The National Park Service was established in 1916, and Charles Punchard, Jr. became its first landscape architect in July 1918. Punchard died in 1920 and was replaced by his assistant, Daniel Ray Hull. In 1922, Hull hired Thomas Chalmers Vint as a draftsman. Vint became the head of the Landscape Architectural Division after Hull retired in 1927. Vint remained with the NPS until he retired in 1961 and is credited with directing and shaping landscape planning and development at the NPS. Vint also significantly expanded the design group's staffing in the late 1920s and 1930s, starting in 1928 with Merel S. Sager. The NPS Branch of Plans and Designs was organized in 1933. Vint was appointed as the first chief architect, with Charles E. Peterson in charge of the Eastern Division and William G. Carnes in charge of the Western Division. Carnes replaced Vint as the Chief Landscape Architect, and in 1956, Sager succeeded Carnes in that position.[1]
Much of the work of the NPS architects is in a "rustic" style that has become known as "National Park Service rustic" architecture.[2]
One of the distinctive features of architecture of the National Park Service is the blending of traditional architecture and landscape architecture. Vint and others experimented with use of stone and logs to construct buildings in a natural way, following example of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Vint also provided the first master plan for many Park Service units in his 1931 plan for Mount Rainier National Park. It established the principle of designating specific areas as wilderness.[4]
Works attributed to the architects of the National Park Service or to its architect subgroups, include the following (with attribution variations). Some works are specifically noted to be done by the "NPS Landscape Architecture Division" or the "NPS Landscape Engineering Division"; some are noted to be works of the "NPS Office of Design & Construction" or the "NPS Branch of Plans and Design".[5]
Lower Toklat River Ranger Cabin No. 18, 30 miles north on Toklat River from Park Rd., Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (National Park Service), NRHP-listed[5]
Moose Creek Ranger Cabin No. 19, also known as Moose Creek Shelter Cabin, 5 miles north of Mile 73.8 on Park Rd., Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (National Park Service), NRHP-listed[5]
Upper Toklat River Cabin No. 24, built in 1931 in a standard design of the NPS Branch of Plans and Designs, near main branch of Toklat River at Mile 53.7, west of Park Rd., Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (National Park Service), NRHP-listed[5] and was built in 1931.[8]
Grand Canyon North Rim Headquarters, North Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona (built by National Park Service and Civilian Conservation Corps; architect unknown), NRHP-listed[5][10]
Specifically designed as a National Park Service lookout intended to blend with its surroundings, in contrast to the metal towers used by the U.S. Forest Service. This lookout was highlighted by Thomas Chalmers Vint as a prototype for general use.[17]
Yosemite Valley Bridges (1922-1933), 8 bridges, mostly over the Merced River, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Village, California (Bureau of Public Roads provided the engineering, design and construction, with the National Park Service involved through review by its landscape architecture and engineering divisions), NRHP-listed[5][23]
Pear Lake Ski Hut (1939-1941), Sequoia National Park, north of Mineral King, California ("one of the most environmentally successful alpine structures ever designed by the NPS"), NRHP-listed[31]
East Inlet Trail, west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, 6.9 miles from Grand Lake to Lake Verna (trail existed in 1914; first NPS construction by 1924; rebuilt in 1931 under leadership of L.S. Moore; listed in part due to its reflecting NPS Naturalistic Design), NRHP-listed[38]
Fall River Pump House and Catchment Basin, near the top of Fall River Rd., Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado (L. Fletcher and W. G. Hill, landscape architects with the National Park Service), NRHP-listed[40]
