DESIGN CONTEXT

In any area in which the preservation of the beauty of Nature is a primary purpose, every modification of the natural landscape, whether it be by construction of a road or erection of a shelter, is an intrusion. A basic objective of those who are entrusted with development of such areas for the human uses for which they are established, is . . . to hold these intrusions to a minimum and so to design them that, besides being attractive to look upon, they appear to belong to and be a part of their settings.

Arno B. Cammerer, Director
National Park Service, 1935 [1]

INTRODUCTION

The design philosophy espousing a close relationship between man-made structures and the natural environment can be traced to the mid-19th century, when American landscape architects were beginning to influence environmental planning and architectural design and practices. During the decades that followed, these theories and ideas were applied and further refined by the advocates of what became a recognized style of design, one well-suited for national parks. This style was known as the Rustic, and it served as the framework for all design work at Rim Village.

The landscape of Rim Village is the result of two independent factors that were closely interwoven by NPS designers to create an image for the village. The two factors were function and utility, and aesthetics and design. The Park Service recognized that Rim Village needed specific services to accommodate the growing numbers of visitors to the park. Lodging, meals, camping and travel supplies, and general services were among the park visitors' needs. Planners also knew that a site's natural and aesthetic qualities were of equal importance to how it functioned. The Rustic style of design, then, became the "envelope" within which the functional needs of the village were addressed in a manner that was sensitive and appropriate to the natural surroundings.

FUNCTION AND UTILITY

Although the Department of the Interior had jurisdiction over development in the parks, it was the concessioners and railroad companies who first constructed buildings and other facilities in these areas. Some structures were good examples of the evolving Rustic style of design, others were not. Beginning in 1911, a series of National Park Conferences addressing development and design for the national parks were held in Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks, and in Berkeley, California.[2] A number of professionals in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and engineering, as well as Park Service officials, attended these forums to express their goals, desires, and ideas for appropriate ways in which to develop and design for these special areas.[3] It was at one of these forums that Mark Daniels, a landscape engineer serving as the Department of the Interior's General Superintendent of Parks, presented his "campaign plan" for improving the parks.[4] A key component of Daniels' plan was to concentrate visitor services in one place -- a village. In his concept the village would be designed primarily for utility and functional needs of the visitor. Accommodations for every type of individual would be provided, from the visitor who wanted to stay in a hotel and take meals at a lodge, to the visitor who preferred cooking his own meals and sleeping in a tent. In Daniels' plan, individual buildings would be carefully sited and arranged throughout the village, and architectural styles would be thoughtfully considered in order to enhance -- in Daniels' words -- the "picturesqueness" of the site. Since the number of people traveling to the parks was increasing rapidly, Daniels felt the establishment of these villages, complete with their infrastructure of lights, water, utilities, supply stores, and lodging facilities, was inevitable for all the parks including Crater Lake. By 1915, a preliminary plan was in place for a village at Crater Lake, to be sited along the south side of the rim overlooking the lake.[5]

DESIGN AND THE NATURALISTIC STYLE

Early plans for the national parks focused on responding to specific functional needs, such as good roads and accommodations, rather than overall design or formal planning. An "official" design ethic for the parks came in 1918, two years after the National Park Service was established. The Secretary of the Interior wrote to the Director of the NPS, setting down policies and guidelines for the new bureau.

The Secretary's letter covered a number of issues. The influence of design professionals was clearly evident with regard to buildings and their place in the landscape. Secretary Franklin K Lane wrote:

In the construction of roads, trails, buildings, and other improvements, particular attention must be devoted always to the harmonizing of these improvements with the landscape. This is a most important item in our programs of development and requires the employment of trained engineers who either possess a knowledge of landscape architecture or have a proper appreciation of the esthetic value of park lands. All improvements will be carried out in accordance with a preconceived plan developed in special reference to the preservation of the landscape.[6]

In addition, Lane stated that any improvement activities would be undertaken by its "Section of Landscape Engineering," and that each improvement would blend harmoniously into a carefully considered scheme

. . . in order to secure a maximum of beauty and convenience with a minimum of interference with natural conditions. . . . It is an invariable rule that no structure of importance, whether for the Service or the public operators, can be erected until the approval of the Landscape Engineer has been secured, both as to location and design.[7]

These words represent the underlying basis of the distinct style of design that came to be known as NPS Rustic. Over the years Lane's statement became a charter for the NPS' design program, and for the next twenty years this philosophy was faithfully followed in the nation's parks, including Crater Lake.

In America, antecedents of the Rustic style can be traced to the writings of 19th century Landscape Architect Andrew Jackson Downing. Influenced by British landscape traditions and writing in the mid-1800s, Downing espoused rural ideals for landscape gardening and design. By the turn of the century, the fancy gardens of the Victorian era had given way to the simple, economic, "naturalistic" and "informal" gardens championed earlier by Downing. Journals and landscape design books of the day popularized the style that drew its inspiration directly from nature. In their writings, landscape architects and horticulturists, particularly Frederick Law Olmsted, Henry H. Hubbard, and Frank Waugh, set down principles for designing in the naturalistic style. These principles, in turn, set the framework for the design values and philosophy of the Rustic style.

