Resources 1984 – C. Structures Eligible for the National Register 1. Headquarters Area

The equipment and maintenance buildings at Crater Lake do not have to make as much of a gesture toward the environment, and because they are unseen by visitors, show the best treatment possible–inconspicuous convenience. These are facilities that are often subject to change during a park’s development and therefore should be built less substantially. The placement of the maintenance facilities with their fronts opening on a plaza means maintenance activities and equipment are confined to an area screened from public view.

The majority of the headquarters buildings, employees quarters, and service buildings display a unity of structural treatment, exemplified by massive boulder masonry, stained timbers, steep roof pitch, dormer windows, and rough-sawn or vertical board-and-batten siding. The NPS rustic architecture program has earned for itself a secure place in the history of American architecture. It was an expression of the romanticism of early America and a pleasing alternative to the increased functionalism of twentieth-century urban architecture. It was a clearly defined style that gave an air of distinctiveness and conservatism to NPS areas. It allowed the development of needed park facilities without needless disruption of the natural scene. Tweed et al. have concluded that at its best, rustic architecture produced buildings of rare and distinctive beauty. A unique expression of twentieth century American architectural thought, the pre-1942 rustic buildings of the National Park Service are a priceless heritage, to be treasured and conserved. [1]

The writer recommends that the major buildings and some of the auxiliary structures at the headquarters complex be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as the Munson Valley Historic District. These structures are: Administration Building, Ranger Dormitory, Superintendent’s Residence, Naturalist’s Residence, Employees Stone Houses, Mess Hall/Bunkhouse, and various utility buildings (Machine Shop, Garage and wood shed, Transformer House, Meat House, Sign Shop [former public comfort station] . Some of these structures were built prior to the Emergency Conservation Work of the early 1930s, but were a purposeful effort to develop a style of architecture that would blend in pleasingly with the natural surroundings. Although some of these buildings, such as the Mess Hall/Bunkhouse, Naturalist’s Residence, Machine Shop, and Stone Houses have been reroofed with metal, an action that destroyed the aesthetic balance between roofs and walls, these modifications do not detract significantly from their exterior architectural significance. They retain most of the characteristics of the early rustic architecture style as developed at Crater Lake and should be protected from further assaults on their integrity.

fig60

Illustration 60. Superintendent’s residence, 1981. Photo by David Arbogast, NPS, DSC.