Cultural Landscape Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park & Preserve

Site History, Existing Conditions, Analysis & Treatment

i 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT

FOR 

PARK HEADQUARTERS

DENALI NATIONAL PARK & PRESERVE

SITE HISTORY

__________________________________________________________ 

EXISTING CONDITIONS

__________________________________________________________ 

ANALYSIS

__________________________________________________________ 

TREATMENT

THE OLMSTED CENTER FOR LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

Contributors: 

Margie Coffin Brown 

Eliot Foulds 

Debbie Dietrich-Smith 

Joel Smith 

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, 2008 

...all future development 

about headquarters will 

be influenced by the 

proper placing of these 

buildings and the space 

reserved for future 

construction. 

Harry Karstens - 1928 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

ii 

The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, a program of the National Park Service 

Northeast Region, promotes the stewardship of significant landscapes through research, 

planning, and sustainable preservation maintenance. The Center accomplishes its mission in 

collaboration with a network of partners including national parks, universities, government 

agencies, and private nonprofit organizations. Techniques and principles of landscape 

preservation practice are made available through training and publications. The Olmsted Center 

perpetuates the tradition of Frederick Law Olmsted’s lifelong commitment to people, parks, and 

public spaces. 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 

Boston National Historical Park 

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C 

Boston, MA 02129 

617.241.6954 

www.nps.gov/oclp/ 

Publication Credits: Information in this publication may be freely copied and used with the 

condition that full credit is given to authors, contributors, and wherever appropriate, individuals 

or organizations owning the rights to images appearing within. This document has been 

prepared for in-house use and will not be made available for sale. Appropriate citations and 

bibliographic credits should be made for each use. 

Cover Photograph: Mt. McKinley National Park Headquarters, c. 1932. National Park Service, 

Harpers Ferry Center (DENA-38). 

Inside Front Cover Photograph: Mt. McKinley National Park Headquarters, c. 1932. National 

Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center (DENA-32).
CONTENTS

iii 

CONTENTS 

LIST OF FIGURES V 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XVII 

INTRODUCTION 1 

Scope and Methodology 4 

Study Boundaries 6 

Terminology 6 

Historical Overview 6 

Summary of Finding s 8 

SITE HISTORY 11 

Pre-history to World War II 13 

World War II to Present 87 

EXISTING CONDITIONS 119 

LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS 135 

Statement of Significance 138 

Evaluation of Landscape Integrity 138 

Evaluation of Landscape Characteristics and Features 141 

Summary of Analysis and Evaluation 163 

Table of Landscape Characteristics and Features 165 

TREATMENT 197 

Landscape Treatment Summary 199 

Relationship to Existing Denali Planning Documents 200 

Review of Treatment Approaches 202 

Treatment Principles 205 

Landscape Character and Guidelines for Park Headquarters 206 

Treatment Tasks 210 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 261 

APPENDENCES 265 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

iv 
LIST OF FIGURES

v 

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND DRAWINGS 

SITE HISTORY 

Figures 

1.1 View north of Superintendent Karstens “home cabin” at Riley Creek, c. 1921-

1925. NARA II, RG 79-g, B11/F67. 

1.2 View northeast of headquarters area, July 31, 1922. Dartmouth College Library. 

1.3 First Park Headquarters on Riley Creek near the McKinley Railroad Station, 

1922-1925. NARA II, RG 79-g, B11/F67. 

1.4 View southwest of the headquarters, along west side of Riley Creek. DENA 4678, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.5 Figure View of the superintendent’s office and the auto purchased by Karstens to 

power a wood saw, c. August 1924. NARA II, RG 79-g, B11/F67. 

1.6 View northwest of the superintendent’s office at Riley Creek, the 

superintendent’s “home cabin,” and Karstens’s automobile, c. August 1924. NARA II, 

RG 79-g, B11/F67. 

1.7 View northeast of the rangers’ cabin at the new headquarters area, 1927. NARA II, 

RG79 B373 E7/F301 p1. 

1.8 Horse barn with a shed roof along the east side of the main headquarters road, 

1927. NARA II, RG79 B373 E7/F301 p1. 

1.9 Tent warehouse moved to the new headquarters area from Riley Creek, 1927. 

NARA II, RG79 B373 E7/F301 p1. 

1.10 View northwest of new headquarters area from park road, c. 1929. Herbert 

Heller Collection, #79--44-1315, University of Alaska Fairbanks Archives. 

1.11 Map. 3, accompanying descriptive report submitted by Superintendent Karstens 

to the NPS director on December 29, 1925. Denali National Park and Preserve 

Museum Collection. 

1.12 View southeast of the superintendent’s office or park office (Building 22) in its 

original location along the south side of the park road, July 1, 1927. DENA 14976, 

Denali National Park and Museum Collection. 

1.13 View southwest of park headquarters buildings along the south side of the park 

road, 1926. Haskell Collection, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

1.14 View southwest of park headquarters buildings along the south side of the park 

road, 1926. Papers of Henry P. Karstens in the Dartmouth College Library. 

1.15 Combination cook-house and cache (constructed in 1927) and miniature log 

cabin dog houses located to the east of the headquarters area, c. 1928-1930. DENA 

1501, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

vi 

1.16 Combination garage, workshop, and blacksmith shop located to the west of the 

wood frame barn, c. 1927-1930. Nyberg Photo Album, DENA 1501, Denali National 

Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.17 View east of park rangers erecting the flagpole at the intersection of the park 

road and the site of the main headquarters road, c. June 1926 to July 1927. Karstens 

Library, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.18 Panoramic view of the flagpole at the intersection of the park road and the main 

headquarters road. DENA 3555, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

1.19 View northwest of the warehouse (Building 101) and the ranger quarters, c. 

1928-1930. DENA 1501, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.20 View southwest of the ranger’s quarters. c1928-1929. DENA 4319 Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.21 View southeast of the barn (Building 106), prior to 1931. DENA 3974, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.22. View northeast of the superintendent’s residence (Building 1), June 2, 1932. 

DENA 70-4-34, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center. 

1.23 View south down the main headquarters road, c. 1930. Candace Waugaman 

Collection, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.24 View of original roof-to-roof electrical wiring between the original clerk’s cabin 

and the superintendent’s cabin, prior to 1931. Nyberg Photo Album, DENA 1501, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.25 Laborers’ cabin, undated, pre-1941. From unnumbered photograph in album, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.26 View east of the kennels and the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), 

June 2, 1932. DENA 69-3-43, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center. 

1.27 View northwest of the garage (Building 103), c. 1937. DENA 3-33, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.28 View northwest of the comfort station (Building 112) during construction, May 

29, 1932. DENA 69-3-43 National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center. 

1.29 View of new utility poles carrying electric and telephone wires, 1932. DENA 3-

34, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.30 View southwest of the employee’s quarters, c. 1935. NARA II. RG-79. 

1.31 View northwest of the rangers’ dorm (Building 21), c. 1935-1940. DENA 10485, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.32 Headquarters Master Plan, 1933. NARA II, RG-79, Cartographic Branch 

1.33 Headquarters Master Plan, 1938. NARA II, RG-79, Cartographic Branch 

1.34 Oblique 1935 aerial photograph. DENA 3906, Lincoln Washburn, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 
LIST OF FIGURES

vii 

1.35 View northwest of CCC crew standing in front of employee residence (Building 

12), c. 1938. National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office files. 

1.36 View southeast of CCC crew reconstructing the dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105), August 1938. Ickes Collection, B75-175-295, Anchorage Museum of 

History & Art . 

1.37 View south of the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), 1939. National 

Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, List of Classified Structures files. 

1.38 View west of the completed dog kennels, August 1938. Ickes Collection, B75-

175-303, Anchorage Museum of History & Art. 

1.39 “Plan of Two Car Garage and Storage Shed,” Branch of Plans and Design, July 

12, 1938. DENA 4600, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.40 View west of CCC enrollees at work during construction of the superintendent’s 

garage (Building 111), 1939. DENA 3-5 Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

1.41 View southwest of the machine shop and garage (Building 102), June 28, 1939. 

DENA 3-1, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.42 View west of the two employee residences (Building 12 and Building 13), 1939. 

National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office Files. 

1.43 Detail of 1939 plan of park headquarters area. NARA II, RG-79, Cartographic 

Branch. 

1.44 Detail from the 1939, "Administrative Area Utilities Layout, Part of the Master 

Plan for Mt. McKinley National Park." National Park Service, Technical Information 

Center, DENA 184-5308. 

1.45 View northeast of the superintendent’s residence on fire, October 23, 1939. 

NARA II, RG-79, Photographic Branch. 

1.46 View northwest of concrete forms in place for construction of the new 

employee’s residence basement (Building 23), August 1940. NARA II, RG-79, 

Photographic Branch. 

1.47 View north of the employee’s residence (Building 23) during construction, 

September 1941. Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.48 Weather proof fire hose box and hose connections, c. May 1940. NARA II, RG79, Photographic Branch. 

1.49 “Proposed Park Headquarters Trail,” 1940. National Park Service, Technical 

Information Center, DENA 184-5310. 

1.50 1941 Period Plan, developed from multiple sources, National Park Service, 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. 

1.51 Detail from 1942 Mt. McKinley National Park Master Plan. . National Park 

Service, Technical Information Center, DENA 184-2013. 

1.52 View south down the main headquarters road, c. 1940-1941. DENA 3-7.7, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

viii 

1.53 View southwest of the administration building (Building 11, original employee’s 

quarters) from the main headquarters road, November 1940. National Park Service, 

Alaska Regional Office Files. 

