Temple Bar Developed Area: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12 Cultural Landscapes Program and Architectural Resources Group. 2021. Temple Bar Developed Area: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 725267. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. NPS Pacific West Office, San Francisco, California / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: Located in Arizona on the south shore of Lake Mead, across from Temple Bay, Temple Bar lies approximately 64 miles east of Boulder City, Nevada, within Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA). Lake Mead NRA is located in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Composed of 1.5 million acres, the NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from Grand Canyon National Park to just north of the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. It includes Lake Mead and the smaller Lake Mohave, reservoirs of the Hoover Dam (1931) and Davis Dam (1942), respectively. Three of America’s four desert ecosystems – the Mojave, Sonoran, and Great Basin – meet in the NRA. The Temple Bar Developed area is laid out in a wash that gently slopes northeast towards a protected harbor, with relatively flat and sparsely vegetated surrounding areas. Temple Bar is an excellent example of National Park Service Mission 66 development and is one of the most intact examples of a Mission 66 developed area in Lake Mead NRA. Largely constructed between 1947 and 1967, Temple Bar contains the elements of a Mission 66 developed area, including a visitor center, employee housing, a utility area, and a campground, as well as concession facilities such a trailer village, motel complex, and restaurant/store. Temple Bar Developed Area is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. As described under its evaluation against National Register criteria, the developed area meets all of the characteristics outlined in the National Park Service Mission 66 Era Resources Multiple Property Documentation (MPD) for Mission 66 historic districts.58 Furthermore, all of its contributing resources meet the characteristics for associated property types as described in the MPD. Temple Bar’s period of significance is 1947-1967, reflecting the time period during which all of its contributing properties associated with its Mission 66 development were constructed. The period begins with the 1947 construction of the airstrip and execution of the first NPS-concessioner contract; it culminates with the airstrip’s paving and completion of development proposed under Temple Bar’s Mission 66 master plan.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12 Cultural Landscapes Program; Architectural Resources Group
- Date of Issue
- 2021-04-29
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- LAKE , PWR
- Keywords
- airstrip, amphitheater, architecture, Arizona, campground, Colorado River, comfort station, designed landscape, employee housing, entertainment - recreation, fishing camp, landscape architecture, maintenance area, Mission 66, picnic area, recreation, Temple Bay, visitor center
- Subjects
- NPS.gov Subject Site: Cultural Landscapes , CRIS-CL: 725267: Temple Bar Developed Area