international visitors traveled from England and Canada.

At the Preview Site, architectural models and renderings of the project are displayed to show what the World Trade Center site will look like once reconstructed. The walls of the Preview Site feature a 9/11 timeline pictorial.

Through a partnership with Project Rebirth, a short film was exclusively produced for viewing at the Preview Site. Project Rebirth, a feature-length documentary film, combines personal stories and powerful time lapse images of construction to capture the journey of the New York community as it rebuilds after the 9/11 attacks.

In partnering with EarthCam, a webcam of live construction images of the Trade Center site can be viewed on specially-designed electronic kiosks at the Preview Site. Visitors can print the images or e-mail them to friends.

Visitors also can help contribute to the Museum by sharing their 9/11 stories. An on-site recording booth allows the public to record their stories for the Museum’s planned introductory exhibition, which will feature a soundscape of people’s voices remembering – in multiple languages – where they were on September 11, 2001, and how they learned of the attacks. To date, more than 2,900 people have recorded their 9/11 story in more than 10 different languages.