1.54 View northwest of headquarters buildings, c. 1941-1942. DENA 3-7.4, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.55 View northwest of the administrative building (Building 111, original 

superintendent’s garage), c. 1946-1950. DENA 3-8, Denali National Park and 

Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.56 Carpentry shop (Building 106, original barn), March 1950. DENA 3-14, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.57 Quarters 24 (Building 123, originally the infirmary at the CCC camp), c. 1950. 

DENA 7-10, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.58 Laborers’ quarters (Building 6), March 1950. DENA 7-7, Denali National Park 

and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.59 Employee’s residence (Building 26) under construction, July 21, 1950. National 

Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, CLI Files. 

1.60 View of the employee’s residence (Building 11) on fire, November 3, 1950. 

DENA 8-9, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.61 View during construction of the 50,000 gallon reservoir, September 26, 1950. 

National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, CLI Files. 

1.62 View of the old pump house and suspended water line (Building 109) and the 

new pump house and wooden water line scaffold, August 1953. DENA 41-15.4, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.63 View of the log park museum (Building 22, original superintendent’s office), 

September 12, 1950. DENA 3-18, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

1.64 View northwest during relocation of the log naturalist’s office and workshop 

(Building 22, original superintendent’s office), June 1952. NARA II, RG-79, 

Photographic Branch. 

1.65 View west of the dog kennels during renovation, October 1955. DENA 11-40, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.66 View west of the dog kennels during a sled dog demonstration, July 1963. DENA 

11-66, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.67 Detail from March 1955 "Mission-66" era park master plan. National Park 

Service, Technical Information Center, DENA 184-2006E. 

1.68 Detail from 1956 plans for the new visitor "Parking Lot No. 1" at park 

headquarters. National Park Service, Technical Information Center, DENA 184-

3107. 

1.69 Composite of a 1957 multi-sheet Army Corps of Engineers survey of the park 

headquarters area. National Park Service, Technical Information Center, DENA 184-

9007. 
LIST OF FIGURES

ix 

1.70 View of the six-unit apartment building, May 7, 1959. DENA 7-28, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.71 View southeast of a sled dog demonstration, July 11, 1959. DENA 11-60, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

1.72 View northwest of employee’s residence (Building 111) after conversion into a 

year-round residence, June 1984. National Park Service, Denver Service Center 

photograph #30. 

1.73 Oblique aerial photograph of Denali National Park and Preserve headquarters 

area on 8/24/1952. NPS, Denali Resource Management Slide File. 

1.74 Site plan for new employees residence, Bldg. 251, constructed 1994-1995. 

National Park Service, Technical Information Center, DENA 184-41095. 

1.75 View west of original garage (Building 103) during rehabilitation, 2006. NPS, 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. 

Tables 

1.1 Headquarters Buildings – 1929

1.2 Headquarters Buildings – 1937 

1.3 Headquarters Buildings – 1941 

1.4 Headquarters Buildings – 1966 

1.5 Headquarters Buildings – 2007 

EXISTING CONDITIONS 

Figures 

2.1 Existing Conditions Plan for the Headquarters Historic District, OCLP, 2005. 

2.2 Aerial photograph of the Headquarters Historic District and surrounding 

landscape, 2004. 

2.3 Park headquarters entry drive, one of two major roads that form a cross-axis 

within the headquarters entry area looking south, August 2005. 

2.4 Residential road in the headquarters area, a curvilinear road winding through the 

wooded landscape with short driveways and structures set into the slope, August 

2005. 

2.5 Inflow of culvert south of the plumbing shop (Building 107), August 2005. 

2.6 Spruce trees surrounding park structures north of the old sign shop (Building 

106), August 2005. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

x 

2.7 Birch growing in the lawn area at east entrance to the administration building 

(Building 21), August 2005. 

2.8 Groundstory vegetation including fireweed and grasses surrounding the engineer 

office (Building 110), August 2005. 

2.9 View from headquarters entry road, looking north, with Building 101 on the left 

and Building 123 on the right, August 2005. 

2.10 View from bus access road looking east, with frames of Building 103 and 101 

visible, August 2005. 

2.11 The dog-feed cache and sled storage (Building 105) and dog kennels are a 

popular destination for park visitors, August 2005. 

2.12 Dog sled demonstration loop and viewing stands with Building 118 in the 

distance, August 2005. 

2.13 Flagpole and sign at headquarters entrance from the Denali Park Road, August 

2005. 

2.14 Visitor kiosk at parking lot near the entrance to park headquarters, with display 

panels capped by a small roof, August 2005. 

2.15 Safety bollards mark the location of a fuel storage tank, August 2005. 

2.16 Light fixture in headquarters area east of Building 123, August 2005. 

LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS 

Figures 

3.1 View southwest from park road prior to the construction of the flagpole, mid1920s. DENA 4-2, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.2 Headquarters entrance with flagpole, entrance sign and boulder in front of visitor 

parking lot. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.3 View looking southeast, east from the park road, c. 1926. DENA 3475, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.4 View looking southeast, east from the park road. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.5 View looking southeast from the park road, 1937. DENA 3060, Denali National 

Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.6 View looking southeast, east down the park road showing the visitor parking area. 

OCLP, August 2005. 

3.7 View north along the main headquarters road, 1937. DENA 3141, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.8 View north up the main headquarters road. OCLP, August 2005. 
LIST OF FIGURES

xi 

3.9 View south down the main headquarters road, c. 1940-41. DENA 3-7.7, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.10 View south down the main headquarters road. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.11 View northeast down the road from the barn (Building 106) to the early dog 

kennels. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.12 View northeast down the road past the comfort station (Building 112) to the 

early dog kennels. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.13 View west up the steep trail from the west side of the boiler house (Building 107) 

to the main headquarters road. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.14 View northeast of the crescent-shaped parking leading to the oil and gas house 

(Building 108), c. 1950. DENA 10483, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

3.15 View southeast of the crescent-shaped parking area. OCLP, August 2005. 

3.16 View northwest of the parking area, west of the original garage (Building 103). 

OCLP, August 2005. 

3.17 View northwest of the parking area behind the original machine shop and garage 

(Building 102). OCLP, August 2005. 

3.18 View north of rectangular area between the warehouse (Building 101), garage 

(Building 103), rangers’ dorm (Building 21), and the laborer’s quarters (Building 6). 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.19 View north of rectangular parking area between the original warehouse 

(Building 101 ), original garage (Building 103), original rangers’ dorm (Building 21), 

and library and dispatch (Building 141), location of original laborers’ cabin (Building 

6). OCLP, August 2005. 

3.20 View west of the vegetation surrounding Building 12 (right) and Building 13 

(left), August 16, 1939. NPS, Alaska Regional Office, Regional Cultural Resources 

files. 

3.21 View west of the vegetation surrounding Building 12 (right) and Building 13 at 

left. OCLP, August 2006. 

3.22 View southwest of the rangers’ dorm, now administration building (Building 21), 

c. 1940. National Archives, Photographic Branch, College Park, MD. 

3.23 View southwest of the administration building (Building 21, original rangers’ 

dorm). OCLP, August 2005. 

3.24 View southwest of the flagpole at the intersection of the park road and the main 

headquarters road, 1928. Candace Waugaman Collection, Denali National Park and 

Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.25 View east of the flag pole standing to the west of the superintendent’s office 

(Building 22), post-1930. DENA 32, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

3.26 View east of the flagpole standing east of the superintendent’s office (Building 

22), 1937. DENA 3135, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

xii 

3.27 View north of the intersection of the park road in the distance and the main 

Headquarters road at center, 1937. DENA 3161, Denali National Park and Preserve 

Museum Collection. 

3.28 View southwest of the flagpole, east of the original superintendent’s office 

(Building 22), June 1946. DENA 5-2, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection. 

3.29 View southwest of the flagpole, in the vegetative island with a sign and boulder at 

the intersection of the park road and the main headquarters road, June 1963. DENA 

52, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.30 View southwest of the flagpole, in the vegetative island with a sign and boulder at 

the intersection of the park road and the main headquarters road. OCLP, August 

2005. 

3.31 View northeast of stone retaining wall and steps (111A). OCLP, August 2005. 

3.32 View west of stone retaining wall and steps behind the original employee’s 

residence (Building 23). OCLP, August 2005. 

3.33 View southwest of the superintendent’s office (Building 22) at its original 

location along the park road, c. 1928-1930. Candace Waugaman Collection, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.34 View north of original superintendent’s office (Building 22) in its current 

location north of the park road, now serving as an employee residence. OCLP, 

August 2005. 

3.35 View looking northwest of the original warehouse (Building 101), c. 1931. 

DENA 3-37, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.36 View looking northwest of the original warehouse (Building 101). OCLP, August 

2005. 

3.37 View southeast of the original garage and repair shop August 14, 1939 (Building 

102). DENA 3-2, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.38 View southeast of the original garage and repair shop (Building 102). OCLP, 

August 2006. 

3.39 View west of the sled dog kennels, 1939. DENA 11-13.5, Denali National Park 

and Preserve Museum Collection. 

3.40 View west of the sled dog kennels. OCLP, August 2005. 

Tables 

Summary of Landscape Integrity for Denali Park Headquarters Historic District 

Existing Landscape Characteristics and Features, followed by Missing Historic 

Features
LIST OF FIGURES

xiii 

TREATMENT 

Treatment Drawings 

4.1 Composite Drawing, OCLP, 2007. 

4.2 Parking and Circulation. OCLP, 2007. 

4.3 Roadside Vegetation and Character. OCLP, 2007. 

4.4 Park Road Sight-Distance. OCLP, 2007. 

4.5 Buildings and Structures OCLP, 2007. 

4.6 Small-Scale Features OCLP, 2007. 

Figures 

4.1 Conceptual diagram illustrating reorientation of parking from the center of the 

Denali Headquarters to the perimeter. OCLP. 