At its best, the Rustic style achieved sympathy with the natural surroundings and with the past. The style became the means in which functional architecture was brought into natural environments in a visually pleasing and nonintrusive manner. Characteristics such as the use of natural materials used in proper scale, the avoidance of rigid, straight lines, and the visual character of a structure that appeared rugged, handcrafted, and built by pioneer craftsmen with limited hand tools, were the essence of the Rustic style. Structures, however, were always intended to be subordinate to their surroundings. The features to be preserved, emphasized, and appreciated in the parks were the site's natural features and not the man-made ones. In the Rustic philosophy, the natural features were the overriding factors in determining the design vocabulary for both individual buildings and entire developments in the national parks. [8]

Over several years of implementing the rustic idiom in the parks, the NPS continually strove to perfect the techniques required to achieve visually appealing and well-proportioned rustic structures. Awkward examples were followed by ever-improving and more eloquent examples. The relationship between landscape architecture and architecture continued to strengthen, and the landscape itself became an integral part of every design.[9]

In 1927 the NPS' Landscape Division was transferred to San Francisco, where a Western Field Office was created, combining landscape design work with the NPS' Civil Engineering Division and the Bureau of Public Roads. This joint office brought together a number of professional disciplines for an era of unparalleled development in the parks. Concurrently, park appropriations significantly increased, leading to an increase in park staff and general development activities. It was during this time that comprehensive planning efforts were formalized, with master plans prepared for each national park. Landscape architect Thomas C. Vint headed up the San Francisco office, becoming the dominant and controlling figure in the implementation of planning in the parks -- planning that was manifested in the Rustic style.

As a culmination of its efforts to introduce and implement design in the national parks that followed the principles of the Rustic style, the NPS printed a book that synthesized information about the style. The NPS commissioned Albert H. Good to create a manual of appropriate park designs. Published in 1935, Park Structures and Facilities was directed at government agencies and professionals charged with designing buildings and structures in natural or recreational areas. It quickly became the foundation for state and national park design. The book included a treatise on appropriate design for these areas. Various features, from buildings to drinking fountains, were described in a text that was heavily illustrated with photographs, plans, and elevations. The NPS was confident that by pulling together a collection of the "best" examples of the Rustic style in one place, an understanding of the style would be enhanced and stimulate further developments and improvements in design. The bureau was correct in its assumption: the book sold out almost immediately and was reprinted as a three-volume set three years later under the title Park and Recreation Structures. It had become an "indispensable architectural pattern book."[10]

Park and Recreation Structures set down several fundamental principles for designing in the Rustic style. Both structures and landscape were addressed. The visual success of the finished structure was directly related to how various native materials were combined, the scale and massing of the structure, its siting on the landscape, the appropriate use of color, and the appearance of craftsmanship in construction. Essentially, park structures that looked as though they had "sprung from the soil" were "of the elect."[11] In addition to guidelines for buildings and structures, Park and Recreation Structures made recommendations for minimizing the visual impact of these features through the use of plant materials. While the goal was to site buildings in a natural setting, this was not always possible. In order to "gracefully obliterate the otherwise unhappy line of demarcation between buildings and ground," it was advised that vegetation be introduced along the structural foundations, to soften the edge between earth and structure. Another recommendation suggested the use of rocks around building foundations, "artfully contrived," to give the impression of natural rock outcroppings occurring next to the building. It is of interest to note that Good, while espousing the use of natural and native materials, also advocated "deception" when necessary in order to attain the desired rustic look. Changing technologies in building methods permitted stone bridges, drinking fountains, and other structures or features to be built using modern materials like concrete. In order to achieve the natural appearance desired, these features -- with their concrete infrastructure -- were sided with a masonry veneer for that "rustic" look.[12]

This publication provided fundamental guidance for those charged with design in the nation's parks. The diverse ideas and principles that had been championed and practiced by the NPS and design professionals over many decades finally came together formally in this sourcebook. Park and Recreation Structures communicated to a broad audience the design context that national parks were following in their structural improvements and developments across the country.

RUSTIC DESIGN AT RIM VILLAGE

INTRODUCTION

Because it was one of the early parks in the system, Crater Lake National Park was a laboratory for NPS planners and designers working in the Rustic style. It was also an older park, with many needs to address. With monies in place for park development, and a professional team in the Western Field Office transforming ideas and concepts into master plans for the parks, the time was right for design implementation. At Crater Lake, the period of intensive development was 1927 to 1941, and one area of focus was Rim Village.

The key players developing the design concepts for Rim Village were assembled in San Francisco, and led by Thomas Vint. Along with Vint, landscape architect Merel S. Sager had the greatest influence in the design program for Crater Lake's Rim Village. Crater Lake was one of several Pacific Coast parks that benefited from Sager's expertise. It was Vint, however, the "veteran," who was responsible for teaching Sager and the other young professionals about the principles of non-intrusive (Rustic) design.

Vint was charged with the job of implementing the NPS' Rustic architecture program in the parks. He did this through the use of general development plans and later, beginning in 1931, by instituting a Master Plan Program.[13] In this program, each park in the system would have a plan establishing design criteria to guide development. These plans would govern all construction and maintenance work in the parks and in Vint's eyes be "progressive" and revised regularly to reflect new issues, annual progress, or new information. The plans themselves were comprised of two components: written statements detailing policy and objective statements about the park's intended use; and a series of site plan drawings. The drawings served both as an inventory of existing conditions, and as design documents showing proposed facilities. In order to prepare these plans, Vint assigned each member of his team of professionals to specific parks. Summers were spent in those areas conducting topographic surveys, photography, and other field work critical for site design.

At Crater Lake, the construction season was extremely short, due to the area's harsh weather conditions. Substantial amounts of snow fell annually at the park, blanketing the place for almost nine months a year. These conditions made planning work schedules difficult, as the actual work season varied from one year to the next. In a typical year the workforces began their operations in June and were forced to stop in October. Occasionally, crews were able to begin as early as April. No matter when the work season started, the park's landscape architects were prepared to begin, working on unfinished projects from the previous year that required completion prior to undertaking new tasks. As the season drew to a close and over the course of the winter, the park's landscape architects assessed what was completed during the previous season, and what was needed next season, and designed their proposed work schedules accordingly.

