Description

<< Previous | Table of Contents | Next >>

Crater Lake Lodge

Name: Historic Resources at Crater Lake National Park

Location: Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Classification: Buildings and District, public (Federal)

Function or Use: Recreation and Culture/Outdoor Recreation, Landsape/park, Domestic/hotel, secondary structure, Government/Office

Areas of Significance: Landscape Architecture (1916-1942), Architecture (1909-1942), Conservation (Development of Crater Lake NP) (1902-1942)

Builder/Architect: National Park Service (Charles Punchard, Jr., Thomas Vint, Merel Sager, Francis Lange)

Dates: 1927-1941

National Register listing of eighteen buildings as the Munson Valley Historic District at Park Headquarters and four other structures near the rim of Crater Lake followed from submittal of a multiple property form in 1988. It was based on recommendations contained in a National Park Service historic resource study and an associated building inventory conducted in 1984, both of which emphasized the significance and integrity of the park's rustic architecture. Consequently, boundaries around Crater Lake Lodge, Sinnott Memorial, Comfort Station #68, and Comfort Station #72 included only the immediate area around each structure. In 1990 the NPS completed a cultural landscape report for Rim Village, a document which identified and evaluated features associated with planning and design efforts in the district between 1927 and 1941. [1] The purpose of this amendment is to describe those features and relate them to the historic contexts of park development and rustic architecture established on the original form. Boundaries given on the original form are revised accordingly to consolidate previously listed properties at Rim Village into a historic district that includes associated designed landscape features. A minor deletion to the Munson Valley Historic District is also necessary due to erroneous location information on the original form; the adjusted boundaries are described in Section 10.

Rim Village Historic District

Situated on the southern edge of a caldera partly filled by Crater Lake, the district averages 7,100 feet in elevation and is primarily linear, in that it closely follows the rim for just under one half mile. Rim Village is centered around a paved road which runs east from a junction with the West Rim Drive to its terminus in front of Crater Lake Lodge. The associated landscape is a mixture of highly designed and developed areas, along with less disturbed indigenous forest consisting of Mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), and Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis). Naturalistic in appearance, the district's structures and landscape features clearly reflect National Park Service master plans of the 1930s which emphasized overall visual consistency and subordination to the surroundings. Extensive use of stone masonry is a unifying characteristic within Rim Village, much as it is in the Munson Valley Historic District, but historic plantings consisting of native vegetation and defined circulation systems are more extensive. In functional terms, Rim Village remains the focal point for visitor services at Crater Lake National Park. Food service, hiking trails, interpretive programs, strolling on the promenade, and enjoying views of the lake provide visitors with both passive and active opportunities for education and recreation. No other site in the park provides such a diversity of uses in one place.

The district has 12 individual features that comprise a designed historic landscape in terms of form and function. In order to analyze these features in relation to each other and within the context of overall design intent, significant landscape characteristics were organized into four primary categories: circulation, vegetation, structures and small-scale features.

Circulation includes four individual features: roads, and parking areas (vehicular circulation), walkways and trails (pedestrian circulation). As the fundamental structuring elements for the landscape design at Rim Village, roads were the first features implemented from the general development plan formulated by the NPS in 1926. The present road from Park Headquarters in Munson Valley is particularly important to the overall design intent because it represents a fundamental shift in the approach to Rim Village from previous roads to reach the rim from Munson Valley.

In 1904-05, W.F. Arant, the park's first superintendent, oversaw construction of a road which terminated at the rim just east of the future Crater Lake Lodge. This was eclipsed by another, less steep, road opened by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1914. In approaching Crater Lake Lodge from the south and then proceeding west, it also formed the initial portion of a road around Crater Lake. By 1926, this highway's relatively steep grades, narrow width, and tight curves had proven unsatisfactory in the face of steadily climbing visitation, so the NPS formulated a new route to Rim Village.

This one avoided Crater Lake Lodge in favor of "spectacular views" of the lake and caldera roughly half a mile west of the hotel in an open area suitable for developing additional visitor services. Such an approach also gave motorists the option of entering Rim Village or bypassing it entirely. The new route brought visitors into a plaza where they could park or continue east along a roadway which terminated at the lodge. This roadway approximated the 1914 alignment but was widened to 50 feet for two way traffic and parking in 1928. Related developments included a loop road in front of the hotel and a circulation system for what had formerly been an ill-defined campground between the lodge and plaza. The latter made use of a single entry and several loops which underwent realignment in 1961. Roads within the campground still reflect the historic pattern, however, because they are curvilinear and conform to the topography by providing a sequence of views framed by natural vegetation. By contrast, the access road to the concessioner's dormitory does not contribute to the historic district because it is a one lane strip of asphalt built in 1972 along the edge of an open pumice field.