4.2 View of Headquarters entrance area from Denali Park Road. OCLP, 2006. 

4.3 Preserving core area character. OCLP, 2006. 

4.4 Preserving service area character. OCLP, 2006. 

4.5 Preserving residential area character. OCLP, 2006. 

4.6 Preserving residential character north of park road. OCLP, 2006. 

4.7 Preserving sled dog demonstration area character. OCLP, 2006. 

4.8 Enhancing historic character at terminus of Park Headquarters Main Road. 

OCLP, 2006. 

4.9 Existing conditions at the core of Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. 

OCLP, 2006. 

4.10 Circulation and Parking – Treatment Task 1.A – Photo-simulation of removed 

pavement. OCLP, 2007. 

4.11 Circulation and Parking – Treatment Task 1.C – Boulder Barrier Rustic Chain 

Gate. OCLP, 2007. 

4.12 Example of boulder barrier at Acadia National Park, OCLP 1997. 

4.13 Circulation and Parking – Treatment Task 1.C – Timber Cross-buck Rustic 

Barrier. OCLP, 2007. 

4.14 Example of moveable barriers for parking areas. OCLP, 2007. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

xiv 

4.15 Existing conditions at the core of Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. 

OCLP, 2006. 

4.16 Circulation and Parking – Treatment Task 1.C – Traffic control measures, 

photosimulation. OCLP, 2007. 

4.17 Roadside Character and Vegetation – Treatment Task 2.A – Accumulation of 

sand along roadsides. OCLP, 2006. 

4.18 Roadside sand in Headquarters area. OCLP, 2007. 

4.19 Mechanical damage to roadside vegetation. OCLP, 2006. 

4.20 Roadside Character and Vegetation – Treatment Task 2.B – Use of limited 

roadside barriers. OCLP, 2007. 

4.21 Roadside Character and Vegetation – Treatment Task 2.B – Boulder Barrier 

detail. OCLP, 2007. 

4.22 Existing conditions showing road widening in the core of the Denali Park 

Headquarters Historic District. OCLP, 2006. 

4.23 Roadside Character and Vegetation – Treatment Task 2.B, 2.C and 2.D – Photosimulation of pavement removed, limited boulder barriers, and a drainage swale. 

OCLP, 2007. 

4.24 Existing conditions of lawn surrounding historic Superintendent’s residence. 

OCLP, 2006. 

4.25 Roadside Character and Vegetation – Treatment Task 2.F – Photo-simulation of 

eight-foot wide buffer of vegetation. OCLP, 2007. 

4.26 Sight-Distances at Intersection of Park Road and Headquarters Road – 

Treatment Task 3.A – Existing conditions by flagpole. OCLP, 2006. 

4.27 Sight-Distances at Intersection of Park Road and Headquarters Road – 

Treatment Task 3.B, existing conditions OCLP, 2006. 

4.28 Sight-Distances at Intersection of Park Road and Headquarters Road – 

Treatment Task 3.B – proposed conditions for vegetation removal to improve sight 

lines. OCLP, 2007. 

4.29 Buildings and Structures – Treatment Task 1.A – Location for new office facility. 

OCLP, 2007. 

4.30 Buildings and Structures – Treatment Task 1.C – Mass and volume of new 

facilities. OCLP, 2006. 

4.31 Buildings and Structures – Treatment Task 1.D – New system of pathways. 

OCLP, 2007. 

4.32 Buildings and Structures – Treatment Task 1.E – Orientation of new non-historic 

garages. OCLP, 2007. 

4.33 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, bench details. OCLP, 2007. 
LIST OF FIGURES

xv 

4.34 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, bench details. OCLP, 2007. 

4.35 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, barrier bollard and plug-in details. OCLP, 2007. 

4.36 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, bus sign details. OCLP, 2007. 

4.37 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, vertical interpretive sign details. OCLP, 2007. 

4.38 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, visitor center and park headquarters horizontal wayside details 

4.39 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, visitor center and park headquarters regulatory sign details. OCLP, 

2007. 

4.40 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, visitor center and park headquarters small-scale 

regulatory/instructional sign details. OCLP, 2007. 

4.41 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.A – Develop and install palette of nonhistoric fixtures, visitor center and park headquarters wheel stop details. OCLP, 2007. 

4.43 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.B – Replace non-historic steel bollards 

and safety barriers, existing conditions. OCLP, 2006. 

4.44 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.B – Replace non-historic steel bollards 

and safety barriers, proposed conditions. OCLP, 2007. 

4.45 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.B – Replace non-historic steel bollards 

and safety barriers, existing conditions. OCLP, 2006. 

4.46 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.B – Replace non-historic steel bollards 

and safety barriers, proposed conditions. OCLP, 2007. 

4.47 Small-Scale Features – Treatment Task 1.C – Schematic design for free-standing 

timber light standard. OCLP, 2007. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

xvi 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

xvii 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

This report was a collaboration between the staff at Denali National Park and 

Preserve, the Alaska Regional Office and the Olmsted Center for Landscape 

Preservation. Denali staff, including Ann Kain, Cultural Resource Manager, 

Mary Tidlow, Park Architect, Mike Tranel, Chief of Planning, Paul Anderson, 

Superintendent, and Elwood Lynn, Assistant Superintendent for Operations 

provided project oversight and guidance. Additional Denali staff contributed to 

on-site discussions helping to define the treatment approach, including a 

workshop held in August 2005 and a follow up meeting held in August 2006. Not 

only did staff participate in meetings and conference calls, but also they directed 

project staff to invaluable site data and historical documents. This collaboration 

included the cheerful assistance of Jane Bryant, Cultural Anthropologist, Steve 

Carwile, Compliance Officer, Joe Durrenberger, Park Engineer, Karen Fortier, 

Kennel Manager, George Keers, Maintenance Supervisor, Jane Lakeman, 

Museum Curator, Jon Paynter, GIS Specialist, Carl Roland, Botanist, Dutch 

Scholten, Acting Facility Manager, Tamara Scholten, Civil Engineer, Tim Taylor, 

East District Roads Supervisor, and Chuck Tomkiewicz, Trails Supervisor. 

At the Olmsted Center, Debbie Dietrich-Smith and Margie Coffin Brown, 

Historical Landscape Architects, prepared the site history, existing conditions, 

and analysis sections, as well as the first draft of the treatment narrative. Joel 

Smith, Conservation Associate, prepared the site maps and conceptual details 

and Emily Donaldson, Conservation Associate, reviewed the draft document. 

Eliot Foulds, Historical Landscape Architect, revised the site maps, conceptual 

details, treatment narrative, and further edited all sections of the report and 

prepared the report for printing and distribution. Bob Page, Olmsted Center 

Director, provided project oversight. 

At the Alaska Regional Office, Steve Peterson, Senior Historical Architect, 

assisted in scoping the project and participated in meetings and reviews. Samson 

Ferreira, Historical Landscape Architect, participated in site meetings and 

reviews, and assisted with site documentation including pairing historic 

photographs with contemporary views. Mr. Ferreira was also of great assistance 

in helping to develop a range of viable treatment recommendations., and 

provided helpful comments and edits to draft submissions. Paul Schrooten, 

Landscape Architect, Dick Anderson, Environmental Protection Specialist, and 

Logan Hovis, Historian, participated in reviews and meetings. The site history 

was built upon the excellent prior work accomplished by the Cultural Landscape 

Inventory, which was completed in 2004 by Michele Curran, Ph.D, formerly of 

the Alaska Regional Office and working currently as an Architectural Historian 

with the Midwest Regional Office in Omaha. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

xviii 
INTRODUCTION

 1 

Park rangers erecting a flagpole at park headquarters on the south side of the park road, 1926. Building in view is the 

superintendent's office (Karstens Library, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection) 

INTRODUCTION

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 

STUDY BOUNDARIES 

TERMINOLOGY 

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

2 
INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION 

Heralded as the first national park designated after the formal establishment of 

the National Park Service in 1916, Denali National Park and Preserve contains 

some of the country’s most remarkable scenery and unique cultural resources. 

Located in McKinley Park, southcentral Alaska, Denali is part of the 600-mile 

long Alaska Range, which is comprised of peaks from 2,000 to 20,000 feet in 

altitude. The range is also punctuated by the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, 

North America’s highest mountain. The park was established as Mount 

McKinley National Park in 1917. In 1980, the park and the separate Denali 

National Monument were incorporated to become the Denali National Park and 

Preserve. The National Park covers over 4,700,000 acres while the Preserve 

spans over 1,300,000 acres, resulting in a total of 9,492 square miles of subarctic 

wilderness enclosed within their combined boundary. 

Located 3.4 miles off of the George Parks Highway (Alaska Highway 3) along the 

park’s main road, the Park Headquarters Historic District comprises 11.91 acres 

and was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, with 

SHPO concurrence in 2004. The nomination emphasizes the significance of the 

early park structures, reminiscent of an early Alaskan frontier settlement laid out 

in a grid on a natural bench high above the floodplain of Rock Creek and Hines 

Creek. Initially designed by Harry Karstens, the park’s first superintendent, the 

headquarters area was later expanded with guidance from early National Park 

Service designers. The resulting cluster of buildings exemplifies the concept of a 

community master plan, featuring buildings constructed in the NPS rustic 

architectural style from between 1926 and 1941. These structures serve as the 

park’s administrative, staff housing and visitor facilities, and are linked by a 

network of roads, parking areas and paths. 