Extensive and detailed monthly narrative reports were prepared by the assistant or resident landscape architects and forwarded to the chief and/or regional landscape architect through the park's superintendent. Returning to San Francisco in the fall, the architects and landscape architects would use the winter months to synthesize their field observations and notes, and draft the information into cohesive master plans for each park. The master plans were primarily conceptual: what was delineated on a master plan drawing during any given year was not necessarily found on the ground for the same year. Often, it took years before design ideas were actualized on the site. In addition, many design decisions were made "in the field." For example, if a good idea occurred to one of the designers or planners working at the site, that idea was often implemented immediately and the master plan drawings and narrative text later adjusted to reflect the new design element or feature.[14]

When Vint turned his attention to Crater Lake in 1927 to begin a fall-scale planning program for the park, the "village," espoused earlier by planners as a means of accommodating park visitors, was already in place on the south shore of Crater Lake.[15] At the east end of the site was the hotel, the Crater Lake Lodge, and a stone comfort station built in 1921 for park campers. To the west a short walk, was the rustic Kiser Studio (built in 1921) where visitors obtained their souvenir photographs of the park. Across the way, was the Community House, built in 1924 by the NPS. Such a building had been suggested in 1923, "to encourage visitors to mingle together after sundown."[16] The Community House provided space for visitors to dance, hear lectures, and participate in other forms of entertainment. A wooded area behind the Community House was formally designated as a campground by the NPS.

Despite this development, the overall appearance of Rim Village was bleak and had been for many years. Park visitors drove their cars in a random fashion all over the area and up to the edge of the steep caldera wall. People walked wherever they desired, including to a precipitous outcrop known as Victor Rock, where they could take in a breathtaking vista of the lake. Campers arbitrarily pitched their tents after driving around the campground looking for suitable sites. With all of the indiscriminate activity, the landscape of Rim Village suffered. Trees were used as bumpers for automobiles; vegetation was practically non-existent from trampling by visitors and/or their cars; and the nature of the site's soil combined with the prevailing winds, often created an unbearably dusty and dirty environment. NPS designers went so far as to describe the area as a "pumice desert" and "an unattractive sand waste."[17]

The intent of Vint's plan was to improve the appearance of the landscape, eliminate safety hazards with respect to cars, reduce dust, and simplify traffic and parking problems by spreading people out across the site. The plan focused on three components: buildings; landscape; and circulation. With regard to buildings, the park concessioner (who had built two of the three existing buildings) had plans for additional structures, including a cafeteria and store, and twenty-two rental cabins, at the far west end of Rim Village. The circulation component of the plan proposed a pedestrian trail to be laid along the edge of the rim for the full length of the village, and trails to be built leading down to the lakeshore and up to Garfield Peak from the Rim Village. Vint felt that this rim walk would be one of the most important units of the rim area development, and its center of attraction would be the lookout designed for Victor Rock, complete with a rustic stairway and ramps. The landscape component of the plan focused on reclaiming the "pumice desert" by restoring the area's natural grasses and wildflowers. It was hoped that this planting program would bring back the site's original beauty and once again be in harmony with its natural surroundings. Other structures and features, including paved parking areas north of the cafeteria, south of the lodge, and a road with parking revetments linking the two main lots, were also incorporated into the design proposal for Rim Village. In 1928 a new road to Rim Village was completed altering the visitor's entry sequence to the west end of the site. However, Vint saw this as an improvement, for it would help distribute traffic at the rim. Vint noted that this new road approach was "one of the most powerful factors, having an influence on the general layout" programmed for the village.[18]

In general, the design intent of the first general development plan was to create an aesthetic and functional environment for visitors through non-intrusive design. The overall development would appear natural, as though the vegetation added to enhance the site had always been there, and the buildings and curving walks belonged in the landscape. Orderliness would prevail. Of utmost importance was to refrain from overdevelopment, but develop all services intensively in one area so the rest of the park could remain intact and "virgin." Vint's long-term vision for the village included the development of the open desert area west of the Community House into a plaza where all services and facilities would be located. He wanted to relocate the Kiser Studio to this area, a site away from the rim and thus more visually appropriate. Vint also hoped that a new Community House could be erected in this plaza, designed in a more sensitive manner than the existing structure.[19]

IMPLEMENTATION

Although it is not known whether individual landscape areas were specifically targeted in the preliminary designs for the site, the landscape at Rim Village was organized into distinct landscape zones: the linear edge following the caldera wall; the area surrounding the lodge; the campground area; and the open expanse in front of the cafeteria building. In general, work progressed from one zone to the next. As construction of walkways and plantings were completed along the caldera wall, for example, work shifted to the next zone of concern, the lodge. Upon completion of circulation improvements and planting around the hotel, work efforts then turned to the campground. The fourth zone of concern, the west plaza where the cafeteria and store were located, was the last to be addressed, principally because Vint's plans called for a major overhaul of this area and the construction of new buildings.

Several primary landscape elements were addressed in the design and site development of Rim Village. First and foremost, in order to achieve a "naturalistic appearance," a hallmark of the Rustic style, NPS designers respected the natural topography of the area and worked to fit their designs to the natural features and lay of the land. Vegetation at the site, although minimal due to years of abuse, was retained and protected to the degree possible for incorporation into the new design. The NPS enhanced the site's extant landscape fabric by bringing in a variety of native plant materials. While these plants were found elsewhere in the park, they were not necessarily indigenous to Rim Village. In looking at other areas of the park, Merel Sager found a landscape that matched his vision for the barren site at Rim Village in Sun Notch, a verdant swale of meadow grasses and wildflowers situated east of Garfield Peak. Transposing this verdant appearance to Rim Village would satisfy Sager's plan in two ways: first, the area would be "improved" by the addition of new plants and the diminishing of the "dust evil" that was prevalent at the site; second, and perhaps more importantly, the landscape at the rim would be "restored" to its original, lush appearance. The effort to bring back to the rim the native plants once thought to blanket the site was called "naturalization" by Sager. Naturalization was undertaken in all four zones at the rim; around buildings, structures, walks, and even on the slopes of the caldera, in order to enhance the appearance of the area while simultaneously reducing the visual impact of the man-made improvements. Ultimately, naturalization was the means by which the buildings, roads, sidewalks, and curbs, which theoretically did not belong in a natural environment, were visually tied together into a cohesive design. Accomplished successfully, it made all of the improvements appear as though they belonged to the site, as though they "grew" out of the land.[20]

The critical years of design implementation at Rim Village can be divided into two periods of construction. The first period, between 1927 and 1932, was characterized by the Park Service completing tasks recommended by Vint and his colleagues. Park staff, the concessioner, and private contractors together built structures, made parking and circulation improvements to the site, and initiated the "naturalization" program at the rim. The second period, from 1933 until the onset of the second World War, was characterized by the presence of the Civilian Conservation Corps. With this new source of manpower, the continuation and maintenance of the "naturalization" program occurred and a concerted effort to rehabilitate the Rim Campground into a pleasant environment for park visitors began.

