Architects of the National Park Service are the architects and landscape architects who were employed by the National Park Service (NPS) starting in 1918 to design buildings, structures, roads, trails and other features in the United States National Parks. Many of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a number have also been designated as National Historic Landmarks.
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.
Other significant architects and landscape architects who were employed by NPS include Herbert Maier, John Wosky, Harold G. Fowler, Cecil J. Doty, Lyle E. Bennett, A. Paul Brown, Mark Daniels, Ernest A. Davidson, Herbert Kreinkemp, Harry Langley, William Haussmann, and Ken Saunders.
Much of the work of the NPS architects is in a "rustic" style that has become known as "National Park Service rustic" architecture.
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.Carr 1998, p. 240
Several private architects, though not the subject of this article, also made important contributions to the development of the NPS rustic architectural style. Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed several important rustic works in the National Parks, including Old Faithful Lodge (1923), Bryce Canyon Lodge (1925), Ahwahnee Hotel (1926), Zion Lodge (1927), and Grand Canyon Lodge (1928). Mary Colter also contributed a number of important early works, including the Mary Jane Colter buildings at Grand Canyon National Park.
Works 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".
Alaska
Denali National Park and Preserve
Ewe Creek Ranger Cabin No. 8, also known as Lower Savage River Cabin, 5 miles downstream on the Savage River from Park Highway near Ewe Creek, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Lower East Fork Ranger Cabin No. 9, 25 miles downstream on the east fork of the Toklat River from Park Rd., Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (National Park Service), NRHP-listed 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 Lower Windy Creek Ranger Cabin No. 15, east of Mile 324 on Alaska Railroad, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (National Park Service), NRHP-listed 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 Mount McKinley National Park Headquarters District, Mile 3.4 McKinley Park Hwy., Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (most buildings designed by National Park Service architects), NRHP-listed 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 and was built in 1931.
Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent's Residence (1921), Off Route 8A, in Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon, Arizona (designed in 1921 by Daniel Ray Hull of the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs; altered in 1931 by Thomas Chalmers Vint) Grand Canyon North Rim Headquarters, North Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona (built by National Park Service and Civilian Conservation Corps; architect unknown), NRHP-listed Grand Canyon Park Operations Building (1929), off West Rim Dr., Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (National Park Service Landscape Division), NRHP-listed Grand Canyon South Rim Ranger's Dormitory (1920-1921), off Arizona Route 64, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon, Arizona (designed by Daniel Ray Hull of the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs) Grand Canyon Village Historic District, Grand Canyon, Arizona (1924 master plan by National Park Service landscape architect Daniel Ray Hull; includes Park Service employee residences built under direction of Hull and Thomas Chalmers Vint) Trans-Canyon Telephone Line, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon along Bright Angel & North Kaibab Trails from South Rim to Roaring Springs & South Kaibab Trail to Tipoff, Grand Canyon, Arizona (National Park Service), NRHP-listed
Other Painted Desert Inn (1937-1940), Petrified Forest National Park, west of Navajo County, Arizona (Lyle E. Bennett for the National Park Service), NRHP-listed Tumacácori National Historical Park, formerly known as Tumacácori National Monument, on Interstate 19 18 miles north of Nogales, Arizona (museum designed by Scofield DeLong, Charles D. Carter and other NPS personnel), NRHP-listed
California
Yosemite National Park
Crane Flat Fire Lookout (1931), north of Big Oak Flat Rd., near Crane Creek, Yosemite National Park, Aspen Valley, California (NPS Landscape Division prepared plans for the structure; NPS landscape architect John Wosky planned the site), NRHP-listed 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. Glacier Point Trailside Museum (1924), also known as Glacier Point Lookout, Yosemite National Park, east of El Portal, California (NPS architects Herbert Maier and Ansel Hall), NRHP-listed Mariposa Grove Museum (1930), Yosemite National Park, southeast of Wawona, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Merced Grove Ranger Station (1933-1935), Yosemite National Park, north of El Portal, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Tioga Pass Entrance Station (1931-1934), Yosemite National Park, southwest of Lee Vining, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, southwest of Lee Vining, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Tuolumne Meadows Ranger Stations and Comfort Stations (1924-1936), Yosemite National Park, southwest of Lee Vining, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed 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 Yosemite Village Historic District, Yosemite National Park (overall layout and road pattern by NPS landscape architect Charles Punchard, Jr.; Post Office and Yosemite Museum/Valley District Building by NPS architect Herbert Maier; Administration Building by private architect Myron Hunt; Ranger's Club by private architect Charles K. Sumner), NRHP-listed
Sequoia National Park
Ash Mountain Entrance Sign, Sequoia National Park (design by NPS architects Merel S. Sager and Harold G. Fowler), NRHP-listed Cabin Creek Ranger Residence and Dormitory, off Generals Highway in Sequoia National Park, southeast of Wilsonia, California (National Park Service: landscape architect Harold G. Fowler; Emergency Conservation Work landscape architect Lloyd Fletcher), NRHP-listed Generals' Highway Stone Bridges (1930-1931), Sequoia National Park, north of Mineral King, California (John Wosky of NPS Division of Landscape Architecture on the Clover Creek and Marble Fork Bridges), NRHP-listed Giant Forest Village-Camp Kaweah Historic District, Sequoia National Park (camp cabins laid out according to a plan developed by NPS landscape architect Merel S. Sager; NPS landscape engineer Daniel Ray Hull established the Giant Forest Village site), NRHP-listed Hockett Meadow Ranger Station (1934), Sequoia National Park, south of Silver City, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Moro Rock Stairway (1931), Sequoia National Park, north of Three Rivers, California (NPS landscape architect Merel S. Sager and engineer Frank Diehl), NRHP-listed 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 Redwood Meadow Ranger Station (1938-1941), Sequoia National Park, vicinity of Three Rivers, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Horseshoe Lake Ranger Station (1934), Lassen Volcanic National Park, on Horseshoe Lake north of Chester, California (National Park Service architects), NRHP-listed Park Headquarters (1929), Lassen Volcanic National Park (designed by G. W. Norgard of the NPS Branch of Plans and Designs), NRHP-listed Summit Lake Ranger Station (1926), Lassen Volcanic National Park, northeast of Mineral, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed Warner Valley Ranger Station (1926), Lassen Volcanic National Park, north of Chester, California (National Park Service), NRHP-listed
Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park
Bear Lake Comfort Station (1940), Rocky Mountain National Park, Bear Lake, Estes Park, Colorado (designed by W. C. Hill, working under Howard W. Baker, Regional Landscape Architect, NPS Branch of Plans and Design), NRHP-listed 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 Fall River Pass Ranger Station, Rocky Mountain National Park, Fall River Pass (designed by Daniel Ray Hull, landscape engineer for NPS), NRHP-listed. 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 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 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