A Cultural Landscape Inventory for the headquarters area, completed in 2004, 

notes that the Park Headquarters Historic District has evolved since the 1940s, in 

the addition of several buildings and alterations to both structures and landscape. 

The vegetation density has also increased, and obscures views to the surrounding 

landscape—though a recent thinning as part of a 2004 fuel reduction program has 

created some partial views. The number of vehicles from both park staff and 

tourists at the site has increased, as has the total square footage of area paved with 

asphalt. The park needs to address vehicular and bus parking as well as 

circulation in the headquarters area, along with the associated drainage and 

erosion issues. The intent of this report is to provide guidance on the long-term 

management of the cultural landscape within the park headquarters area. 

 3 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 

While the Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) is intended to be a cursory 

summary of the history, significance, and condition of the landscape, the Cultural 

Landscape Report (CLR) provides an in depth history and analysis of the 

landscape as well as guidance for treatment. The CLR builds upon the 

information gathered in the CLI by incorporating additional primary source 

research materials, thoroughly documenting the existing conditions, conducting 

a complete analysis of the significance and integrity of the landscape, and 

formulating a treatment approach and specific treatment recommendations for 

the long-term management of the cultural landscape. 

Several reports and concurrent projects have shaped the scope of this CLR. The 

1986 General Management Plan and 1996 Development Concept Plan provide an 

overall vision and management direction for the site. The park initiated a master 

plan for the headquarters area in 2006, and the CLR treatment recommendations 

will inform those aspects of this plan that relate to spatial organization and 

circulation in the headquarters area. The park currently has 38 separate 

construction projects associated with the Denali headquarters for the coming 

years, listed in the park service’s Project Management Information Systems 

(PMIS). If completed without the coordination of landscape preservation 

concepts, these projects could result in undesirable incremental changes for the 

historic character of the landscape, and potentially threaten the integrity of the 

National Register district. While focusing on the historic district, the CLR will 

also provide guidance on compatible contemporary features and types of 

development that are appropriate in the 30-acre headquarters area just outside 

the district. Anticipated future developments include new buildings, roads and 

parking lots. The CLR will also aid in Section 106 compliance and may be used to 

develop a programmatic agreement with the Alaska State Historic Preservation 

Office, thereby serving as a reference to inform cultural resource compliance in 

identifying contributing and non-contributing features. 

In the summer of 2005, the Olmsted Center initiated this CLR in cooperation 

with the park and the Alaska Regional office. The project team conducted a site 

visit in August 2005, with a follow up visit in the summer of 2006. The project 

team conducted research at the National Archives and Records Administration 

facilities in College Park, Maryland, the Alaska Regional office in Anchorage, 

Alaska, and the park archives. Prepared in conformance with the guidelines 

established by NPS DO-28: Cultural Resource Management Guideline and The 

Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, the 

report is organized in four parts, as described below. 

4 
INTRODUCTION

Part 1: Site History 

The CLR site history focuses on historic contexts that contribute to significance, 

including descriptions of key developments, primary design principles, physical 

relationships, patterns, features, and important individuals and events. The site 

history also describes and illustrates the appearance of the landscape evident in 

each historic period, and most notably the work of the NPS master planning team 

and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), as well as changes to the landscape 

that occurred from the 1940s to the present. 

Part 2: Existing Conditions 

A narrative description paired with a site map and photographs provide an 

overview of the current boundaries, landscape appearance, site access, visitor 

use, and defining landscape characteristics and associated features. 

Contemporary site functions, visitor services, interpretation, park operations, 

and maintenance are also described to the degree in which they influence 

treatment of the landscape. 

Part 3: Landscape Analysis 

Analysis of the headquarters area landscape draws on a comparison of historic 

research and existing conditions to document contributing and non-contributing 

cultural landscape features, using the relevant National Register criteria for the 

Denali Headquarters Historic District. In this section the landscape is evaluated 

within the areas of significance defined by the existing National Register 

nomination. A condition assessment describes the degree to which landscape 

characteristics and features continue to convey significant attributes from the 

historic period of 1926 to 1941. The headquarters area buildings and structures 

are referenced to the park’s List of Classified Structures (LCS). 

Part 4: Landscape Treatment 

The treatment section provides a preservation philosophy for the long-term 

management of the cultural landscape of the site based on its significance, 

existing conditions, and use. This section also lists the overall management 

objectives and treatment principles for the site, as presented in planning and 

management documents. Most importantly, based on discussions with park staff 

held in 2005 and 2006 the treatment section identifies pertinent issues affecting 

the cultural landscape and provides alternatives, recommendations and 

specifications. These recommendations are consistent with the Secretary of the 

Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. 

 5 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

STUDY BOUNDARIES 

As described in the CLI (2004), Denali National Park and Preserve is situated in 

south central Alaska, just north of 63 degrees latitude and bisected by the 152nd 

meridian. The Headquarters District lies within the Denali Borough of Alaska, 

and is relatively close to the communities of Healy (15 miles) and Cantwell (33 

miles). The 92-mile long Denali Park Road, constructed between 1923 and 1938, 

begins at George Parks Highway (Alaska Highway 3), passes the Headquarters 

District at 3.4 miles and ends at Kantishna, a historic mining district. The park 

headquarters National Register historic district encompasses 11.91 acres and 

includes areas both north and south of the Park Road. The northern boundary of 

the historic district follows the 2,130-foot elevation contour to a few feet upslope 

from Buildings 111 and 22, and then extends eastward to the entrance of the east 

residential loop road. At this point the boundary runs toward the south, 

following a line ten feet east of the curvilinear residential road built by the CCC in 

the late fall of 1938. The historic district boundary also includes an area east of 

the barn, now Building 106, and extends along the southern edge of the 

developed area to include the dog kennels before extending north. While the 

CLR focuses on the historic district, the study also includes the developed area 

adjacent to and east of the headquarters district. The total headquarters area 

covers some 30 acres and includes residential structures built after 1940, most of 

which were constructed during the Mission 66 period between 1956 and 1966. 

TERMINOLOGY 

Within the park headquarters area, each building is assigned a number. Over the 

past eighty years many of these buildings have changed uses or been moved to 

new locations. Throughout this document the building numbers are included in 

parentheses to clarify the vintage of each building. Table 3.2 in the Analysis 

chapter contains both the names and numbers for each building and structure, 

including buildings that are no longer present. 

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 

When the National Park Service was established in 1916 it included 14 national 

parks, 21 national monuments, and 2 reservations. Containing the highest peak 

in North America, Mount McKinley and its surroundings were a fitting addition 

to the system. As described in the CLI (2004), President Woodrow Wilson signed 

Mt. McKinley National Park into law on February 26, 1917. The new park 

included 2,645 square miles of the Alaska Range, and its boundary was originally 

only 16 miles west of McKinley Station. However, two executive orders, one in 

1922 and another in 1923, established within publicly owned lands an 

administrative use area connecting the railroad depot with the Riley Creek 

headquarters area.1

 On March 19, 1932, revised legislation again expanded the 

6 
INTRODUCTION

original Mt. McKinley National Park boundary by a total of 243,244 acres, from 

1,947,666 to 2,190,910 acres. With the completion of the Denali Highway in 1957 

Mt. McKinley National Park was opened to automobile tourism, when for the 

first time cars were able to travel from Paxton to Cantwell and from there to the 

park’s entrance. When the George Parks Highway (Alaska Highway 3) from 

Anchorage to Fairbanks was finished in 1972, the portion of the Denali Highway 

extending to the park’s entrance became part of the George Parks Highway 

system. These new developments not only put an end to the “old-style” railroad 

park feel, they ushered in the era of automobile tourism. In 1980, the Alaska 

National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) expanded the park 

boundary to include populations of moose, wolf, and caribou. 2

 This addition, 

totaling no less than four million acres, increased the park’s size to more than six 

million acres and resulted in the renaming of the park, as “Denali National Park 

and Preserve.”3

National Park Service Director Stephen Mather appointed Harry Karstens as the 

first park superintendent in 1921. Karstens set up a temporary headquarters in 

Nenana, a railroad town containing the nearest permanent post office and 

government telegraph station located about sixty-miles north of the park. From 

there, Karstens selected a site on Riley Creek for the first park headquarters. 

Following the completion of the railroad from Seward to Fairbanks in February 

1923, and with the approved construction of a ninety-mile long road through the 

park, visitor access grew dramatically. It quickly became clear that an 

administrative headquarters would be required to accommodate the future needs 

of the park. Due to the low elevation at the Riley Creek site, the existing 

headquarters area was plagued by both destructive seasonal flooding and 

extremely cold climatic conditions. In 1924, Karstens received permission from 

the NPS to relocate the headquarters to the present location. He submitted plans 

to the NPS Office of Design and Construction for approval in 1925.4

 

By 1925, NPS had adopted the method of comprehensive park planning to 

coordinate the development of circulation systems which could connect the flow 

of vehicular and pedestrian traffic through administrative, service, and 

maintenance areas. The park’s new commitment to master planning therefore 

had a strong influence on the development of the new McKinley National Park 

Headquarters District, which had been relocated to a higher bench above Rock 

and Hines Creeks and laid out by Superintendent Harry Karstens during that 

same year. 