Phase I: 1927-1932

Implementation of the general development plan for Rim Village began in 1927. For the first five years work was completed by NPS forces and private contractors. Both Ernest A. Davidson and John B. Wosky, assistant landscape architects to Vint, guided the early improvements. By the fall of 1930, landscape architect Merel Sager was assigned to Crater Lake and became the lead in directing the design work there. The design as implemented at Rim Village is considered by many to be Sager's personal vision and expression of the Rustic.

The park received its largest appropriation to date in 1927. A variety of projects were undertaken that year. At Rim Village, the most notable addition was the completion of a new trail down to the lake. This trail replaced an older, steeper trail that originated near the lodge. The new trail began at the west end of the village. In 1928, there was a considerable increase in development activity at the village. The construction of buildings became a priority, particularly for the park's concessioner, the Crater Lake National Park Company. In 1928 they constructed a sizable cafeteria and store building at the west end of the village, orienting it toward the lake. Following NPS landscape architects' designs, the Cafeteria was built with Rustic styling, the exterior faced in stone and the broad gable roof sheathed in wood shingles. Its unbroken roofline and rectangular shape, although punctuated by windows and a recessed central door, made for a massive, overscaled building. This same year, a cluster of housekeeping cabins were built behind (south of) the Cafeteria. Later known as the Coldwater Cabins, these twelve tourist cabins followed the layout delineated on the general plan for the rim.[21]

Victor Rock, the rock outcrop 50 feet below the caldera rim and so popular with park visitors, became the focus of attention during this first period of construction. Vint had originally proposed for the site "an observation platform with an architectural development in the way of a memorial rest." Concurrently, NPS Director Horace Albright proposed the installation of a bronze plaque at the rim to honor former Oregon State Congressman Nicholas J. Sinnott, an individual who had worked diligently on behalf of the national parks. NPS Chief Naturalist Ansel Hall made a suggestion that combined and expanded on these two ideas:

. . . the placque might be placed at the Victor Rock Observation Station -- indeed if support can be secured on this project we might very well erect a neat little granite structure which might be known as a memorial to Mr. Sinnot [sic] and at the same time fulfill the requirements of a branch museum and observation station such as has been erected at Yavapai Point in Grand Canyon National Park.[22]

In 1930 the decision was made to change the project from a "memorial rest" to a memorial museum. Landscape Architect Merel Sager assisted with the preparation of plans for a substantial structure to be built on the precipitous outcrop, using the Grand Canyon building as the model. Studies for the building were drawn up in San Francisco over the winter and by June a preliminary sketch plan was finished. Unfortunately, these plans were drawn without actual field knowledge of the site. The designers quickly learned that Victor Rock had its limitations as a building site; in order for the building to be constructed as designed, several large hemlock trees would need to be removed and very heavy cutting of other vegetation was required. After some time was spent reconfiguring the building, construction began and was well underway by fall of that year. A tribute to the Rustic style of design, the Sinnott Memorial was completed in 1931.[23]

The trail to the Sinnott Memorial -- the former Victor Rock trail -- originally followed the ridge and was extremely steep; its presence was also causing damage to the nearby tree roots. After considerable study of the site was completed and lines surveyed and staked, landscape architect Merel Sager relocated the trail along an easier grade. The new trail was a combination of steps and a ramp, beginning at a point just west of the Kiser Studio.[24] In 1931, discussions were underway for how to best light the trail for visitation at night. Low lamps set into the retaining wall to illuminate the steps and ramp were determined to be the best solution, however these "final touches" were never incorporated into the design.

Other buildings constructed during this first phase of activity included public comfort stations. In the early 1930s, two additional comfort stations were built in the campground, designed with rough logs applied to the buildings' exteriors for a rustic appearance. In 1930, a third rustic log comfort station was built to the south of the Community House. Oil-burning water heaters were installed in this new comfort station so that hot showers were available for park visitors. That same year, a combination bathhouse/comfort station was built in the west end of the Rim Campground, behind the Cafeteria. Sager felt that this Rustic style comfort station, constructed with good-sized native stones, was a successful structure aesthetically because it harmonized with the exterior of the nearby Cafeteria.[25]

In conjunction with building construction, work began almost immediately on a comprehensive circulation system at Rim Village. To help direct the great number of tourists arriving daily in Rim Village during the summer season and to protect the natural landscape, a system of roads and guardrails was designed and under construction beginning in 1928. The main road through Rim Village, referred to as a "wide oiled highway from the junction of the Rim Road to the Lodge," was begun that year. Parking strips flanked this road, which also served to link both ends of the village. A rustic log guardrail was completed on the crater side of the road, in the hope that it would prevent visitors from driving their automobiles directly to the edge of the caldera, a practice that was ongoing since the first car reached the rim in 1905. Some means of control was also needed around buildings, as visitors had a propensity to drive directly up to these facilities as well. A guardrail was placed in front of the cafeteria to control cars around the west plaza area; the same type of rail was placed in front of the Community House, and at the main entrance to the rim auto camp, to help define that area. All of the rails were stained a dark brown color to improve their appearance and give the village a unified look.[26]