Fall River Entrance Historic District, Rocky Mountain National Park, Fall River Entrance, Estes Park, Colorado (three buildings designed by Edward A. Nickel, Associate Structural Engineer, NPS Branch of Plans and Design, Western Division), NRHP-listed[41]
Fern Lake Patrol Cabin (1925), Rocky Mountain National Park, Fern Lake, Estes Park, Colorado (designed by members of the NPS Landscape Engineering Division in Los Angeles under supervision of Daniel Ray Hull), NRHP-listed[42]
Fern Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado, (trail reworked by NPS landscape architects in 1933; rebuilt by CCC workers), NRHP-listed[43]
Flattop Mountain Trail, Rocky Mountain Park, Estes Park, Colorado, (National Park Service and Civilian Conservation Corps), NRHP-listed[44]
Lake Haiyaha Trail (1930-1935), also known as Nymph Lake Trail and Dream Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, 2.1 miles roughly along Bear, Nymph & Dream Lakes, then up Chaos Canyon, Estes Park, Colorado, (Allison van V. Dunn, landscape architect, National Park Service), NRHP-listed[46]
Lost Lake Trail, also known as Sawmill Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, 4.5 miles roughly along North Fork of the Big Thompson River, Estes Park, Colorado (rebuilt in 1934 under direction of Allison van V. Dunn, landscape architect with National Park Service), NRHP-listed[47]
Milner Pass Road Camp Mess Hall and House (1926), Rocky Mountain National Park, Milner Pass Road, Estes Park, Colorado (designed by personnel of NPS Landscape Engineering Division, Los Angeles, under supervision of Daniel Ray Hull; "one of the earliest structures in the park to demonstrate the 'NPS Rustic' style of architecture"), NRHP-listed[48]
Moraine Park Museum and Amphitheater (1934), Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado (National Park Service Branch of Plans and Design), NRHP-listed[49]
North Inlet Trail (1926-1931), 11.5 miles roughly along North Inlet & Hallett Creek to Flattop Mountain, Grand Lake, Colorado (trail rebuilt 1926-1931; Allison van V. Dunn, an NPS landscape architect, arrived in 1929 and oversaw the final years of rebuilding), NRHP-listed[50]
Shadow Mountain Lookout (1932), southeast of Grand Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake, Colorado (original plans by NPS Landscape Architecture Division were rejected; new plans completed by NPS Chief Forester, John Coffman), NRHP-listed[51]
Shadow Mountain Trail, 4.8 miles long on east side of Shadow Mountaine Lake, Grand Lake, Colorado (trail rebuilt in 1930 by National Park Service; trail design reflects NPS Naturalistic Design of the 1920s to 1940s), NRHP-listed[52]
Thunder Lake Patrol Cabin (1930), Rocky Mountain National Park (Howard R. Baker and Thomas Chalmers Vint of the NPS Design Staff), NRHP-listed[53]
Upper Thunder Lake Trail reconstructed in 1929-1930 upon arrival of the park's first NPS-trained landscape architect; portions of Bluebird Lake Trail rebuilt in late 1930s with CCC labor.[54]
Timber Creek Road Camp Barn (1930), Rocky Mountain National Park, approximately 200 yards south of Columbine Lake Rd., 450 yards west of Kawuneeche Visitor Center, Estes Park, Colorado (designed by personnel at NPS Office of Design & Construction, San Francisco, under supervision of Thomas Chalmers Vint), NRHP-listed[56]
Timberline Cabin (1925), Rocky Mountain National Park, Fall River Rd., vicinity of Estes Park, Colorado (plans prepared by members of the NPS Landscape Engineering Division under supervision of T. C. Vint), NRHP-listed[57]
Utility Area Historic District, Rocky Mountain National Park, Beaver Meadows Entrance Rd., Estes Park, Colorado (approximately 30 contributing structures; plans by NPS Landscape Engineering Division), NRHP-listed[41][58]
Nowhere in Rocky Mountain National Park is the theme of NPS Rustic Architecture exemplified better than in the Utility Area Historic District.[41]
Agnes Vaille Shelter (1927), near the summit of Long's Peak, less than 100 yards south of Keyhole at over 13,400 feet elevation, along East Longs Peak Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park (National Park Service design staff; NPS rustic architecture), NRHP-listed[59]
Wild Basin House (1931), Rocky Mountain National Park, Wild Basin, Estes Park, Colorado (plans approved by T. C. Vint, drawn by the NPS Branch of Plans and Design), NRHP-listed[60]
