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64-398: The Old Faithful museum, the first of the series, was built at a cost of $ 8,500 and was completed in 1929. The museum was a low T-shaped single-story structure of rustic log and stone construction. Two stepped sections of roof dominated the main portion of the building with deep overhangs supported by angled log brackets resting on a raised stone foundation sill. A perpendicular wing extended in

128-480: A Blackfeet Indian camp. The railroad's other major Glacier development was Many Glacier Hotel , a huge and rambling Swiss Chalet–style property on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake in the northeastern portion of the park. Glacier's third rustic-style hotel, now known as Lake McDonald Lodge , was constructed privately in 1913 and added to the Great Northern concession in 1930. The chalet camps scattered throughout

192-588: A local movement of "rustic" architecture that developed in Yosemite after 1900. Several buildings at nearby Camp Curry shared the style. Glacier Point received a new hotel in 1917. Erected by the Desmond Park Company, the 2- and 3-story, shingle-covered structure had a distinctly Swiss Chalet design emphasis. The steeply pitched roofs, numerous roof gables and intricate balconies added detail to this alpine structure. Although situated so that it had views of

256-516: A major expansion of its Grand Canyon facilities. One of the first new structures was the Lookout Studio , designed by Mary Colter . Built of native stone, the canyon-rim structure had an uneven parapet roofline that matched the form and color of the surrounding cliffs. Hermit's Rest , another one of Colter's fantasy buildings, was constructed at the head of the Hermit Trail in 1914 to serve as

320-399: A means to this end, which had been pursued since the 1930s. Ironically, much of the exploration and expansion the new project commemorated had originated from the demolished riverfront district. In Philadelphia , the development of Independence National Historical Park involved the creation of Independence Mall. The mall was designed to provide a vista of Independence Hall , necessitating

384-653: A refreshment stand and gift shop. Constructed of native stones and massive logs, the building seemed to have grown in its setting, and was carefully screened by vegetation. Its most impressive feature was its enormous fireplace. Concessions at the Grand Canyon's relatively remote North Rim were built and operated by the Utah Parks Company , a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad . Concession operations there are centered at Grand Canyon Lodge , constructed at

448-605: A response to the romanticism that restructured the American concept of wilderness in the nineteenth century. As seen in the artistry of John James Audubon , James Fenimore Cooper , Thomas Cole , George Catlin , William Cullen Bryant and others, the idea of wilderness developed during the course of the nineteenth century from an entity to be feared and conquered into a resource that should be preserved and treasured. The early wilderness preservation philosophies – expressed through painting, poetry, essays, and later photography – helped lay

512-478: A rustic stick style reminiscent of nineteenth century Adirondack camp architecture. The wood-frame buildings were covered with panels of decorative boughs. The diagonal brackets of the depot were small logs, complete with protruding knots. The Yosemite Valley Stage Depot, which also served as a telegraph office, had a steeply gabled roof, which comprised more than half the height of the building, and diamond-shaped window panes. Both structures were representative of

576-567: A showcase of the rustic style. At the Nisqually entrance, massive entrance gates mark the entry to the park. These were the result of a request from Secretary of the Interior Bollinger, who asked for them as part of a 1910 visit to the park. The pergola was finished in time for President William Howard Taft 's visit Mt. Rainier in fall of 1911. Further inward, the Longmire historical district

640-495: A time when landscape architecture was beginning to exert major influence on architectural design and theory. In 1842, landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing had publicized his ideas on "picturesque" landscape and the importance of nature in architectural design in his widely distributed book Cottage Residences . Several decades later, Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., a friend and pupil of Downing, working in conjunction with architects such as Henry Hobson Richardson , strengthened

704-473: Is home to several pre-Park and early rustic–style buildings. The National Park Inn at Longmire was designed as an unpretentious building in a beautiful location at the start of the Wonderland Trail . The library, museum and visitor center, and the community building are all prime examples of rustic architecture dating from the early twentieth century. The administrative building, as a mature NPS building,

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768-521: Is the fifth-oldest National Park and was the first to be designed using a master plan. Due in part to the late settling of the area as well as the National Park Service master plan, the National Park is home to superb examples of the National Park rustic style. Buildings in four historical districts—Nisqually, Longmire , Paradise, and Sunrise—along with patrol cabins and bridges make the park

832-549: The Adirondack Mountains in the 1870s, creating the style known as Adirondack Architecture . This influence began to appear in park architecture after 1900. As the Park Service became more organized in the 1920s, it established a policy of rustic design. Promulgated primarily by landscape architect Thomas Chalmers Vint , with support from architect Herbert Maier , rustic design became entrenched as standard practice in