Most of the log guardrails were short-lived, however. NPS landscape architects, deciding that masonry curbing gave a better appearance and was more permanent, had all of the log rails at Rim Village replaced in 1932. Masons cut stone from nearby at The Watchman slide, and, beginning at the lodge and heading west toward the Crater Wall Trail, put in a low, stone curb along the edge of the road and parking areas. The log rails were reused elsewhere in the park, primarily for guardrails along Rim Road and at entrances to the park.[27]

To provide a link for the visitor from his automobile to the edge of the caldera and a view of the lake, designers developed a system of primary and secondary pedestrian footpaths. The primary focus of the evolving circulation network for park visitors at Rim Village was the main promenade following the edge of the caldera. Stretching from west of the cafeteria and traveling past the Sinnott Memorial and the lodge as far east as the trailhead to Garfield Peak, the promenade was a predominate design feature structuring movement along the rim. The intent of the path was to provide a strolling boulevard for tourists to better enjoy the lake views. Work on the promenade began in 1928. A low, stone wall or parapet was also planned, to help define both the edge of the promenade and the edge of the caldera, thus protecting visitors from inadvertently falling down the steep walls of the crater. In 1930, a sample section of this proposed wail was constructed. Landscape architect Merel Sager selected a standard NPS design typically used for guardrails. Using the standard specification sheet as the model, and under the guidance of Sager, masons erected an 18-inch high stone wall. To obtain a more naturalistic appearance and provide interest, the design of the wall was broken at regular intervals.[28] By late September of that year, more than 600 running feet of stone parapet was completed along the rim. Problems arose now and then as Sager's watchful eye found the workers using inappropriate construction methods. At one point Sager noted: "A little difficulty was experienced getting the workmen to understand just the type of work which was wanted."[29]

Incorporated into the design of this handbuilt rock wall were a series of observation bays, subtle extensions of the parapet designed to bring the visitor closer to the lake for open views and gathering areas set off from the crowds. The wall was also designed to accommodate trails leading down to the lake and to the Sinnott Memorial. Small-scale features like rustic drinking fountains were carefully integrated into the parapet wall for the visitors' refreshment, and were designed to look like springs flowing out of natural boulders. The rock wall, gracefully following the serpentine line of the promenade, would also serve as a continuous bench for tired visitors or those simply wishing to contemplate the lovely view. For three years the parapet was under construction; it was declared finished in 1932.

One of E.A. Davidson's first suggestions was to get started on the site's crosswalk construction. He felt these walks were very important elements of the rim development, and after some debate about how wide these paths should be (Davidson thought 6-foot widths were appropriate while others favored narrower walks), stakes for 6-foot wide walks were set. During this time the park Superintendent, E.C. Solinsky, made the suggestion that a path be developed along the parking strip extending the entire length of Rim Village, between the road and the log guardrail (linking the cafeteria to the lodge). This path would provide visitors with a safe place to walk to and from their parked cars. Davidson thought this was an excellent idea and proceeded to set stakes immediately.[30] By 1932, all of the sidewalks located on the master plan between the road and promenade were in place and paved, with the exception of the walks just west of the hotel.

The rim planting program was a major component of this early period of construction in Rim Village. By July of 1929, discussions between the superintendent and the landscape architects were underway. Of utmost importance was a dependable and sufficient water source and when one could not be located the entire program was nearly postponed. Landscape architect Davidson recommended that until a solution to this problem could be found, the actual planting that would be done in 1929 would consist of a small, experimental plot of grass, approximately one-half acre in size. The site chosen for the test plot was near the lodge.[31]

Suitable soil for the successful establishment of new vegetation was critical. Initially, topsoil was found along the rim road approximately 1/2-mile from the village. This was a preferred site as it was not noticeable from the road. Other areas were investigated for additional soil as well as for shrubs and small trees. A suitable site for the latter was found near the park headquarters' junk pile, located down at Annie Springs. Munson Valley was found to have a bog, an excellent source for peat moss, and the material was removed from the valley in substantial amounts for use at the village.

Actual planting at Rim Village, begun in 1930, initially concentrated in the vicinity of the Crater Wall Trailhead. Because the overall site to be naturalized was long and narrow, Sager felt it was important to keep the views across the area open and free from obstruction:

Trees were planted in small groups occasionally to lend variety, and not in great enough numbers to cause an obstruction to the view of the Lake from the road.[32]

After proper soil was prepared, planting began. A significant number of mountain hemlocks were transplanted to the site. A small number of fir trees were planted, and large groups of deciduous shrubs were added to the evergreen groupings to give the transplanted vegetation a naturalistic appearance. A total of eight planting beds were established and planted in 1930. By 1931, Sager was impressed with the results of the planting program to date and worked to accomplish much more in the years that followed. Ten additional planting beds were established in 1932. Shade-loving plants were planted under established trees and sod was transplanted, filling the barren landscape between the parapet and the parking revetment with native plant materials. The first few years of planting proved to be somewhat experimental. Certain plant materials were found to be more suitable for the environment than others, and some did not work at all. Sager noted that the pink spirea showed the most promise, because it never failed to grow, even when transplanted in leaf. Mountain ash was another shrub that impressed the landscape architect. He used it in abundance because it was one of the largest plants growing at that elevation (a larger plant specimen gave the impression of a mature landscape) and its bright red berries and the brilliant color of its leaves in the fall were attractive bonuses. A concerted effort was made to plant sod on the lake side of the parapet wall, to control erosion, and give the steep, windswept slopes a more naturalistic appearance.[33]

Nineteen-thirty-one marked the first time that large evergreen trees were transplanted to the Rim from sites elsewhere in the park. Sizable evergreens were brought in 1930 but they did not require the use of special equipment to complete the work. The large specimens were selected, dug, root-pruned, and boxed the year prior to transplanting. A special hoist on the back of a truck was used to transplant these large evergreens. A grouping of three evergreens -- all hemlocks -- were planted on the northwest corner of the lodge in 1932, after other successes had been realized. One of the large evergreens brought in was the Stephen Mather Memorial tree, planted in the fall of 1931 after the original (and smaller) Mather tree, ceremoniously planted a year earlier, had died.[34]

