Mission 66 Park Developed Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site

Regions 8, 9, 10, & 12 Park Cultural Landscapes Program; MIG

The Mission 66 Park Developed Area cultural landscape (formerly documented as Park Headquarters) is located in the northeast quarter of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. This landscape is comprised of features that were designed and constructed by the National Park Service during the Mission 66 era, between 1954 and 1966. The Mission 66 Park Developed Area cultural landscape includes a Visitor Center and associated parking area, park housing, and park roads. In the spirit of Mission 66, planning and design efforts carefully addressed interpretation of the park resources and visitor experience through placement of buildings, roads, and parking. The policies that influenced Mission 66 design and planning are still evident at the park today and continue to influence the ways that visitors use the site. The period of significance for the Mission 66 Park Developed Area extends from 1954 through 1966 reflecting Mission 66 development within Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. In the early 1950s, the National Park Service began to develop plans for facilities that would support the mission of the historic site. By 1955, NPS efforts resulted in the completion of a park master plan. The 1955 document included plans for buildings, new roads, walkways, and parking areas with an emphasis placed on the visitor. Following Mission 66 Modern architecture and planning practices as well as the 1955 master plan, groundbreaking ceremonies took place in August 1960. By August 1961, construction had been completed, resulting in new roads, parking areas, utilities, and buildings. The Fort Vancouver Mission 66 Park Developed Area landscape is an intact example of a Mission 66 era national park development. The overall site plan, building exteriors, vehicular and pedestrian circulation routes, entrance sign, flagpole, parking area, and the spatial organization of these features and their design intent were all part of the master plan. Many of these landscape features remain intact. Embodying the principles of Mission 66 Modern architecture, all the buildings and landscape features possess physical integrity through location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Furthermore, the Mission 66 style is still evident in the remaining landscape characteristics and features, which include: natural systems and features, spatial organization, land use, vegetation, circulation, buildings and structures views and vistas, and small-scale features. The certified CLI was initially completed by the NPS in 2007. A revised CLI was updated in 2023 by MIG (Laurie Matthews, Eleanor Cox, and Emma-Quin Smith). The MIG team completed field work January 9 – 13, 2023. Field work included verification of existing conditions and conducting additional limited research to support landscape feature analysis and treatment recommendations

Mission 66 Park Developed Area: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site

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