896-586: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1901 completed a branch from its Chicago–Los Angeles main line to the south rim of the Grand Canyon , several years before Grand Canyon National Monument was proclaimed. In partnership with the Fred Harvey Company , the railroad built a luxury hotel, El Tovar , at the south rim in 1904. The Santa Fe retained Charles Frederick Whittlesey of Topeka, Kansas, to design

960-704: The Canyon Hotel , and the Old Faithful Inn and Lodge . The similar Wuksachi Village in Sequoia National Park was planned to replace the Giant Forest and Camp Kaweah developments. Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton National Park included the relocation of cabins from guest ranches displaced by the expansion of the park into Jackson Hole . Mission 66 was controversial at the time that it

1024-540: The Crater Lake Lodge in Oregon began in 1914, although numerous additions were built later. The hotel was constructed directly on the crater rim approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) above the lake. The original plan was fairly symmetrical. The lower story which was constructed of stone, included handsome arched windows. The upper stories were shingled. The roof, interrupted by rows of dormer windows, had clipped gables at

1088-589: The 1937 building, and today the Grand Canyon Lodge complex is considered to be the best-preserved of the era's rustic National Park hotels. Glacier National Park was established in 1910, immediately north of the main line of the Great Northern Railway . The railroad immediately began a massive concession development program in and near the park, which included the construction of two major hotels and nine smaller "chalet" complexes. The cornerstone of

1152-756: The Army was authorized to protect Yellowstone although it was not called upon by the Secretary of the Interior to do so until 1886. The Army stayed in Yellowstone in an administrative capacity until 1916. After 1890, the Army also was called on to protect Sequoia , the General Grant tree , and Yosemite. In each of the Army parks, the War Department was compelled to erect basic facilities for its own use. Fort Yellowstone , Wyoming,

1216-717: The Hopi who lived within part of it as well as for the Navajo who built traditional hogans nearby. Hopi House closely copied the Hopi pueblo at Oraibi , Arizona, and was designed by Mary Colter , architect for the Fred Harvey Company. The building was constructed in the traditional pueblo style, an idiom well suited to the setting. The Hopi House work had a lasting effect on park architecture, and on contemporary southwestern architecture, although later pueblo adaptations were generally less concerned with authenticity. The stylistic choice on

1280-523: The Park Service mission and their impact on historic and natural sites. Modernism had fallen from favor with the general public, and some facilities were considered intrusive. Two of the most notable examples were the now-demolished Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg National Military Park by Richard Neutra and the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center by Whimberley, Whisenand, Allison & Tong at Mount Rainier National Park . The following list highlights some of

1344-499: The Park Service. During the 1930s, the Park Service administered Civilian Conservation Corps projects in state parks, and used the opportunity to promote rustic design on a widespread scale. However, in the post-World War II period, it became apparent that facilities could not be built in sufficient quantity to contend with a huge increase in automobile-borne park visitation. In the Mission 66 program, Vint and Maier consciously abandoned

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1408-454: The Yosemite high country, the hotel was sufficiently removed from Glacier Point proper to reduce its visual impact. Parsons Memorial Lodge was constructed by the Sierra Club in 1915 at Tuolumne Meadows. Parsons Lodge was a wide building of low profile, whose walls appeared to be granite dry stone masonry. Actually, the architect had experimented with a new construction technique so that

1472-413: The battered stone walls had concrete cores. This philosophy of using new building methods in visual imitation of pioneer building techniques matured in the 1920s in structures like Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel . A contemporary architect stated: "The building seems to grow out of the ground naturally and to belong there just as much as the neighboring trees and rocks." The Mariposa Grove Museum , located in

1536-578: The building, which boasted more than one hundred bedrooms. It opened in January, 1905. Built with turn-of-the-century eclecticism, El Tovar incorporated, according to Fred Harvey literature, exterior elements of the Swiss Chalet and Norway Villa, with an exotic combination of interior motifs, including a fifteenth-century dining room, and a series of "art rooms " which contained Thomas Moran paintings, Navajo rugs, and other Native American artifacts. The hotel

1600-409: The canyon's rim in 1927–1928. Designed by noted architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood , the massive, rustic-style lodge was built of timber, logs, and native limestone. A total of 120 rustic guest cabins spread outward from the main building. The original lodge structure burned in 1932, but was rebuilt in 1936–1937 on its original footprint. The rustic design ethic of the original lodge was retained in