Wild Basin Ranger Station and House (1932), Rocky Mountain National Park, Wild Basin, Estes Park, Colorado (plans drawn by NPS Branch of Plans and Design), NRHP-listed[61]
Willow Park Patrol Cabin (1923), Rocky Mountain National Park, Fall River Rd., Estes Park, Colorado (designed by members of the NPS Landscape Engineering Division under the supervision of Daniel Ray Hull), NRHP-listed[62]
Willow Park Stable (1926), Rocky Mountain National Park, Fall River Pass, Estes Park, Colorado (designed by members of the NPS Landscape Engineering Division under the supervision of Daniel Ray Hull), NRHP-listed[63]
Rim Rock Drive Historic District (1932), Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado (road design by NPS Branch of Engineering and Branch of Plans and Design), NRHP-listed[67][68]
Saddlehorn Caretaker's House and Garage (1934), Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado (designed by W. G. Carney of NPS Branch of Plans and Designs, Western Division), NRHP-listed[69][70]
Saddlehorn Comfort Station (1936), Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado (H. A. Kreinkamp of NPS Branch of Plans and Designs), NRHP-listed[71][72]
The National Park Service provided technical, overall expertise on the design of traffic circulation in the park, and in buildings' designs; work was done by CCC and WPA.[79]
Meramec State Park Pump House, off Missouri Route 185, east of Sullivan, Missouri (National Park Service and Civilian Conservation Corps), NRHP-listed[5][80]
Meramec State Park Shelter House, off Missouri Route 185, east of Sullivan, Missouri (National Park Service and Civilian Conservation Corps), NRHP-listed[5][80]
Montauk State Park Open Shelter, off Missouri Route 119, Montauk State Park, Salem, Missouri (National Park Service and Civilian Conservation Corps), NRHP-listed[5][80]
Entrance Station (Devils Tower National Monument), Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming (based on 1933 plans created by the National Park Service Landscape Division for a now-vanished caretaker's cabin at Aspenglen Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park, adapted by NPS architect Howard W. Baker of the Branch of Plans and Design)[81]
Moose Entrance Kiosk, Grand Teton National Park, Park Rd., Moose, Wyoming (NPS Branch of Plans & Design), NRHP-listed[5]
String Lake Comfort Station, Grand Teton National Park, off Teton Park Rd. at String Lake, Moose, Wyoming (NPS Branch of Plans & Design), NRHP-listed[5]
First "wayside exhibit built in the National Park System", an "open-air museum-in-miniature", and a small shelter for interpretative information, in National Park Service Rustic style.[84]
Rattlesnake Springs Historic District, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Carlsbad, New Mexico (1940 Ranger's Residence and the 1933 Pump House designed by William G. Carnes of the NPS; later structures designed by Ken Saunders and Del Jones at the Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs in Santa Fe)[88]
Nichols Park (1938-1941), located on the Indian Nation Turnpike (toll road) approximately two mile south of downtown Henryetta in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma (design by Charles Krueger of the National Park Service; built by Civilian Conservation Corps), NRHP-listed[89]
The registered properties are listed in part due to their NPS rustic architecture and include a beach house, two picnic shelter, and comfort station.[89]
Perry Lake Park (1934-1935), also known as CCC Park, 1520 South 4th Street, Perry, Oklahoma (National Park Service; built by Civilian Conservation Corps), NRHP-listed[90]
The registered properties include a boat house and are listed in part as "an excellent example of the architecture and landscape design philosophy of the National Park Service."[90]
Listed properties include bathhouse (1938, designed by J. Elwood Isted), kitchen shelters (adapted by Glen O. Stevenson from a Plan by J. Elwood Isted for Washington State Parks), pumphouse (1937, designed by J. Elwood Isted), caretaker's house (1936, designed by Jack Peterson), caretaker's garage (1937, designed by J. Elwood Isted)[93]
