Rocky Mountain National Park Headquarters Area Historic District: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Rocky Mountain National Park
NPS Staff and Liz Sargent HLA (contractor). 2021. Rocky Mountain National Park Headquarters Area Historic District: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Rocky Mountain National Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 890020. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Santa Fe, New Mexico / CRIS-CL Database
The Rocky Mountain National Park Headquarters Area Historic District (Headquarters Area) serves as the administrative center of Rocky Mountain National Park, as well as a hub of park maintenance, housing, supply and storage, and visitor services facilities. Located south of Beaver Meadows Road (U.S. Highway 36) two miles west of the town of Estes Park, Colorado, the Headquarters Area occupies gently rolling terrain at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains in an area known as Beaver Meadows for the perennial stream—Beaver Creek—that flows southeast toward its confluence with the Big Thompson River near the park’s eastern boundary. Initial development of the Headquarters Area began in 1923, eight years after the 1915 establishment of Rocky Mountain National Park, with the construction of a machine shop and garage. The NPS chose to site the complex within Beaver Meadows for the relatively level topography and proximity to both Estes Park and the park itself. Since 1923, the Headquarters Area has grown through both geographic expansion and subsequent construction to include 126 buildings; numerous culvert, wall, and shelter structures; roads; parking areas; walks; plantings; and small-scale features that support a wide range of park activities and operations needs. The buildings and landscapes that support activities within the Headquarters Area are arranged into nine distinct built clusters unified by a central road system: Alpine Circle and Mills Drive Residences; Beaver Meadows Visitor Center; Boneyard; Central Maintenance; Eagle Cliff Housing; Emergency Housing; Maintenance Yard; Marmot Drive Residences; and Seasonal Housing. Each of the clusters is tied to a primary period of development and associated NPS planning and design principals that contribute to its character and sense of place. Four historic periods of development are represented within the Headquarters Area: 1) the 1920s when NPS first adopted the Rustic style of architecture and naturalistic style of landscape architecture as its hallmarks; 2) the New Deal era of the 1930s and early 1940s; 3) the post-World War II era of the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s; and 4) Mission 66 that occurred between 1956 and 1966. The Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was designated an NHL in 2001, and a DOE was prepared for the Ptarmigan Lane/CCC Historic District in 2006. The 2021 CLI built on a draft 2012 CLI. A consultant team that prepared the CLI was led by Liz Sargent HLA firm, and several members of the Rocky Mountain National Park staff were instrumental in ensuring the completion of the CLI.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- NPS Staff; Liz Sargent HLA (contractor)
- Date of Issue
- 2021-12
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- IMR , ROMO
- Keywords
- Alpine Circle and Mills Drive Residences, architecture, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, boneyard, CCC, central maintenance, Community Planning and Development, Eagle Cliff Housing, Emergency Housing, Entertainment/Recreation, Frank Lloyd Wright, historic designed landscape, landscape architecture, Marmot Drive Residences, master planning, mission 66, National Historic Landmark, naturalistic style, New Deal era, park development, park headquarters, politics/government, rustic style, Seasonal Housing, Taliesin Associated Architects
- Subjects
- NPS.gov Subject Site: Cultural Landscapes