The district contains parking that the NPS developed in three places during the late 1920s: in the cafeteria plaza, along the Rim Village roadway, and adjacent to Crater Lake Lodge. These improvements commenced in 1927 with grading and surfacing of the plaza, so that motorists had an area measuring roughly 200 by 400 feet in which to park. This parking area remains open and has been striped for 150 vehicles since the mid 1 930s. East of the plaza, parking for 240 cars on both sides of the roadway has existed since 1928. Additional parking is available in front of the lodge, where NPS crews constructed a loop road in 1929 and then built a second loop two years later. This provided parking for 44 cars and is confined to the second (south) loop.

A promenade, built between 1929 and 1932, is the primary pedestrian circulation system for Rim Village. Stone masons built a low parapet wall of 3,450 feet in length as a way of separating visitors from the inner caldera. The promenade extends from a point 400 feet west of the cafeteria plaza to some 800 feet east of Crater Lake Lodge. It also forms a segment of a trail system which becomes the Pacific Crest Trail west of Rim Village and the Garfield Peak Trail to the east. In contrast to these longer trails, however, the eight foot wide promenade has a number of secondary paths or "crosswalks" between it and the Rim Village roadway. The crosswalks range in width between four and six feet, and are generally curvilinear to complement the promenade's serpentine form. The Victor Rock Trail to the Sinnott Memorial is 200 feet in length and forms a branch of the promenade, as does a loop walk in an observation bay below the Crater Lake Lodge.

Other walks connect the plaza, campground, and lodge with each other and were built by the NPS between 1931 and 1941. One defines the eastern edge of the parking area to the plaza comfort station, where it then goes in back of the Community House toward one of the loop roads in the campground. Another links the plaza with Crater Lake Lodge by means of a walkway on both sides of the Rim Village roadway. The third one allows for access through two islands of vegetation created by loop roads in front of the hotel so as to connect the parking area with the building's main (south) entrance.

Four hiking trails begin at points within the district. The previously mentioned Garfield Peak Trail, constructed by the NPS in 1 931, begins east of the lodge along the promenade. At the western terminus of the promenade wall, is the Discovery Point Trail, opened in 1934. It became part of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1994 when the NPS provided an alternate route along the rim above Crater Lake. The NPS completed the Crater Wall Trail in 1929, a route which starts from a point north of the cafeteria on the promenade. This trail represented the primary way to reach the lakeshore until it closed in 1960; at that point a new route opened on the north side of Crater Lake at Cleetwood Cove. An unmaintained bridle trail, constructed in 1933 as part of a system originating from Park Headquarters, enters Rim Village from the south and terminates in the campground.

Vegetation within Rim Village has two aspects which define its significance: planting concepts (which describe the philosophy behind all plantings in the district) and plant materials (which are the material form of that philosophy).

Poor soils pervade Rim Village and are derived from the climactic eruptions of Mount Mazama which produced Crater Lake 7700 years ago. Subalpine conditions also limit the number of plant species and their profusion. In addition to these harsh growing conditions, much of the district's vegetation had historically been destroyed by unrestricted circulation and concentrated visitor use. In seeking to develop the site so that it could accommodate visitors safely without further damage to the landscape, the NPS formulated a program of restoration and enhancement called "naturalization." The agency's landscape architects used three different treatments in the district: new plantings (establishing vegetation where none existed); supplemental plantings (adding materials to enhance areas for design and functional purposes); and integrated plantings (using vegetation to blend buildings, roads, and other features with the surroundings).

The composition of plant materials used by the NPS in its naturalization program was inspired by similarly-situated areas around the rim of Crater Lake, such as Sun Notch. Landscape architects responded by developing small planting beds over the entire length of Rim Village, where they added shrubs and herbaceous materials to reflect natural plant associations and communities. Trees were transplanted and grouped, but not so densely that they obscured views of Crater Lake from the road. Herbaceous plants and perennials were massed below shrubs, which often aided the transition between the ground and buildings. Large trees likewise framed views, screened circulation features, and softened vertical lines imposed by large structures. Consequently, a greater number of perennials, shrubs, and trees now thrive in the district than would otherwise be present in a similar subalpine plant community.

