Panther Junction: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Big Bend National Park
Regions 6, 7, & 8 Park Cultural Landscapes Program. 2014. Panther Junction: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Big Bend National Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 975902. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. NPS Intermountain Regional Office, Santa Fe, New Mexico / CRIS-CL Database
Inventory Unit Description: The Panther Junction complex is near the center of Big Bend National Park, Texas, at the junction of TX 118 (Park Route 13) and US 385 (Park Route 11). Panther Junction serves as park headquarters and houses the majority of National Park Service (NPS) employees. The site was selected as park headquarters in 1948, four years after the park was officially established. Panther Junction was initially developed in the 1950s and early 1960s. Additional buildings and structures were built between 1980 and 2010 to support park operations. The noncontributing buildings and structures reflect the general spatial layout of the early development plans for the headquarters complex and do not affect the overall integrity of the district. The buildings and structures outside the district boundary have no effect on the integrity of the historic district. The Panther Junction Mission 66 historic district qualifies for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under criterion A for association with broad patterns of history under the themes of community planning and design and a major movement within the National Park Service to modernize park units after World War II. The district also qualifies under criterion C for embodiment of a distinct characteristic (community planning) and a type of architectural design standard of Mission 66 development. Although the majority of the residences have undergone some interior and exterior renovations, the district retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The period of significance is from 1945, with the initial planning for a headquarters complex through 1963, with the completion of Mission 66 construction at Panther Junction.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Regions 6, 7, & 8 Park Cultural Landscapes Program
- Date of Issue
- 2014-05-22
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- BIBE , IMR
- Keywords
- administration building, architecture, community planning, garage, headquarters, historic designed landscape, Mission 66, post office, recreation, school, single family house