By 1932 a good portion of the landscaping between the road and the edge of the caldera at Rim Village was completed. The park's landscape architect began to address the need for a maintenance program to ensure a low mortality rate for the newly planted materials. In Sager's words: "The park has made an investment in this planting which it can not afford to lose. The actual construction work is only the first part of the plan." Sager also addressed the need to look at the landscaping requirements of the area south of the road. He noted in his report on "Naturalization in the Rim Area":

Although it is not recommended that naturalization be done on the south side until the area on the north side between the road and the rim has been completed, it is well to point out here that this work will be necessary in the future. The area between the campground and the road should be reforested. This will make more camp ground area which is needed and also provide a screen for the camp ground.[35]

Landscape architects Davidson and later, Sager, grappled with a variety of issues while working at Rim Village during this first phase of development. One was the location of the park's hitching rail for horses. The new Crater Wall Trail was built wide enough to accommodate saddle animals, "enabling many thousands to enjoy the lake who were heretofore denied that pleasure by physical incapacity," but Davidson thought its siting at the west end of the village near the new trailhead was "unfortunate" and noted:

. . . these things too often become extremely hard to correct if allowed to drag along. The sight of a dozen horses diligently fighting flies, now equally divides with the Lake, the attention of every visiting tourist's "first look" as he comes over the "hump" into [view] of the water.[36]

Another issue was how to properly light the boulevard. While opinions differed the general consensus was to have subdued lighting. Superintendent Solinsky noted in 1931:

Please bear in mind that the Landscape Division is not particularly interested in having this boulevard brilliantly lighted; on the contrary, illumination comparable with moonlight will be sufficient. The object is to secure only fair general illumination, and not to distract the visitor's attention from the view of the Lake at night. Therefore the usual illuminating engineering calculations need not be used but rather the installation will be made from the aesthetic standpoint.[37]

Fifteen standards spaced at 180-foot intervals, located on only one side of the road between the lodge and the Cafeteria, was determined to be appropriate. But as was the case with the Sinnott Memorial lighting, none of these fixtures were added to the landscape of Rim Village.

By the end of the 1932 construction season, the basic elements of the master plan for Rim Village were in place. A circulation system of primary and secondary roads and paths directed vehicles and pedestrians around the site. Facilities, including additional overnight accommodations, were constructed for the use and enjoyment of park visitors. And finally, the "greening" of the barren, dusty village had begun with the introduction of new trees, shrubs, and ground cover.

Phase II: 1933-1941

Nineteen thirty-three brought many significant changes into the National Park system. Up until that time President Herbert Hoover saw to it that the national parks received their allotment requests for park operations and development. Budgets and staff for the national parks had increased substantially during his administration.[38] But the Depression changed all of this. Budgets for the parks were drastically reduced and park staff were let go during Hoover's final year in office. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt and a new administration came on board. A variety of innovative and comprehensive relief programs were introduced to alleviate the nation's growing unemployment crisis. These programs, instituted under the New Deal, provided work opportunities for the unemployed. In March 1933, the Emergency Conservation Work Act was passed by Congress. The ECW program created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Originally conceived as a "conservation army" to undertake the simplest kind of manual labor, the CCC eventually became more than tree planting and ditch-digging crews. Government bureaus benefiting from the new labor force -- one being the NPS -- saw greater potential for these work crews. While the NPS recognized the tremendous opportunity this manpower provided, there remained the concern that the quality of work was at risk if unskilled laborers were allowed to build structures. NPS architect Charles Peterson firmly stated that all design work would be undertaken and supervised by professionals, while actual implementation would be done by the enrollees. Landscape architect E.A Davidson agreed, advising against the use of the CCC for capital improvements because of the lack of skilled supervision at the time.[39] But within a few years time, CCC crews demonstrated that if properly supervised, they were capable of constructing well-built structures. During the summer of 1933, seventy CCC camps were in place in national parks and monuments across the country, and two of these were established at Crater Lake.[40]

Another relief program of the New Deal, the Public Works Administration, was created in 1933 with the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act. The PWA awarded grants to federal agencies for the construction of roads, buildings, and other physical improvements. Because the NPS had development plans in place for the national parks, much of this grant money was directed into NPS coffers.[41] With renewed funds for development, additional staff was needed. The magnitude of the change during these years is somewhat staggering, particularly when looking at NPS personnel figures for the Branch of Plans and Design. Thomas Vint had a staff consisting of sixteen individuals in 1933; two years later his staff had increased to include one hundred-and-twenty professionals, all hired to complete the tremendous amount of design work programmed for the parks.[42] Along with a park's resident landscape architect, the Park Service hired a landscape architect for each CCC camp.[43] At Crater Lake, skilled supervisors were hired in great enough numbers to provide the oversight needed to complete construction projects according to the NPS's high standards for design. What makes this period of development at Rim Village notable is that these work crews, particularly the CCC, were able to accomplish in one season work that would have taken regular park forces several years to complete. Without these "make work" programs, the implementation and completion of Crater Lake's master plan would have been brought to an abrupt halt.[44] Furthermore, as landscape architect Francis Lange noted:

It would appear safe to say that the cost of this work would be less than that by the regular park method, and surely it would go without saying that the quality of work is better, as men trained in landscape work are in charge, resulting in carefully planned and executed work.[45]

The New Deal, then, totally changed the momentum of construction activity at Rim Village between the years 1933 and 1941. The work programs supplied the necessary manpower to complete much of Sager's proposals and act on other tasks that required attention. Sager continued to work at Crater Lake in the early 1930s, but he was assisted by others. By 1934 Armin M. Doerner was the park's Resident Landscape Architect and Emergency Conservation Work crews were supervised by NPS Landscape Architect Francis G. Lange. In Doerner's absence, Lange watched over other work in the park and also assisted with the "architectural work on the buildings."[46] In addition, from 1934 until 1939, Crater Lake had six landscape architects employed on various construction projects.[47]