Soil replacement was necessary for all areas in the district slated for revegetation. After removal of the top 8 to 12 inches of pumice, crews loaded it to be hauled away on trucks. In place of the pumice, a layer of manure was added and on top of that, peat from a site below Park Headquarters in Munson Valley. Above the peat, a layer of top soil was spread and graded before the actual planting and sodding. Crews also transported large trees, which were selected and prepared for moving one to two years in advance. All of them came from other areas in the park and, once selected, were root pruned and boxed. After allowing for the excavated tree to adjust to new soil, the box was hoisted onto trucks and subsequently placed at desired sites in Rim Village. The transplanting program had a short life (1931 to 1933), but NPS landscape architects reported a high success rate for the endeavor. One of them stating that none of the trees had been lost through root pruning or transplanting, and all had put on new growth. [2]

Among the trees used as plant material, the mountain hemlock was by far the most commonly transplanted. These specimens were complemented by almost 20 types of shrubs, of which mountain ash (Sorbus sitchensis). waxy current (Ribes cereum), red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), and subalpine spirea (Spiraea densiflora) have proven to be the hardiest survivors. The herbaceous materials consisted mainly of several sedge species (Carex spp.) and rushes (Juncus spp.), along with some perennial wildflowers such as Sitka columbine (Aquilegia formosa), bleeding heart (Dicentra spp.), and spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa) which often appear in association with the foundations of buildings.

Structures include buildings and features that have engineered qualities. Seven buildings and one rock wall (which is connected to three observation bays) are located within the district; all but one building (the cafeteria) are considered to be contributing structures within the context of Rim Village as a cultural landscape. All of the structures in the district were erected with predominately native materials, with the most conspicuous being a volcanic rock known as andesite. It was most often collected in a quarry at the Watchman, a peak located three miles northwest of the district.

At the east end of the Rim Village is Crater Lake Lodge, a hotel whose irregular shape forms a slight crescent. Its exterior appearance features stone masonry on the ground floor's outer walls and a roof punctuated by numerous shed dormers which give visual interest to the wood shingled jerkin head configuration. Massive stone masonry in chimneys on the east and south facades draw the eye, as do overhanging and bracketed eaves. Multipaned windows, which are arched with stone lintels on the ground floor, are another character-defining feature of the original hotel that was reconstructed in a NPS rehabilitation project that took place between 1991 and 1994. Much of the historic fabric in the lodge was lost during this project, something which also brought about drastic changes in the building's plan, mass, and structural character. Consequently, the National Register documentation that supported listing of Crater Lake Lodge in 1981 is in need of a detailed update. Although such an update may involve a reassessment of the lodge's National Register status, this structure remains a contributing feature to the cultural landscape at Rim Village. This is because designers confined the rehabilitation project to the same footprint left by the historic lodge, and specified reuse of historic masonry units, the in-kind replacement of other native materials to face exterior elevations, and the preservation of adjacent designed landscape features such as parking islands and plantings.

Approximately 600 feet west of the lodge is a visitor contact station operated by the NPS. Built in 1921, it was originally constructed as a studio by Fred Kiser, a well known scenic photographer. As an important link in the use of stone masonry as a conspicuous example of the park's rustic architecture, this structure has uncoursed rock walls which are load-bearing and support a gable roof covered by wood shingles. Although a far smaller structure than Crater Lake Lodge, the Kiser Studio is similarly situated next to the rim and has a small terrace on its north side where a multipaned picture window frames views of the lake. An addition, built as a darkroom in 1926, is situated perpendicular to the original building. The studio's proximity to the most popular viewpoint in the park, a rock outcrop called Victor Rock, made it a focal point in naturalization efforts especially after the NPS assumed ownership of the building in 1932.

Construction of the Community House in 1924 signaled that the NPS had a presence in Rim Village. Initially built as a place for campers to socialize, the structure also allowed the NPS to have a venue for interpretive programs beginning in 1926. Located in the northwestern part of the campground and set against a backdrop of mature coniferous forest, the building faces the Rim Village roadway. It is a two-story, rectangular wood frame structure that has a massive exterior chimney on the east elevation that consists of uncoursed battered stone. Along with a wood shingle roof, multilight windows on the north, south, and west elevations are original decorative features which link this otherwise simple building to other structures in the district.