In 1929, NPS Chief Landscape Architect Thomas Vint visited the park and 

became involved in designing the Headquarters District. The most significant 

period of its construction was in 1938 and 1939, when park laborers and Civilian 

Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees were used. Subsequently the advent of 

World War II brought park operations to a halt, and throughout the 1940s 

routine maintenance of existing facilities suffered from a lack of both materials 

 7 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

and laborers.5 Throughout this period the park was closed to the public, as the 

area’s arctic conditions were used for war-time testing of military equipment. 

The process of construction, rehabilitation, removal, and the adaptation of 

buildings for re-use resumed after the end of WWII, and has continued into the 

present. Although several buildings have been removed, many have been 

adapted for re-use. A few non-contributing buildings have also been added, but 

these do not effect the integrity of the original Headquarters District, which 

today exemplifies the “golden age” of NPS administrative district master 

planning.6

 The first part of the cultural landscape report will review the history 

of the Headquarters District and surrounding area in greater detail. 

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 

Both the Cultural Landscape Inventory completed in 2004 and this CLR draw 

upon the Superintendent’s Monthly Reports as well as Karstens’ 

correspondence, which together chronicle the development of the headquarters 

area. The CLR expands upon the information synthesized for the Cultural 

Landscape Inventory with additional primary and secondary source material 

from several repositories including the National Archives in Washington, DC, the 

regional office library in Anchorage, and the park's archives at Denali. 

Correspondence records between the NPS Director and Harry Karstens from 

1925 to 1928, and Harry Liek from 1928 to 1931, provide details on the 

construction, relocation, destruction, and rehabilitation of site features. In 

particular the buildings, structures, and circulation systems in the headquarters 

area are well documented. In addition, correspondence with Thomas Vint 

contains many details on the construction and layout of the headquarters area. A 

particularly useful map for studying the appearance of the landscape circa 1941, 

or the end of the period of significance, was the 1942 park map stored in the 

parks archives. In a few cases where the dates in the CLI do not match the dates 

in the CLR, the CLR provides footnotes to clarify sources of information. 

The CLR concurs with the findings of the CLI regarding the period and areas of 

significance. In the analysis of landscape characteristics and features, the CLI 

includes spatial organization, land use, vegetation, circulation, buildings and 

structures, and small-scale features. The CLR also includes topography, cluster 

arrangement, and views. A complete listing of the characteristics and features 

that contribute to the historic landscape is provided in Table 3.2, which also 

includes features currently missing from the landscape. 

The treatment plan responds to numerous issues that the park would like to 

address related to circulation and parking, buildings and structures, and smallscale features. Choosing among the four historic preservation treatments 

recognized by the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of 

Historic Properties, this report recommends Rehabilitation as the primary 

8 
INTRODUCTION

treatment for the historic park headquarters district based on rehabilitation's 

philosophical consistency with park planning documents. The recommended 

landscape rehabilitation measures included in this report are not intended to 

serve as construction documents and specifications, but rather to establish the 

goals and overall direction so that future management choices are informed by 

historic preservation values. These measures were developed through a close 

working partnership between the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 

and park and regional staff, and can be organized under three basic headings: 

Circulation and Parking: 

 Eliminate parking and through-traffic from center of historic district. 

 Enhance and protect roadside vegetation and character throughout 

historic district 

 Improve sight-distances at intersection of Park Road and Headquarters 

Road 

Buildings and Structures: 

 Specify appropriate locations and characteristics for adjacent new 

buildings. 

Small-Scale Features: 

 Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fixtures that are 

appropriate to the historic character of the headquarters district. 

Foremost among these recommendations is defining the way motor vehicles 

move and park within the historic district. The elimination of parking and 

through-traffic from the center of the historic district is the most fundamental 

element in the wider program of proposed rehabilitation measures. Eliminating 

parking and through-traffic from the center of the district will facilitate the 

removal of excessive post World War II bituminous pavements, and also make 

possible the creation of a central pedestrian zone, facilitating expanded frontcountry interpretive opportunities as recommended in park plans. Another 

important recommendation is the identification of an appropriate building site 

for a new administration building, so that the historic headquarters district may 

continue to function as a valuable element of the park's infrastructure. 

Beyond these primary measures, supporting recommendations include a 

conceptual palette of appropriate non-historic site furnishings and fixtures for 

use within the headquarters district. The proposed site furnishings are adapted 

from the timber-themed non-historic furnishings developed for use at the park's 

 9 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

10 

new visitor center, that have been modified to match the smaller scale of the 

ensemble of buildings found within the historic headquarters district. 

ENDNOTES: INTRODUCTION 

1

 Frank Norris, Crown Jewel of the North: An Administrative History of Denali National Park And Preserve, Volume I, 

(Anchorage, AK: National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, 2006) 31-32, 34. 2

 Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Report on ANILCA, 14 November 1979, 166. 

3 Michele Curran, Ph.D. Cultural Landscape Inventory, Park Headquarters Historic District, Denali National Park and Preserve, 

2004, Part 2a, p. 1.

4 Ibid.

5

 Ibid.

6 Ibid. 
SITE HISTORY

 11 

View south down the main headquarters road, c. 1940-1941 (DENA-3-7.7, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection). 

SITE HISTORY

PREHISTORY TO PARK ESTABLISHMENT, PRE 1921 

FIRST PARK HEADQUARTERS ALONG RILEY CREEK, 1921-1924 

DEVELOPMENT OF PARK HEADQUARTERS ALONG PARK ROAD, 1924-1941 

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF PARK HEADQUARTERS, 1941-2006 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

12 
SITE HISTORY

 13 

SITE HISTORY- PREHISTORY TO WORLD WAR II 

PREHISTORY TO PARK ESTABLISHMENT 

Denali’s dramatic landscape history begins in the late Miocene glacial epoch, 

twenty-three to five million years before the present, and has continued to evolve 

up to the present day. Cycles of advancing and retreating glacial ice have 

dramatically modified the landscape, where outwash plains and terraces remain 

from all but the earliest glaciations. Still present are seven massive glaciers 

including the Kahiltna, Ruth, Eldridge, Tokositna, Yentna, and Lacuna along the 

south side, and the thirty-five-mile-long Muldrow Glacier on the north side of 

the park, within a half-mile of the main park road. The park landscape is part of 

the 600-mile long Alaska Range separating Alaska’s maritime coastal section from 

the drier, cooler lowlands of the interior. Comprised of peaks from 2,000 to 

20,000 feet, the Alaska Range is about twenty miles wide at its northwestern-most 

point. Almost in the middle of the range stands Mt. McKinley, North America’s 

highest peak at 20,320 feet. 

While the peaks of these mountains are windswept, the lower elevations, 

including the headquarters area, support a boreal forest, or taiga, dominated by 

conifers but also including deciduous trees, woody shrubs, an herbaceous 

understory, and groundcovers. Park habitats are occupied by numerous species 

of animals including wolves, caribou, moose, Dall sheep, grizzly bears, black 

bears, and golden eagles—a remarkable diversity of wildlife which prompted 

conservation efforts in the early twentieth century. 

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the eighteenth century, the area in and 

around Denali comprised the aboriginal homeland of five Northern Athabaskan 

Indian groups—Dena’ina, Koyukon, Lower Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, and 

Western Ahtna. Groups were associated with a specific territory according to the 

major drainages within the area. The Athabaskan peoples were settled along the 

navigable rivers and pursued a seasonally-based subsistence cycle of hunting 

fishing, and gathering. The home territory of the Western Ahtna included the 

Broad Pass area and upper Nenana River corridor. The Lower Tanana occupied 

the drainages of the Nenana and Toklat Rivers. During the late 18th and well 

past the mid-19th centuries, contact with European diseases through Russian furtrading settlements greatly impacted native populations. Yet in 1867 when the 

territory was transferred from Russia to the United States by treaty, much of the 

interior of Alaska remained unexplored by outsiders. Today, respectful of 

longstanding traditional uses of the land and its resources, local rural residents 

retain subsistence rights within the 1980 additions to the park boundary as part of 

the legal stipulation of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 

(ANILCA) of December 2, 1980. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

14 

Following its 1867 acquisition, the United States hoped to promote settlement 

and resource extraction, and began sponsoring exploration and documentation 

of the territory. Accounts of plentiful natural resources were soon followed by 

growing numbers of prospectors, explorers and traders in the late 1880s. Though 

Athabaskan natives referred to the highest peak as Denali, meaning "the great 

one," prospector William A. Dickey named it Mt. McKinley in 1896, to honor 

William McKinley, who was then a candidate for United States President. 

Several climbing parties soon attempted to scale Mt. McKinley’s peaks and on 

June 7, 1913 a team including Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper and 

Robert Tatum succeeded. While the park was renamed Denali in 1980, the 

official name of the mountain peak remains Mt. McKinley. 

The Klondike Gold Rush of 1898-1899 sparked fevered interest in Alaska's 

mining opportunities. In 1902, Alfred Brooks, a geologist with the United States 

Geological Survey led the first official exploration of the Denali area. A year later, 

the discovery of gold in the Kantishna Hills led to the brief, yet intense, 

Kantishna Gold Rush of 1905. That same year, Congress established the Alaska 

Road Commission, administered by the War Department, to build roads and 

trails in the wilderness to be used to facilitate settlement and to extract resources. 

By 1907, only a small number of miners remained in the Mt. McKinley area. 

In 1912, hoping to spur further development and extraction of resources from 

the vast territory, Congress established the Alaska Railroad Commission tasking 

the group with studying possible routes for a railroad to Fairbanks. Two years 

later in 1914, President Wilson signed the Alaska Railroad Act, creating the 

Alaska Engineering Commission, and provided funding to build a railroad along 

the preferred route from Seward to Fairbanks, making use of heavy equipment 

recently idled following completion of the Panama Canal. 