1664-440: The connections between architecture and landscape architecture. Building forms responded to their sites, landscaping becoming an integral part of the design. While buildings generally were constructed of natural materials such as native stone, timbers, and shingles, few were intentionally "rustic." Early "rustic" examples were usually "follies" – gazebos and small pavilions. Larger buildings intentionally rustic in style appeared in

1728-536: The demolition of numerous 19th-century buildings. While Mission 66 is most frequently associated with physical improvements, it also funded a number of continuing programs. The Historic American Buildings Survey , which had been inactive since 1941, was re-funded. The former Historic Sites Survey was reorganized into National Historic Landmarks and National Register of Historic Places programs in 1960, under Mission 66 funding. While most aspects of Mission 66 involved improvements to existing Park Service units, there

1792-561: The direction of the parking lot. The building resembled the Madison and Fishing Bridge museums. The museum's surroundings featured an amphitheater for ranger talks and a small garden of native botanical specimens. The Old Faithful museum was demolished in 1971 to make way for a full-scale Mission 66 visitor center on the site, midway between the Old Faithful Inn and the Old Faithful Lodge , facing Old Faithful geyser. This visitor center

1856-458: The ends. Although the hotel incorporated local materials into its design in an attempt to integrate with the site, the complex remained relatively prominent, a result of its siting. Other National Parks with structures in this style include: The term has even been applied to some structures in a similar style located in National Forests : The style was adopted by a number of state parks in

1920-470: The enormous main gable , which was the dominant architectural feature. The combination of the logwork, shingles, and form resulted in a masterful structure. The Inn was designed by Robert Reamer, who is said to have "sketched the plans while coming shakily out of a monumental submersion in malt, and some authorities claim to be able to read that fact in its unique contours." A series of four "trailside museums" were designed for Yellowstone by Herbert Maier in

1984-539: The expense of urban landscapes. The Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) on the St. Louis, Missouri riverfront entailed the demolition of forty blocks of the city to create a new urban park at the feet of Gateway Arch . The old warehouse district had been targeted for demolition by the city to eradicate "urban blight", and the arch and its park were seen as

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2048-594: The first of these was the Lake Hotel , constructed by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1890. The formal classicism of this structure, with its ionic columns, three projecting porticos and symmetrical façade, made it clear that the building owed nothing to its setting. At the same time, as a part of this process, they also introduced their architectural and engineering expertise. The railroads' search for architectural styles suitable for park settings occurred at

2112-610: The first point of contact between the Park Service and visitors, and the Park Service put considerable emphasis on the appropriate orientation and learning opportunities that visitor centers could provide. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Park Service came under increasing criticism for neglect of the park system. An essay by Bernard DeVoto in Harper's Magazine proposed that the national parks should be closed until they were funded appropriately. While this had little immediate effect, it highlighted an increasing level of concern about

2176-468: The form of "trailside museums" for visitor edification. With the development of the visitor center concept, the visitor center was to be the main point of contact between the Park Service and visitors, providing orientation, education, toilets, concessions, public safety and administrative services in one location. As a new feature, visitor centers had to be built quickly and in quantity. The National Park Service Rustic style that had previously been popular

2240-420: The foundations for the acceptance of the first national parks. Beginning with Yosemite in 1864 and Yellowstone in 1872, public lands were set aside as parks. Early administration of these reserves was haphazard. Yosemite fell prey to a politicized board of state commissions, while Yellowstone was given an unpaid superintendent and no appropriations. In 1883, because of extensive poaching and political scandal,

2304-508: The height of the structure, a huge granite fireplace, and its rough-finish exposed roof beams. The Yosemite Valley Railroad had constructed a depot in 1910 at El Portal near the park boundary, and a stage depot in Yosemite Valley . Although the railroad's operations were on a much smaller scale than those at the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, its buildings were significant expressions of local park architecture. Both structures were built in

2368-401: The late 1920s at Madison, Norris Geyser Basin, Fishing Bridge and Old Faithful . Maier designed many park structures in the western national parks during his tenure as an active Park Service architect, and went on to become an influential administrator in the Park Service regional office. In 1927 Bozeman architect Fred F. Willson designed a new, three-story structure for Eagle's Store on

2432-476: The logs brought nature inside for the pleasure and comfort of the guests. As described in contemporary promotional literature, the "Forest" lobby included an "open camp fire on the Lobby's floor; here tourists and dignified Blackfeet chiefs and weatherbeaten guides cluster of evenings about a great bed of stones on which sticks of fragrant pine crackle merrily." The structure included on its 160-acre (0.6 km ) tract