Battered stone in building exteriors appeared as the NPS began to implement its general development plan which was formulated in 1926. In contrast to the relatively even sizes of rocks throughout the Kiser Studio and Crater Lake Lodge, larger stones began to be placed near the bottom of structures and became progressively smaller as the masonry walls met eaves or gables. As a structural measure, the NPS buildings utilized battered stone as veneer over concrete formwork as a way of providing additional strength for load bearing outer walls. In line with precedents set by the lodge, Kiser Studio, and Community House, the NPS continued to use multilight windows and wood frame construction above the ground floor stone masonry. By 1930 the NPS had reached a stage where it could replicate this type of construction in a visually consistent manner at the appropriate scale. At that time it built a comfort station in back of the cafeteria erected in 1928. Both structures employed battered stone as a defining feature, with the comfort station forming a pleasing complement to the far larger cafeteria. Although the window framing has been replaced by concrete block when the structure became a transformer building in 1971, this former restroom facility retains a gable roof with sugar pine shakes, board and batten siding, and rockwork which appears to have grown from the ground.

Just north of the Kiser Studio is the Sinnott Memorial, a structure perched atop Victor Rock some 50 feet below the main portion of the promenade. It was the first park building to incorporate massive stone masonry in its construction, thus setting the tone for a group of structures and associated landscape features which came about as part of the naturalization program in Rim Village and Munson Valley. Opened in 1931, the Sinnott Memorial is an irregularly shaped building that features an open observation room which provides unobstructed views of the caldera and nearby peaks. A stone parapet is a safety measure but also contains exhibit panels. Double doors provide access from the observation room to a museum, which, when open, supplements interpretation provided at the parapet. Both are encased in concrete formwork, but individual boulders three and four feet in height are used to face the structure and make it seem a part of the caldera's inner walls.

Massive stone masonry is also the most distinctive feature of a comfort station adjacent to the plaza. Completed in 1938, this rectangular structure differs from the district's other contributing buildings by incorporating horizontal board siding on its two end gables. This is framed by upright stone masonry on each side which gives way to impressive boulders at the base of the building. Foundation plantings envelope the structure and serve to blend masonry features with the setting.

The other contributing structure in the district is a crenulated wall which delineates the promenade. It consists of stone masonry and runs 3450 linear feet, creating a parapet with three observation bays of varying configurations which extend into the caldera. This was based on NPS designs for stone guard rails which dictated the wall to be 18 inches high and 18 inches thick. Where views of Crater Lake are evident, much of the wall has six inch merlons at regular intervals, so as to vary a potentially monotonous coping line. Masons aimed to have stone, not mortar, dominate the parapet, so they placed the andesite rocks in an irregular pattern of shapes so that segments of the wall varied in pattern and color. This feature effectively unified the design elements in Rim Village and, along with the planting, provided the naturalization program with visual consistency expected by the NPS landscape architects.

Three observation bays are connected to the promenade with walls on both sides of the walk, but differ in being distinct pooling areas away from the main pedestrian circulation. In being built to take advantage of a view of prominence, each bay also represents a major structural undertaking. They vary in size and shape from one another, with the elongated Victor Rock Trail to the Sinnott Memorial being considerably different to a bay 400 feet east of the Kiser Studio which features a plaque commemorating the first NPS director, Stephen T. Mather. The third bay is a small loop walk below the lodge which forms an observation platform below the rim edge. Plantings were important to the design of all three bays and typically separate them from the main promenade. Portions of the promenade and bays have been rebuilt over the past 60 years, especially where slide areas in the caldera have undermined the wall. Large sections of the original structure, however, remain intact and serve as models for occasional reconstruction of segments prone to erosion. [3]

Small scale features include a variety of detail elements historically important to the designed landscape. These features added individual dimension to the design or collectively helped to define the rustic character of the landscape. Features in Rim Village are made of stone and include free standing boulders, benches, or masonry details such as steps and curbing.