At the outset of World War I in 1915, miners returned to the Mt. McKinley area 

and commenced the operation of small-scale hydraulic mines. By 1922, two 

larger hydraulic operations were becoming established. These included 

McKinley Gold Placers, Inc. on Upper Caribou Creek and the Kantishna 

Hydraulic Mining Company on Moose Creek.1

Prompted by the descriptive writings of Brooks, Charles Sheldon, a wealthy eastcoast naturalist and sportsman organized the first sport hunting expedition to the 

Denali region in 1906. Guided by former gold miner and mountaineer Harry 

Karstens, Sheldon's party surveyed the area’s Dall sheep population, prompting 

Sheldon to express his fears of the impacts of more aggressive hunting that 

railroad construction would bring to the area. Upon his return to New York, 

Sheldon brought the issue to the attention of members in the Boone and Crockett 

Club, a hunting club founded by Theodore Roosevelt, hoping to obtain that 

group's assistance. Influential members of the club effectively lobbied Congress 

to protect the Mt. McKinley area as a game refuge, leading to establishment of 

the Alaska Game Code.2

 
SITE HISTORY

 15 

Returning to Alaska in 1907, Sheldon again employed Harry Karstens as his guide 

to the Denali region. Together Sheldon and Karstens completed wildlife surveys 

and outlined the boundaries of the region that were, for the most part, later 

incorporated into the national park boundaries. A year later, the 1908 Alaskan 

Game Law strengthened the existing Alaska Game Code of 1906. As a result of 

Sheldon’s second trip, the Boone and Crockett Club also endorsed the 

establishment of a national park in the region. Serving as both game refuge and 

national park, Mt. McKinley National Park was established on February 26, 

1917.3

 Legislation establishing the new park set an annual ceiling of $10,000 on 

which to fund park operations. 

First Park Headquarters along Riley Creek, 1921-1924

Immediately after President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation establishing Mt. 

McKinley National Park in 1917, the Department of the Interior requested the 

maximum $10,000 in funds to facilitate administration and access for the new 

park unit. Despite this early request, funds would not be appropriated for the 

new park until 1921, due to the United States involvement in World War I as well 

as to the park’s isolated location.4

 By 1920, construction of a railroad connecting 

Fairbanks and Nenana was within forty miles of the park boundary. With the 

war over, Congress allocated the first funds for park operations in anticipation of 

increased pressures from market hunters preying on the region's large game 

animals. 

In 1921, Congress appropriated eight thousand dollars for park operations for 

upcoming fiscal year. Funding covered the salary of a park superintendent and 

one park ranger who was to provide protection for the park’s wildlife.5

 On April 

12, Stephen T. Mather, the first director of the recently established National Park 

Service, appointed Sheldon's former guide Henry (Harry) P. Karstens as the 

park’s first superintendent. Karsten's official service as park superintendent was 

to begin July 1, 1921, which was the beginning of fiscal year 1922. During the 

interim period between Karsten's April 12th appointment and the start of the 

fiscal year on July 1, Karstens served as “Chief Ranger in the National Park 

Service at large,” with a nominal salary of ten dollars per year. To provide 

support while beginning his park duties, two private benefactors covered 

Karstens living expenses until the July 1st beginning of the new fiscal year.6

At the time of his appointment, Karstens had twenty-four years of experience in 

the Alaska territory. He came to the region first in 1897 to mine gold in the 

Seventymile Mining District. In 1905 he served as a mail carrier to Kantishna 

during its brief gold rush. Between 1907 and 1908 he spent nearly a year camping 

within the future bounds of the park with the east-coast outdoorsman Charles 

Sheldon. Following his lengthy trip with Sheldon, Karstens earned his living as a 

hunting guide. In 1913, Karstens was part of the first group of climbers to ascend 

the south peak of Mt. McKinley.7

 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

16 

Karsten's was certainly well qualified for his new work. As access to the park was 

difficult, and as Karsten could expect few park visitors, the first priority for the 

hunting guide - turned park superintendent was to provide a measure of 

supervision over the vast area, and to protect the park's wildlife from poaching. 

Hoping to support more efficient patrol and supervision of the park, the new 

superintendent's first monthly report, filed in June of 1921, identified a road, 

providing a main artery into the park, and into its higher elevations, as "the park's 

most urgent need."8

 At this time, the War Department's Alaska Road 

Commission maintained a pack trail from the railroad westward to the Kantishna 

post office.9

 However with mining activity having picked up following WWI, the 

Alaska Road Commission, primarily considering utilitarian purposes, was actively 

exploring various routes for an improved all-season road to Kantishna. Given 

the forecast for continued meager park appropriations, the National Park Service 

could not hope for its own park road, constructed only for the enjoyment of the 

scenery and protection of the park's wildlife. 

Karsten's appeal for a serviceable park road would certainly resonate with 

Stephen T. Mather, Director of the National Park Service since its creation in 

1916. An early member of the American Automobile Association and prior to his 

service as Director, a founder of the National Park-to-Park Highway Association, 

Mather understood that providing widespread access to national parks was 

critical to the survival of the fledgling agency. In 1921, the same year that 

Karsten's requested an arterial road through the park, Mather wrote generally for 

the Yosemite National Park Handbook, that the provision of park roads, "...is one 

of the most important issues before the Service."10 As the Alaska Road 

Commission considered various alignments for an improved road to the 

Kantishna mining district, Director Mather met personally with Alaska Road 

Commission leadership, forging an informal agreement with that War 

Department agency. Mather, a successful former executive with a borax mining 

and marketing company, brokered an agreement that would route the new road 

through park lands and serve both the practical purposes of Kantishna's miners, 

as well as the scenic and resource protection purposes of the national park.11 

Yet the park road was only one link in a larger transportation network for Alaska 

that included the Seward to Fairbanks railroad. The railroad from Seward to 

Fairbanks, completed in February 1923, passed within about four miles of the 

park’s eastern boundary. Early in his tenure as superintendent, while the railroad 

was yet incomplete, Karstens first established the park headquarters in Nenana. 

Although the town was approximately sixty-six miles north of the park boundary, 

this location was convenient to the closest permanent post office and 

government telegraph office.12

Locating headquarters closer to the park was among Karstens’s first tasks as 

superintendent. By mid-July 1921 “after considerable study”13 he chose an area 

along Riley Creek approximately fifteen miles outside of the park’s eastern 
SITE HISTORY

 17 

border, because it was “beautifully situated for [the park] entrance” and because 

of its close proximity to the railroad line under construction.14 While he had 

considered an alternative site within the park boundary, he dismissed the idea 

because the distance from the railroad would have made timely communication 

with National Park Service officials and others more difficult. 

In August 1921, despite his earlier interest in a location along Riley Creek, 

Karstens’ selected an upland park headquarters site within the McKinley Park 

Station area, the location of a proposed railroad station providing access to the 

park. Unfortunately, the same month Maurice Morino, who had located on the 

site as early as 1910, anticipated the coming of the railroad and filed his claim for 

the property, and the following month he constructed a log roadhouse on the 

property.15

Given the existence of Morino's mining claim, Karstens reexamined alternative 

headquarters sites along Riley Creek and selected a location on its west bank. 

This site was south of the Morino claim and just upstream from the Hines Creek 

confluence. Karstens chose a “sunny and sheltered spot” for its close proximity 

to the railroad and because its location within the Riley Creek valley provided 

shelter from winter storms and ready access to water.16

Meager appropriations of eight-thousand dollars for park operations in the 1922 

fiscal year covered Karstens’ salary, the salary of one park ranger, and basic 

provisions. These include a wagon, a sleigh, harnesses, riding and pack saddles, 

blacksmithing and shoeing outfits, harness repair outfit, and dog feed. Funds 

were insufficient to provide for construction of permanent headquarters 

buildings.17 Under these constraints, lumber and logs recovered from abandoned 

Alaska Engineering Commission (AEC) railroad construction camps were used 

for construction of headquarters buildings.18 

By September, Karstens began construction of his “home cabin” at the Riley 

Creek headquarters site, and in October he reported work on his residence 

“should be done in a few weeks.”19 Karstens worked alone until November 1, 

1921, when the first park ranger began his employment. By the end of November 

Karsten's cabin was nearly complete.20 As described by Karstens, the hewed log 

cabin was equipped with iron sheeting as a roof covering, its interior measuring 

17 by 21 feet. The building had four windows, two doors (front and back), a 

double floor, a separate partitioned-off bedroom, and a six-foot wide enclosed 

front porch. By April of 1922, a ten-foot wide lumber addition with a heavy felt 

paper roof covering was added to the rear of the cabin, and partitioned into a 

kitchen and a spare bedroom. The addition had two doors, a double and a single 

window, and a single floor (Figure 1.1).21 

Construction of additional new headquarters buildings continued through the 

winter of 1921 to1922, aided by a supply of salvaged lumber from various 

abandoned railroad camps. In December, Karstens’ reported that he “collected 

lots of second hand wood from railroad camps which were to be destroyed.”22 In 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

18 

March, he reported they had disassembled a vacated construction camp near the 

headquarters that included “considerable second hand lumber that will come in 

very handy.”23

In April 1922, Karstens reported, “base camp is in pretty good shape and fairly 

comfortable.”24 A man accustomed to a rugged, outdoor life, Karsten’s comfort 

was likely overstated by current standards, as the Riley Creek site, occupying low 

ground, was prone to seasonal flooding and extremely cold winter weather. 

Harsh and difficult conditions would eventually result in the relocation of the 

park headquarters. 

