Sunrise Developed Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Mount Rainier National Park, National Park Service

Barnes, Carrie; Dolan, Susan; Owens, Erica; Davison, Mark; Hammond, John

Sunrise Developed Area is a 450 acre parcel in the northeastern portion of Mount Rainier National Park. Sited within the subalpine meadows of Yakima Park, Sunrise was designed by landscape architects and planners as a destination for park visitors, providing parking, comfort stations, lodging, camping facilities, hiking trails and overlooks, picnicking opportunities and a visitor center. The area was originally part of the 1926 Mount Rainier Park master plan, which aimed to develop visitor amenities in the northeastern portion of the park and thus alleviate visitation stress on other park areas. Ernest Davidson began formal planning of Sunrise in 1929, proposing eight different iterations for a park development by early the following year. Construction was not completed until 1944 when the north blockhouse was finally erected. The site for Sunrise was carefully selected because of its natural beauty and views, topography, natural features, and easy access. The natural topography of the park included a relatively flat bench surrounded by dramatically steep terrain, which translated into a logical building site. The landscape consists of a terrace that runs in an east‑west direction climbing on the north side up to Sourdough Ridge and descending on the south side to the upper slopes of the White River Valley. It extends up to Frozen Lake at the western extremity and to the entrance of the central plaza on the east. The site contains a central plaza area surrounded by historic buildings including the Sunrise Lodge, a visitor center and stockade compound, a former gas station structure, and numerous smaller structures. The outlying areas of the Sunrise include three overlooks, a power house, a dam, and the remnants of two historic campgrounds. The central area and outlying units are connected by a series of trails and maintenance roads, which afford magnificent views of Mt. Rainier and Emmons Glacier. The Sunrise Developed Area is a nationally significant example of an early park village, and an integral part of the extant early master plan for Mount Rainier National Park. The historic village is located within the Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District. Designated in 1997, the district is nationally significant under Criterion A for its association with the events of early National Park Service master planning and landscape architecture. It is also significant under Criterion C for rustic architecture and naturalistic landscape architecture perpetuated by the NPS in the period between World War I and II. The period of significance for the Sunrise Developed Area spans the years 1929‑1944, reflecting the period when the NPS coordinated the design and construction of the site, continuing thought the 1930s and early 1940s with major contributions from the CCC and ending with the completion of the final building development. The historic character of the site is evident in the remaining landscape characteristics: natural systems and feature, spatial organization, land use, circulation, buildings and structures, small scale features, views and vistas, vegetation, and archaeological sites. These patterns and their surviving features continue to exist as originally planned, conveying the integrity of the site as a park village development.

Sunrise Developed Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Mount Rainier National Park, National Park Service

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