Drakesbad Guest Ranch: Cultural Landscape Report, Lassen Volcanic National Park, National Park Service

Hoke, Amy; Warner, Len; Gilbert, Cathy; Koch, Kimball

The Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) was undertaken to provide park management with recommnendation for treatment of significant cultural landscape resources at Drakesbad Guest Ranch, and to provide a preservation framework for rehabilitation or new developments proposed for the historic district as part of any future planning efforts. The scope of work for the cultural landscape report (CLR) was developed by the park and regional cultural resource staff in the winter of 2003. Scoping addressed the relationship of the CLR to current and proposed resource and planning documents, such as the historic structures report, archeological overviews and assessments, comprehensive interpretive planning, natural resource studies and inventories, and the scope of work for the Comprehensive Site Plan. The CLR team included resources staff from th park and a historian and a historical landscape architect from the regional office. The regional staff was responsible for all products associated with the project, and the park staff was responsible for coordinating reviews, providing reference materials to the team, and general project oversight. The CLR is organized into two parts. Part I includes the introduction to the report, the site history, existing conditions, and analysis and evaluation of contributing landscape resources. Part 2 includes treatment recommendations, the bibliography, and appendices for the report. Part I of the report was completed in 2003. Research and materials from the park archives were used to compile the site history for the report. Historic photographs were especially helpful in supplementing the written histories and verifying information on historical base maps used in the analysis and evaluation section. Resource documents such s the Report of Archeological, Geoarcheological, and Palynological Investigations in Lassen Volcanic National Park California (2002), and the Lassen Volcanic National Park Historic Resources Study (2003), provided information for the history, analysis, and existing conditions portions of this report. Secondary source materials such as Roy Sifford’s Sixty Years at Drakesbad, notes on the vegetation, by Sara Koenig, and a manuscript by long-time Drakesbad guest Susan Watson were also referenced and excerpted as appropriate to expand or clarify information related directly to the period of significance and existing conditions. The national register nomination provided background information relating to historical context and was used to compile and cross-reference the list of contributing resources. Existing conditions for Drakesbad were documented in two site visits in 2003. Features were located using a global positioning system (GPS) and transferred to a base map provided by the park. Field notes and photographic documentation were consolidated and a written text was prepared. Part I of the CLR was reviewed by park and regional staff and all comments were incorporated into a revised text. The CLR team met with park staff in June of 2004 to review findings from part I and identify treatment and management issues to be addressed in the CLR Part 2. Because the Comprehensive Site Plan will address several critical site design issues at Drakesbad, the treatment recommendations in the CLR serve two purposes. First, they proved recommendations for preservation and rehabilitation of significant resources based on the evaluation of contributing resources. Second, they outline a preservation framework to guide future planning for the site, ensuring that any modification or change within the historic district does not adversely affect the integrity of the district.

Drakesbad Guest Ranch: Cultural Landscape Report, Lassen Volcanic National Park, National Park Service

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