To assist with construction of headquarters facilities along Riley Creek, Karstens 

purchased an old Ford automobile with his personal funds to power a wood saw. 

The measure of his progress in developing a park headquarters consisted of the 

completion of Karstens’ dwelling, a frame superintendent’s office, a frame meat 

cache and storehouse, a tent used as a storehouse and workshop (purchased at a 

nominal sum from the Alaska Railroad), a privy and a corral (presumably for 

either horses or the sled dogs) under construction.25 As described by Karstens, 

the 14 by 16 foot frame office building was constructed of double boards 

separated by heavy roofing felt, a similarly constructed double boarded roof, two 

windows, one door. The single-layer floor was covered with canvas, and the 

inside walls were pasted over with building paper. The large 16 by 24 foot tent 

used as a storehouse and workshop sat on a frame of 2 by 4 inch lumber.26 By July 

1922, a low log bridge crossing Riley Creek had also been constructed (Figure 

1.2). The bridge, which would last less than one year, was built on two log crib 

piers, with log decking and low railings. 

In October 1922, Superintendent Karstens reported, “base camp at McKinley 

Park Station is fairly well provided with buildings and equipment.”27 That year, 

Karstens and his ranger had constructed a four-stall barn, a corral, and 

doghouses; and had “fix[ed]-up” a blacksmith shop.28 To provide winter-time 

transportation, Karstens had also purchased a “team of good, young dogs.”29 

In June 1923, a spring flood on Riley Creek destroyed the Riley Creek bridge and 

washed out telephone lines. This led to the construction of a foot bridge over 

Hines Creek in order to provide access. Flood damage to the Hines Creek road 

resulted in its relocation one and one-half miles up on a higher bench to a trail 

previously cut by the Alaska Road Commission (ARC) in 1922 and the 

construction of another footbridge over Riley Creek.30

By December 1923, Karstens and the ranger had constructed three additional 

doghouses and an ice house. Making use of his own funds once again, Karstens 

purchased an old cabin located on the abandoned claim of Pat Lynch. A second 

park ranger who had been hired in August of 1923 subsequently renovated the 

Lynch cabin for use as his family residence. By the end of the year, there were 

four horses and thirteen sled dogs located at the Riley Creek headquarters 

(Figure 1.3).31 
SITE HISTORY

 19 

Over the course of five days in July of 1924, Karstens and his small staff 

successfully defended the park headquarters from a large forest fire. When the 

threat had passed, Superintendent Karstens reported: 

A raging furnace of flame and smoke [came] to within a hundred feet or so of 

Ranger McFarland’s quarters, the barn, warehouse and blacksmith shop were also 

very close to the fire. ... The next day the fire came around from the west and 

jumped Riley and Hines Creeks and was raging on all sides of us.32

Riley Creek Headquarters Landscape (1924) 

Karstens’ account of the fire along with historic photographs indicate that the 

park's first headquarters’ buildings were located on both sides of Riley Creek. 

Ranger McFarland’s quarters, purchased by Karstens in 1923, and the barn built 

in 1922, were located on the east side of the creek. Karstens also described, 

apparently on the same side of the creek, there being a warehouse and a 

blacksmith shop. While the superintendent's monthly reports fail to document 

the construction of these buildings, Karsten's October 1922 monthly report does 

mention the Alaska Engineering Commission's offer of a log barn, log warehouse, 

and a blacksmith shop from a recently abandoned railroad camp.33 

The remainder of the first headquarters buildings and structures were located on 

the west side of Riley Creek. Buildings known to have been constructed by 1924 

included the superintendent’s home cabin, the superintendent’s office, a tent 

storehouse and workshop, a frame meat cache and storehouse, a privy and an ice 

house, and a small weather station. Some or all of these buildings are depicted in 

historic photographs believed to be views of headquarters west of Riley Creek 

(Figures 1.4-1.6). Karstens documented the presence of doghouses in his 

description of the forest fire. At this time, Karstens’ automobile remained the 

only non-animal power source at the Riley Creek site, which would remain the 

park's headquarters and administrative center until 1925. 

DEVELOPMENT OF PARK HEADQUARTERS ALONG THE PARK ROAD, 

1924 - 1941 

Early Developments (1924-1927) 

With the completion of the rail line from Anchorage in 1923, park visitation 

greatly increased from zero visitors in 1921, to modest total of thirty-four. To 

better provide for himself, park staff as well as to serve the park's intrepid 

visitors, Superintendent Karstens began making plans to move the park 

headquarters to higher ground. On February 15, 1924, Karstens wrote to 

National Park Service Acting Director Arno Cammerer, requesting relocation of 

park headquarters to a site two miles west of the park headquarters at McKinley 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

20 

Park Station. The site first proposed in 1924, this being the current headquarters 

location, utilized land set aside by Executive Order #3617, dated January 13, 1922 

for park administrative purposes. In his request to Acting Director Cammerer, 

Karstens noted the proposed headquarters site would be laid out with a view 

toward future development and adequate sanitation. He also mentions his plan 

to construct buildings of log, with “an eye to their permanency and 

attractiveness, and also for warmth and comfort.”34 On March 21, 1924, Acting 

Director Cammerer authorized relocation of the headquarters. However, the 

authorization only approved expenditures for temporary improvements, stating, 

“there might be some question about making extensive and permanent 

improvements on this land.”35 

One month later, Karstens wrote Acting Director Cammerer stating he was 

delaying action on establishing the headquarters at the approved location, 

because an alternative site considered previously on land owned by Mr. Morino 

might become available.36 Morino soon recanted his position, after which 

Karstens appealed to the Government Land Office to work with Alaska Railroad 

to acquire a portion of their land near the depot for the park headquarters. The 

Alaska Railroad Commission also rebuffed Karsten's request, notifying the park 

superintendent in September of their decision to retain the property to serve 

their own purposes. With Karsten's best efforts at securing a fitting location for 

permanent headquarters facilities stymied, his only remaining choice was to 

pursue the construction of a new park headquarters at the location previously 

approved by Cammerer two miles to the west.37 

Karstens selected a site in June 1924 that offered “a commanding view, drainage, 

water and sufficient room for expansion” between the triangle of land enclosed 

by Rock and Hines Creeks for the new headquarters. Karstens identified the 

legal description of the property as parcel (SW 1⁄4 Sec. 5; S 1⁄2 Sec. 6; N 1⁄2 Sec. 7, 

and NW 1⁄4 Sec. 8) [Fairbanks base/meridian: Township 14 S Range 7 W], 

recommending that the parcel in the park reserve “be taken into and made apart 

thereof of Mount McKinley National Park.” Occupying an elevation 2,000 feet 

above sea level and 400 feet above McKinley Station, the winter-time warm-air 

inversion offered warmer temperatures over those experienced on the banks of 

Riley Creek.38 

By the autumn of 1924, construction of the park road had been completed over 

two miles west of McKinley Park Station, passing the site selected for the new 

headquarters, and following a route earlier cleared of trees by Karstens.39 Earlier 

that year, Karstens described the aesthetic and practical purposes of the road in 

an article he wrote and included with his 1924 report to the territorial governor 

of Alaska: 

[the road is] fine example of modern highway construction... grades and curves 

are adapted to motor traffic, there is no marring of adjacent timber or banks, long 
SITE HISTORY

 21 

tiresome tangents are avoided, and locations are chosen with a view to giving the 

traveler full benefit of the scenic value of the route.40

Karstens also noted in the article that a telephone line had been built along the 

park road. According to a later account, the “temporary line lays [sic] on the 

ground.”41

Preparation for relocating the park headquarters began in June 1924, even prior 

to the final decision regarding its exact site. That month, Superintendent 

Karstens and Ranger McFarland began “getting things in shape for moving 

headquarters.” Their preparations included constructing a temporary bridge to 

“expedite moving HQ when the time comes.”42 In August, the park staff had 

grown to employ three rangers.43 Karstens complained in his monthly report that 

two of his rangers had begun tearing down “a building belonging to me 

personally for logs,” despite his instruction not to dismantle the building.44 This 

was the cabin Karstens’ purchased in 1923, which became the home of Ranger 

McFarland and his family. 

Following the final decision to relocate park headquarters, Superintendent 

Karstens and his rangers began improvements at the new site two miles west near 

Rock Creek. In September 1924, they began to clear the ground at the new 

headquarters and to haul “logs and materials” to the site in preparation for 

building. He reported, “the site is beautifully located and will give full control of 

those going into or out of the park.”45 In October he reported, “I took a trip to 

the new camp site and gave instructions for clearing and placing of logs for 

buildings.” 46 That December he drew sketches of buildings to be constructed at 

the new headquarters and mapped their proposed locations, planning to begin 

construction the following spring.47

By September 1925, Karstens and the rangers had left the first headquarters site 

along Riley Creek and were living in tents at the new headquarters. Throughout 

the month, they returned to the old headquarters and continued to dismantle and 

transport the old buildings to the new site. Using logs and timbers from the 

dismantled buildings, Karstens and the rangers constructed a 221⁄2 by 311⁄2 foot 

log superintendent’s cabin and began construction of a 19 by 21 foot log clerk’s 

cabin (Building 3). They also erected a tent for use as the superintendent’s 

office.48

Between October and December of 1925, Karstens and his park rangers 

constructed a wood frame horse barn with a shed roof, a log rangers’ cabin, two 

tents, and a dog corral. They built the wood frame horse barn along the east side 

of a main headquarters road, on the approximate site of the original log barn 

(Building 106), and the 14 by 16 foot log rangers’ cabin on the same side of the 

road, across from the current administration building (Building 21, original 

rangers’ dorm). Access to these buildings was by way of a the central 

headquarters road, a spur off of the main park road, having a north-south 

orientation. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

22 

The tent warehouse, originally located at the first headquarters site on Riley 

Creek, was moved and re-used at the new headquarters for the same purpose. 