At Crater Lake, CCC enrollees participated on a variety of projects, beginning with roads and trails work. During the course of a work season much of their time was spent firefighting, planting fish, and doing general clean-up tasks around the park. After NPS landscape architects became more confident that the CCC laborers could undertake more sophisticated projects, CCC projects were expanded to include small-scale construction projects. Storage and equipment sheds, ranger cabins, checking stations, comfort stations, warehouses and garages, and a messhall were just some of the facilities built by these crews at Crater Lake.[48]

The landscaping program at Rim Village remained a major activity for CCC crews. Enrollees hauled peat and topsoil up to the site for their revegetation effort. Additional plants from other areas in the park were established at the site to enhance the naturalization work that was already in place. In his report to the Chief Architect that year, Merel Sager wrote:

One of the most gratifying phases of this rim landscaping is the fact that we have accomplished the great objective aimed at three years ago, that is, of bringing back vegetation between the road and the rim all the way from the head of the trail to Crater Lake Lodge.[49]

The first year the CCC crews undertook landscaping, particular attention was paid to the area between the Kiser Studio and the lodge. The following year, 1934, the area on the north side of the lodge received attention as did the cafeteria building. The latter, with an exterior appearance that was "one of the most distracting sights that greeted the tourist as he arrived at the Rim area," was naturalized, "improving the appearance of a poorly designed and unattractive building."[50] Curbing stone was prepared and placed around the cafeteria and in front of the lodge in 1934. The beds created by the new curbing were planted with a variety of native plant materials.[51] By 1935, landscaping efforts were considered complete on the north side of Rim Village Road. Work was then directed to the south side of the road. In 1936, topsoil was brought in, and landscape architect Francis Lange focused on improving the landscape around the Community House. Eight hundred and fifty shrubs were transplanted in this area in 1936. Even though the planting program was considered to be approximately 75 percent complete, peat, topsoil, sod, trees, and shrubs continued to be hauled up to the village, with more than two thousand plants transplanted in 1938 alone.[52]

Roads, parking areas, walks, and curbing continued to be important areas of concern for landscape architects during the CCC era at Crater Lake. One new feature incorporated into the site was the construction of a triangular traffic island at the west end of the village. This was added in 1935 at the road junction where the main Rim Road and the road leading into the developed village converged. NPS landscape architects felt that this feature would not only help control traffic, it would also serve to break up a large expanse of pavement and permit planting within the bed of the triangle. Abandoned roads leading to Rim Village east of the lodge were obliterated by work crews beginning in 1937. Large rocks, logs, and plants were brought in and placed over the road remnants in attempts to hide the old routes.

The grounds around the lodge received renewed attention during this time. In 1933, CCC crews built a new parking area and entry platform on the south side of the hotel. The following year, a redesigned entrance route for cars driving to the hotel was constructed because the original design was not functioning as planned. The new design alleviated the congestion that was increasing in that vicinity. In 1938, walks and cut stone steps linking the tiers of parking together with the hotel entrance were incorporated into the design of the new lodge parking area. These features added a picturesque and "finished" quality to the landscape around the hotel. Additional paved walks and stone curbing were constructed in 1933 and 1934 at the village. Frustrated by the different workmen assigned to building the curbs, "each [one] trying to express his own ideas in masonry" thus making it hard to get a uniform type of stone curbing, the park landscape architects and inspectors from the Bureau of Public Roads agreed on a single style and credible work progressed.[53] Shortly after the stone curbing was installed, it became the target of criticism. Dr. Harold C. Bryant, Assistant Director of the NPS, visited Crater Lake during the summer of 1935 and prepared a field report for NPS Director Arno B. Cammerer. Bryant noted that while the most conspicuous improvement at the park continued to be the landscaping at the rim, he added:

A considerable change has been made in the parking area, the logs having been supplanted by rock curbing. The more I see of these parking spaces, the more they look like city parking spaces transplanted to a mountain setting. We are evidently getting away from simple rustic improvements.[54]

New walks were added around the cafeteria building in 1936 to facilitate and direct visitor circulation. Also in 1936, stone markers were placed at the corners of walkways where they met curbs, directing pedestrians onto the walkways and away from the newly planted vegetation.[55] By this time a number of the walks built earlier at the site had fallen into disrepair. Some of these paths were constructed under adverse weather conditions and the proper setting of paving materials did not occur. The addition of an underground water system at the rim and the landscaping work in general had also damaged some of the walks. CCC crews were put to work on the rehabilitation and/or repair of these features during the 1936 work season.[56]

Beginning in 1934, the Rim Campground became the focus of activity for CCC workforces. The campground was an area of concern for both NPS landscape architects as well as professional consultants working outside of the Park Service. Dr. Emilio P. Meinecke, a pathologist employed by the Bureau of Plant Industry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was one of the specialized professionals the NPS employed to assist them in development of this area. In 1933 Meinecke visited the park to confer with various park officials concerning "campsite preservation and general forest conservation."[57] His advice and recommendations were outlined in his "Camp Planning and Camp Reconstruction," and included everything from general site layout and planning to specifics on individual campsite features.[58] Following Dr. Meinecke's suggestions, the public campground and parking areas at Rim Village would be "improved" in such a way that cars could be driven through the campground but parking would be restricted. Meinecke provided guidance on the appropriate types of stoves and fireplaces to use in parks. In 1933 the superintendent noted in his monthly narrative report:

Fire places of a permanent nature are also being installed so that automobile driving and camp fire burning cannot occur indiscriminately and destroy the forests. It is hoped that by this regulated parking and driving through the camp ground that the sustenance for the beautiful hemlock trees may be preserved and that the growth and longevity of the forest cover will be aided.[59]