2496-459: The majestic landscapes. Examples of the style can be found in numerous types of National Park structures, including entrance gateways, hotels and lodges, park roads and bridges, visitor centers, trail shelters, informational kiosks, and even mundane maintenance and support facilities. Many of these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The first national parks were

2560-442: The mid-1950s it was apparent that massive investment in park infrastructure was required. Mission 66 was conceived as the means to accommodate increased visitor numbers and to provide high-quality interpretation services. While Mission 66 involved a variety of infrastructure projects such as roads, utilities and employee housing, the most visible components were interpretive facilities and visitor centers. Visitor centers were often

2624-640: The most significant facilities. Completion of the Blue Ridge Parkway , Foothills Parkway , Natchez Trace Parkway and Colonial Parkway was funded under the Mission 66 program. The Park Service's enthusiasm for roadbuilding projects resulted in a plethora of proposals for new projects, particularly in the East. These included: Funding for such roads was not forthcoming from the Interstate Highway program, and

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2688-518: The natural or historic surroundings. The early results were characterized by intensive use of hand labor and a rejection of the regularity and symmetry of the industrial world, reflecting connections with the Arts and Crafts movement and American Picturesque architecture. Architects , landscape architects and engineers combined native wood and stone with convincingly native styles to create visually appealing structures that seemed to fit naturally within

2752-412: The park visitor was delegated to the park concessioners. The early park concessioners received little supervision. Their structures were typical makeshift frontier efforts. The railroads brought the first major developments to the parks. Not until after the completion of the northern transcontinental railroads in the 1890s, did more advanced concessioner facilities appear in Yellowstone, for example. Among

2816-448: The park were log or stone structures, built "on the Swiss style of architecture. " Most were log cabin complexes while others, notably Sperry Chalet and Granite Park Chalet , were stone buildings. Each of the isolated facilities had a huge stone fireplace. Spaced within easy travelling distance of each other, the chalets were located in the most scenic portions of the park. Construction on

2880-462: The part of Miss Colter and the Fred Harvey Company was primarily commercial, designed to stimulate interest in Native American goods. Judged by such standards Hopi House was successful; it served as a handsome marketing facility. Hopi House symbolized the partnership between commercialism and romanticism that typified so much of Fred Harvey architecture. About 1914 the Fred Harvey Company initiated

2944-448: The project was Glacier Park Hotel (now Glacier Park Lodge ), located just outside the park boundary at Glacier Park Station ( East Glacier ). The hotel had a capacity of 400 guests. The enormous log frame complex was four stories high, and 628 feet (191 m) long. Complete with music and writing rooms, sun parlor and emergency hospital, the hotel boasted unpeeled log pillars up to four feet in diameter. Used on both exterior and interior,

3008-603: The projects were never pursued. National Park Service Rustic National Park Service rustic – sometimes colloquially called Parkitecture – is a style of architecture that developed in the early and middle 20th century in the United States National Park Service (NPS) through its efforts to create buildings that harmonized with the natural environment. Since its founding in 1916, the NPS sought to design and build visitor facilities without visually interrupting

3072-502: The railroads built and operated park visitor facilities. With the development of the US highway system as a public works project during the Great Depression , many previously remote parks became accessible via good roads and inexpensive automobiles. The explosion in prosperity following World War II brought a tide of automobile-borne tourists that the parks were ill-equipped to receive. By

3136-567: The rustic style in favor of a leaner and more expeditious modern style. In 1903, the Sierra Club erected LeConte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite Valley. Designed to serve as the Club's summer headquarters, it contained a library and a club information center. Weathered native granite dominated the symmetrical Tudor Revival building, which bore the strong imprint of its architect, John White, in an exaggerated roofline which comprised more than half of

3200-445: The severe Cascade Winters. The hotel was made of the remains of a heavy forest fire that burnt several miles of Cedar Trees. Years of exposure weathered these trees to a fine silver, which were used for architectural and decorative elements of the lodge. Other buildings at Paradise include a ranger station, a comfort station, a guide house, and a modern example of the rustic style, the new Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center . In Arizona,

3264-461: The site of the original store built in West Yellowstone in 1908. Willson donated his expertise in order to promote the National Park Service rustic style. The design was similar to that of Old Faithful Inn. Willson set fir logs measuring 18 feet (5.5 m) to 36 feet (11 m) long into a base of rhyolite and concrete . Buttresses were made of basalt . Mount Rainier National Park

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3328-399: The state and future direction of the park system. In 1955, Park Service Director Conrad Wirth proposed a decade-long program of capital improvement, to be funded as a single program by Congress. The expressed aim was to complete the upgrades in time for the Park Service's 50th anniversary in 1966. In early parks, visitor orientation facilities were built on a relatively small scale, often in