Free standing boulders (as opposed to those incorporated within stone masonry) control vehicular and pedestrian circulation, accentuate planted shrubs or trees, and in some cases, were sculpted into drinking fountains. The campground contains a number of boulders used to delineate the limits of circulation, especially at points of entry and in areas intended for parking. They are also employed in heavily used places along the promenade such as the former Crater Wall trailhead. NPS crews also positioned boulders at this and other places on the promenade to lend interest to transplanted trees and shrubs. When used as drinking fountains, the boulders melded utility and design by going beyond the comparatively simple feature composed of pipe and bubbler to something reminiscent of a small spring among the rocks. The only one still in active use is adjacent to the Kiser Studio in one of the crosswalks. Not far away from it is a fountain incorporated into the parapet wall at the foot of the Victor Rock Trail. Hewn to resemble Crater Lake by a master mason named Joe Mancini in 1931, this is the only stone feature in the park to bear its sculptor's name. Another boulder, albeit simpler, was formerly used as a fountain along the promenade near the Crater Wall Trailhead. It contrasts markedly with a "fountain" located in the campground, where pipes were fitted into a single rock six feet in height to achieve the effect of having three "bubblers" within the boulder which would run down its face. This feature may have been used as a horse trough since it is located near the bridle trail's terminus.

The only stone benches in the district were built for the observation bay below Crater Lake Lodge. All three benches consist of a single rectangular slab, which is approximately four feet long, laid on two stone footings. Each was recessed into the slope but also has a backing consisting of rockwork similar to that used for the walls that delineate the bay.

Stone steps are masonry details built to allow for pedestrian circulation over abrupt changes in grade. Individual series of steps vary from 10 to 30 feet in length and are found throughout Rim Village. The best examples include steps which provide pedestrians access to the promenade across from cafeteria parking, two sets on the Victor Rock Trail, and those that lead to the observation bay below Crater Lake Lodge.

Curbing is a masonry detail used to define the edge of paved areas throughout the district and separate vehicles from pedestrian circulation. Stones measuring between 32 and 84 inches in length were placed to create curbs from 1932 to 1935. Although all measured about 24 inches in height, only the last 8 or 9 inches showed above pavement, with the same measurement across the top when set against a walkway or ground. Each stone curb is connected with roughly an inch of mortar so that in forming curves or lines it represents another unifying, but not overly repetitive, element in the district. Although the masons made fewer decisions when siting the curbs than in placement of large stone in structures, they had to pay careful attention to precise lines and grade so as to make the edges conform to the desired curvilinear shapes on the master plan drawings for Rim Village.

The 12 features that were determined to possess integrity were those considered in the historic design, while also retaining original qualities of appearance and function. Circulation features, plantings, structures, and small-scale components of the district are in their original location. The spatial organization and pattern of land use in Rim Village still reflect the original design intent, as shown on NPS master plans from 1927 to 1941. Only minor changes to the setting have taken place since 1942; these include construction of a concession employee dormitory outside the district in 1973, ending overnight use of the campground two years later in favor of utilization as a picnic area, burning 19 rental cabins behind the Cafeteria in 1985, and the 1991 removal of three comfort stations in the campground. Historic materials are still evident in contributing structures, circulation systems, plantings (though some are in remnant condition), and small- scale features. The workmanship associated with the designed landscape is an excellent example of how naturalistic design was executed, in that many of the district's individual features served as models for other NPS and state park areas. [4] The district also possesses a distinct presence within the greater landscape, evoking a feeling through its circulation system, plantings, contributing structures, and small-scale features for the era in which it was designed and created. Rim Village also continues to reflect its associations with the Civilian Conservation Corps and other Depression-era Federal work relief programs which allowed the NPS to implement an ambitious planned development from 1931 to 1941.

Endnotes

1. Cathy A. Gilbert and Gretchen A. Luxenberg, The Rustic Landscape of Rim Village, 1927-1941. Seattle: USDI-NPS, Pacific Northwest Region, 1990.

2. Merel Sager, as quoted in Gilbert and Luxenberg, p. 118.

3. "Promenade Wall Evaluation" drawing no. 106/41,068, by R. Conrad, November 1993, one sheet, accompanies a summary and photographs by Denver Service Center personnel who gave their document the same name, History Files, CraterLake National Park.

4. Gilbert and Luxenberg, p. 109, in reference to Albert Good, Park and Recreation Structures (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1938), 3 vols.