The next year work was underway, and twenty-five individual units were developed. Each unit was comprised of a stove, a fireplace, space for a tent, a table, and an area for parking one automobile. For the "permanent fireplaces," the park followed Meinecke's designs for an elaborate type of stove-fireplace unit that required an inordinate amount of time to erect. These units quickly proved to be too expensive, and after eight of the more sophisticated versions were built, fireplaces of "less elaborate design" were put in.[60]

In addition to these functional features, portions of the campground were naturalized with the addition of shrubs, plants and a fine ground cover of rush.[61] The following year, more plants were added and additional parking and fireplaces were built to accommodate the large numbers of tourists staying at the camp. By 1935, the campground had more than seventy-five camping sites. It was at this time that consideration was given to developing the south slope of the existing campground, as an "overflow" area for campers. Francis Lange noted in a 1935 report that ten fireplaces and parking stalls were erected in the area but the area would remain closed until it was a fully developed campground.[62] Throughout the development, site "furniture" was added to the Rim Campground. After "experimenting" with a particular type of log table -- one designed to be more "fitting to an area of this nature than the usual milled type of table," -- a number of table and bench combinations (picnic tables) were constructed and placed throughout the campground.[63] In 1936, additional picnic tables, twenty fireplaces, and thirty more sites were added. Over the next few years, replanting efforts continued, log tables and benches were brought in, and a general maintenance program was underway for the area. Log and stone barriers were added to the campground beginning in 1938 in the hopes that they would prevent cars from hitting trees, running over vegetation, and in general, control parking within individual campsites. New sites and additional parking areas were added as late as 1939.[64]

Only one building was constructed at Rim Village during this second period of development. In 1937, a rustic style comfort station was designed for a site at the east end of the large parking area fronting the cafeteria. This building was intended to serve both campers and day visitors. Francis Lange supervised the construction of the building which was to be built of native stone and timber "in keeping with the park type of structure."[65] He purposefully set the building back from the curb approximately 30 feet so not to give "a crowded appearance to the building in relation to the entire area."[66] CCC crews brought in oversized boulders for use as a veneer over the building's wood frame structure, placing the largest stones on the bottom and decreasing their size as the walls rose. A stone mason named John D. Bowdish completed the exterior stone work, and Lange was so impressed by the CCC enrollees' skill he remarked in a final narrative report that it represented an excellent piece of work and "the type of stone work on this building will serve as a basis for future stone construction on later Rim buildings."[67] Wood siding was used above the stones on the gable ends of the building. It blended nicely with its surroundings and Lange felt the structure was a success, both functionally and aesthetically. The comfort station and pedestrian walks around the building were completed in 1938.

The construction of signs was another aspect of CCC work at Crater Lake. Francis Lange found that logs with letters cut into the wood were both effective as signs and they produced the rustic appearance desired for these site details. Large circular slabs of pine, 4 feet in diameter were cut and letters then carved into the wood surface, to provide visitors with necessary park information or directions. In turn, the slabs were set on cut, unpeeled logs to keep them off the ground and improve their visibility. The first three such rustic signs were made for the Rim Drive, the Sinnott Memorial, and the park's Naturalist service. In 1938 an outdoor workshop was established in one of the CCC camps, and under the supervision of a foreman following approved drawings, the enrollees carved additional rustic signs for placement within the village and throughout the park.[68]

As projects in Rim Village were completed, new ones were added to the park's everpresent list of "future work to be accomplished." In 1936 Francis Lange observed the need for sufficient camping, picnicking, and trailer facilities to be developed at the village, as the existing ones were already overtaxed by the park's growing numbers of visitors.[69] Lange's monthly narrative reports repeatedly mentioned the need to remove the unsightly and poorly constructed Community House (each fall it required bracing to withstand the yearly snow loads and it did not accommodate the large crowds wishing to assemble therein) and the "less dangerous but just as unsightly" Kiser Studio. Lange proposed the construction of a new Contact Building, one that would serve the tourists' needs as well as the park's administrative needs. With a new building in place -- one properly located -- the older structures could be removed and "the entire Rim area will then give a more striking appearance as well as serve a better and more modern need."[70] Other buildings proposed for the village included additional housekeeping cabins for use by the concessioner. The existing cabins, Lange felt, were poorly arranged, disagreeable to occupy, and lacked many of the other customary accommodations that were typically found in the "better type of park operator's development[s]." The concessioner's lack of maintenance on the cabins were a source of contention for Lange throughout the 1930's. Although possible locations for this new development were discussed between the regional landscape architect (E.A. Davidson) and the park superintendent, new cabins were not erected for many years.[71]

Future landscape work proposed for Rim Village included the need for additional plantings around the large parking area in front of the lodge and around the Cafeteria; the improvement of the parking area in front of the Cafeteria; the addition of light standards in the campground and the placement of low lights along the south side of the Rim walk; additional log signs; the development of an overlook near the Rim Campground; and the moving of peat, topsoil, plants, shrubs, and sod where needed. Lange made mention several times about the need for maintenance and upkeep of the landscape work completed at the village. Watering and pruning the transplanted material was essential for the life and health of the new plants.[72]

SUMMARY

With entry of the United States into World War II, construction activity at Rim Village was reduced considerably and the intensive period of development at Crater Lake was over. Park staff and field personnel were lost to the war effort, the public works programs were disbanded, and the park itself switched to a summer only operation. A few small construction projects were completed during this time, all outside of the village proper. With so little staff in place, the superintendent and his remaining personnel turned their attention to planning for future development during the quiet years ahead.[73]

Nineteen-forty-one marks the end of an era for Crater Lake National Park, the most important era in the park's history in terms of Rustic design and the implementation of that design ethic in the park. Although changes to the historic designed landscape at Rim Village have occurred since 1941, they have not been extensive and the primary landscape features, patterns, and overall design character remains with a high degree of integrity. Rim Village is an outstanding example of a landscape that reflects the design ethic of a special period of development and of an era that espoused designing the built environment in a manner that was sympathetic and respectful of the natural landscape.

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