3392-422: The upper grove, is a historic log cabin that opened in 1931, replacing an earlier structure built by Galen Clark , the grove's discoverer. Clark’s original cabin, built in 1858, served as a shelter for early visitors and was known for its picturesque setting among the giant sequoias . Though designed to minimize the visual impact of human structures in nature, it has become an iconic image of Yosemite. The museum

3456-450: Was "stained to a rich brown or weather-beaten color, that harmonized perfectly with the grey-green of its unique surroundings. It is pleasant to the eye." Hopi House, directly adjacent to El Tovar, was constructed by Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe in 1905. The building was designed to serve as a gift shop where Native Americans could sell their wares. In that way, it provided an outlet for

3520-542: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. At Yellowstone National Park in 1903, the Northern Pacific Railroad constructed the Old Faithful Inn . This six-story resort was in the Swiss Chalet -Norway Villa tradition, but executed in a very western frontier manner. The exterior of the log frame structure was sheathed with shingles, and the building was heavily articulated with logwork piers and corners. Two stories of projecting dormers protruded from

3584-780: Was also a movement to expand the system to encompass active recreational use. In particular, the National Seashore and National Recreation Area programs were expanded as major portions of the twenty-seven units added from 1955 to 1963. Cape Cod , Point Reyes , Fire Island and Padre Island were all incorporated into the system under Mission 66. At the same time, a number of National Recreation areas were developed in conjunction with Bureau of Reclamation projects, including Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge , both built around new dam projects. Fifty years later, as many Mission 66 facilities themselves aged and required repairs and modernization, controversy erupted over their suitability for

3648-457: Was built by the CCC and amounted to little more than cabins. Using the model of postwar military housing, a series of standard designs was developed, focusing on the ranch style detached housing popular at the time. While most Mission 66 projects were intended for infrastructure improvements and visitor services in natural areas, some urban projects involved the creation of entirely new attractions at

3712-612: Was built in 1928 and is the example of successful pairing of the prairie style and rustic style. The best-known area of the National Park is the Paradise Historical District. Developed by the Rainier National Park Company in 1916–1917, the Paradise Inn is the crown jewel hotel of the National Park. Following the example of Old Faithful Inn the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story inn was designed to withstand

3776-469: Was established and it continues to incite debate over the policies it represented. Hastening the advent of the modern environmental movement, it transformed the Sierra Club from a regional mountaineering club into a national advocacy organization." While a large portion of the funding for Mission 66 was devoted to visitor facilities, attention was also given to employee housing. Much of the existing housing

3840-638: Was faster and less expensive to implement, and this design aesthetic fit with the idea of a "new era" in park services. Mission 66 also involved substantial re-planning of entire park infrastructures, with entirely new developments reaching the proportions of new towns. Grant Village and Canyon Village , together with the never-built Firehole Village were intended to diminish the impact of visitor accommodations on sensitive areas close to park attractions in Yellowstone National Park , respectively replacing heavy development at West Thumb Geyser Basin ,

3904-574: Was in turn demolished in 2006 and was replaced by the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, opened in August 2010. 44°27′31.4″N 110°49′45.8″W  /  44.458722°N 110.829389°W  / 44.458722; -110.829389 This Wyoming museum-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Mission 66 Mission 66 was a United States National Park Service ten-year program that

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3968-606: Was intended to dramatically expand Park Service visitor services by 1966, in time for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Park Service. When the National Park Service was created in 1916, long-distance travel in North America was typically accomplished by train. There was no national road system , and airline travel was in its infancy. Railroads were closely involved in the development of visitor services at such parks as Grand Canyon National Park , Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park , and in many cases

4032-412: Was suitable for the 1930s, when cheap and plentiful Civilian Conservation Corps labor was available, but was not practical on a large scale in a time of full employment. Managers such as Thomas Chalmers Vint , the Park Service director of design and construction, made a conscious decision to employ a more streamlined modern style of design for Mission 66 facilities. The simpler, cleaner design philosophy

4096-686: Was the most important of these complexes. The army buildings there were constructed to standard Army specifications. The Army had no direct interest in the landscape, and this was echoed in their architecture. In those early parks where the Interior Department retained administrative responsibility (including Crater Lake , Mount Rainier and Glacier ), government buildings usually were limited to primitive, vernacular expressions of facility need. Crude frame shacks, log cabins, or tent frames usually sufficed. These early government facilities could be simple because responsibility for housing and transporting

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