East and South Entrance Signs (1936), Zion National Park (designed by NPS Branch of Plans and Designs; altered in 1950 to design of NPS architects H.W. Young and A.C. Kuehl), NRHP-listed[97][98]
Floor of the Valley Road, Zion National Park (built in 1916, later redesigned by NPS Branch of Plans and Designs to highlight the natural features of the valley while presenting a natural-appearing built environment), NRHP-listed[101]
Grotto Trail (1932), begins at Zion Lodge, running along the floor of the valley to the Zion Museum at what is now the Grotto Picnic Area (designed by NPS landscape architect Harry Langley), NRHP-listed
Museum-Grotto Residence, southeast of Grotto Picnic Area, Springdale, Utah (designed by Harry Langley of NPS Branch of Plans and Designs), NRHP-listed[104]
South Campground Comfort Station (1934), South Campground at north end of campsite loop, Springdale, Utah (designed by W. G. Carnes of the NPS Western Division of Plans and Design), NRHP-listed[106]
Gobbler's Knob Fire Lookout (1933), Nisqually Entrance, Mount Rainier National Park (designed by NPS Branch of Plans and Designs under supervision of Acting Chief Architect Edwin A. Nickel), NRHP-listed[112]
Huckleberry Creek Patrol Cabin (1934), Mount Rainier National Park (NPS Acting Chief Architect W. G. Carnes designed the "1930s standard patrol cabin plan"), NRHP-listed.[113]
Indian Bar Trail Shelter (1940), Mount Rainier National Park, Paradise, Washington (designed by NPS Branch of Plans and Design under supervision of Edwin A. Nickel), NRHP-listed[114]
Ipsut Creek Patrol Cabin (1933), Mount Rainier National Park, Carbon River Entrance (one of several patrol cabins in the park built using plans by the NPS Branch of Plans and Design under supervision of Acting Chief Architect W. G. Carnes), NRHP-listed[115]
Mt. Fremont Fire Lookout(1934), Mount Rainier National Park, vicinity of Sunrise, Washington (built to standard plan developed by NPS Western Division, Branch of Plans and Design, with Edward A. Nickel), NRHP-listed[118]
Narada Falls Comfort Station (1942), Mount Rainier National Park (designed by NPS Western Region Landscape Engineering Division, with plan approval by Thomas Chalmers Vint), NRHP-listed[119]
Summerland Trail Shelter (1934), Mount Rainier National Park, Sunrise, Washington (designed by NPS Branch of Plans and Design under supervision of Edwin A. Nickel), NRHP-listed[120]
Shriner Peak Fire Lookout (1932), Mount Rainier National Park, Ohanapecosh, Washington (built to standard design developed by NPS, Landscape Division, Branch of Plans and Design, NRHP-listed[122]
Tahoma Vista Comfort Station (1931), Mount Rainier National Park (designed by NPS, Western Region, Branch of Plans and Design with Thomas Chalmers Vint; NPS landscape architect Ernest A. Davidson "extensively involved in supervising construction of the scenic overlook"), NRHP-listed[123]
Three Lakes Patrol Cabin (1934), Mount Rainier National Park (built to a standard plan designed by W.G. Carnes, NPS Acting Chief Architect, Branch of Plans and Designs, supervised by Thomas Chalmers Vint), NRHP-listed[124]
Tolmie Peak Fire Lookout (1933), Mount Rainier National Park, Mowich Lake Entrance (design was prepared under the supervision of Edwin A. Nickel of the NPS Branch of Plans and Designs), NRHP-listed[126]
White River Mess Hall and Dormitory (1934), Mount Rainier National Park, White River Entrance (designed by NPS Branch of Plans and Design under supervision of Thomas Chalmers Vint), NRHP-listed[127][128]
Yakima Park Stockade Group (1930), Mount Rainier National Park (Ernest A. Davidson, landscape architect, and A. Paul Brown, architect, of the NPS Landscape Engineering Division), NRHP-listed and National Historic Landmark[129]
Canyon Creek Shelter (1939), also known as Sol Duc Falls Shelter, approximately .9 miles north of the Upper Sol Duc River Trailhead, Olympic National Park (built by Civilian Conservation Corps under guidance of National Park Service), NRHP-listed[130]
Graves Creek Ranger Station (1939-1941), approximately 22 miles northeast of Route 101 on Quinault River Road, Quinault District of Olympic National Park (National Park Service with assistance of Public Works Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps labor), NRHP-listed[131]