The second tent, described by Karstens as “a temporary shelter of poles and 

canvas,” provided cover for a new auto truck purchased that year.49 The location 

of the two tents is unknown, neither being extant (Figure 1.7 – 1.10).50 Later that 

November, Karstens reported his progress at the new headquarters to Director 

Mather: 

...our strenuous activities constructing buildings . . . has been carried on late into 

the night in order to get the personnel housed before cold weather set in... at 

present, we are all fairly comfortable though there is considerable finishing work to 

be done. Yet this can be done in the evenings and during spare hours.51

In a follow-up report submitted to Mather in December, Karstens included a 

plan of the headquarters drafted the previous month by his clerk, Ralph Mackie 

(Figure 1.11).52 At Karsten's chosen location, the new headquarters was well 

placed to observe traffic both into and out of the park. Depicted with some 

prominence on Mackie's plan is a proposed flagstaff, bearing the United States 

flag, located at the intersection of the proposed central headquarters road with 

the main park road. The presence of the flagpole at this location, much like the 

effect of the log archway entrance to the park to the east, was meaningful in 

territorial Alaska. The location of the United States flag is shown waving above as 

a well-organized, yet decidedly rustic arrangement of government buildings. Not 

unlike the display of the flag at courthouses, post offices and other federal 

facilities, the location of the flagpole at this particular intersection with the park 

road was intended to compose the new headquarters facilities as the symbolic 

and effective seat of order and authority, and as an instrument of federal control 

over a vast unpopulated area.53 

Proposed construction depicted on Mackie's 1925 drawing further specified five 

additional buildings. These included the superintendent’s office (Building 22), 

two ranger cabins, a blacksmith and machine shop, and a warehouse. 

Construction of a superintendent’s office (Building 22) had already begun. The 

plan does not depict the tents used as the park office, the warehouse, and the 

“temporary shelter of poles and canvas” for the auto truck, presumably indicating 

their temporary status. Also not depicted on Mackie's drawing are the dog corral 

and the weather station. The station is known to have been moved from the Riley 

Creek site to the new park headquarters.54 

All existing and proposed buildings included on the plan were arranged within a 

grid defined by proposed headquarters roads, including the main headquarters 

oriented to run north-south. The location for the main headquarters road had 

already been surveyed at the time of the report. Karstens planned to have the two 

side streets surveyed and the main street graveled by the following summer. All 

roads were to be twenty-two feet wide and graveled. 55 
SITE HISTORY

 23 

Furthest north along the park road were the most public of the headquarters 

buildings. These included the proposed superintendent’s office (Building 22), 

and the recently constructed superintendent’s cabin and the clerk’s cabin 

(Building 3). Service buildings at the southern end of the headquarters included a 

proposed warehouse, a proposed blacksmith/machine shop, and the recently 

constructed frame horse barn. Located between these two areas were the 

recently completed rangers’ cabin, and two proposed rangers’ cabins. 56

A concentration of streets, dwellings and shops were not proposed for the 

eastern side of the main street because of an “abrupt slope” or “ridge” that lay 

about twenty feet from the main artery. Karstens noted, “Upon the expansion of 

this camp, it can be done very advantageously in a westerly direction with the 

Park highway and the ground over which they run, is a well drained location and 

a place admirably suited for dwellings.” Karstens recommended all future 

development of larger and more important buildings occur west of the main 

north-south headquarters road. Karstens was concerned that developing along 

the slope would require construction of a “tapered three-wall foundation” which 

he thought would not enhance the beauty of the surrounding landscape.57

At the time of the report, Karstens and the rangers had cleared vegetation around 

the existing buildings and the proposed building sites, except for a few trees. He 

planned to clear the area surrounding the superintendent’s, clerk’s, and the 

rangers’ cabins the following spring—a distance of four hundred feet west of the 

main headquarters road. In regards to the landscape, Karstens wrote, “It is not 

my intention to absolutely clear the camp of every tree, but I want all the scrub 

trees removed and only those which will look attractive to the landscape, to be 

left standing. I am planning to clear the first two plots in an [sic] westerly 

direction, in the spring, for the distance of at least 400 feet.” He noted that 

spruce and cottonwood covered most of the headquarters area, with 

cottonwood, which were actually aspen trees, being more numerous. Blueberry 

and sage grew abundantly in the woods. 58 Describing the vegetation on site, 

Karstens wrote: 

All the trees in this section are scraggy and not as pretty and attractive as 

may be seen at the lower altitudes, for the wind is sometimes strong and 

the winters always hard and severe, and lastly, in a few more hundred 

feet elevation, one finds oneself at timber-line. 59 

In February 1926, Karstens reported to Director Mather that, “all buildings are 

more or less incompleted [sic] and need considerable work on them to make 

them comfortable.”60 He listed the headquarters buildings and structures which 

included the superintendent’s cabin, clerk’s cabin (Building 3), rangers’ cabin, 

tent office, wood frame barn, tent warehouse, and tent garage, all known to have 

been erected by December 1925. He also listed a second tent warehouse, a tent 

workshop and harness room, and twenty-two doghouses in a corral, presumably 

constructed between December 1925 and February 1926.61 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

24 

Between February 1926 and July 1927, Superintendent Karstens and the rangers 

constructed four new buildings and thirty new doghouses. With assistance from 

the Alaska Road Commission, park staff graded and installed the sub-base and 

surface of the main headquarters road. In 1926, the log superintendent’s office, 

begun at the end of 1925 (Building 22) had been completed. Early photographs 

of the office indicate the “Superintendent’s Office” sign that hung above the 

office at the first headquarters at Riley Creek was reattached to the new office 

(Figure 1.12). They also built the chief ranger’s log cabin.62 Both log buildings 

were built roughly in line with the superintendent’s cabin and the clerk’s cabin 

(Building 3) constructed the year before, all directly facing the main park road 

(Figure 1.13-1.14). 

The same year, Karstens and the rangers moved the dog corral and doghouses 

“200 to 250 feet further south than where formerly located,” to have better access 

to running water and to “give the dogs a better back-ground, from which to be 

viewed.” The new location was at the base of the steep slope, east of the northsouth central headquarters road. Up until 1926, the park dogs were moved each 

summer to a fish camp along the Tanana River. In 1926, in response to their 

appeal to tourists, Karstens chose to keep the dogs in the park during the 

summer. By May 1926, the ground had been cleared at the new site, and by 

August construction of the combination cook-house and dog feed cache had 

begun, and in May 1927, construction of thirty new “miniature log cabin” 

doghouses was in progress (Figure 1.15).63 

Additional 1927 improvements included regrading 13,000 square feet of area for 

the construction of roads, construction of a combination garage, workshop and 

blacksmith shop, and the installation of the flag pole at the entrance to the park 

headquarters area. The combination building included a large frame garage and 

workshop with a small shed roof blacksmith shop at the rear (Figure 1.16).64 The 

building was located across from the wood frame barn, at the location of the 

current Center for Resources Science and Learning (Building 102, original 

machine shop and garage). 

While the location of the flagpole was indicated earlier in Mackie's 1925 drawing 

of the park headquarters, historic photographs indicate that the flagpole was 

actually installed sometime after June 1926 and prior to the surfacing of the main 

headquarters road in 1927.65 The flagpole stood at the intersection of the main 

headquarters road and the park road, in the same location indicated on the 1925 

headquarters plan (Figure 1.17-1.18). 

Reporting on construction of the road surface of the north-south headquarters 

road spur in July of 1927, Karstens wrote, “this is the first work of its kind and 

will be the first step towards construction of a well defined system of streets at 

[headquarters].”66 The Alaska Road Commission, following the 1925 plan for the 

new park headquarters, constructed the eight-hundred foot long road in a 

straight line southward from its intersection with the main park road.67 The 
SITE HISTORY

 25 

headquarters road, following the alignment reserved for it in the 1925 plan, 

passed by the superintendent’s office, superintendent’s cabin, rangers’ cabin, 

wood frame barn, and the recently completed combination garage, workshop, 

and blacksmith shop, terminating in a circular wagon turn at the edge of a steep 

escarpment overlooking Hines Creek.68 Headquarters master plans from the 

mid-1930s indicate that an ‘old dump’ was located on the steep slope, at the 

road’s southern terminus. A dump at this location in 1927 may have been the 

purpose of the road being extended about three hundred feet past the wood 

frame barn. In December 1927 Karstens reported: 

As we have only a small fund for the disposal of sewage, garbage, and waste water, it 

is necessary for each individual to dispose of such matter personally by carrying it 

to a distant dump which is burned in the spring. No water system or sewage makes 

conditions very unsanitary.69

Earlier in the year, Karstens submitted an estimate for fiscal year 1929 

appropriations that included, among other items, a request for funds to develop 

water and sewer systems. His estimate requested increased funds for basic needs, 

such as tree clearing and drainage improvement, food and bedding for park 

horses and dogs, and hiring of two additional rangers. Additional requests 

included an electric light generating plant, fire-prevention and fire-fighting 

equipment, and a “light auto runabout truck.” He also requested the first 

building funds for construction of a larger rangers’ cabin, a new barn (Building 

106), and a 30’ x 40’ warehouse (Building 101). In total, his estimate totaled 

$42,581, more than double the park’s 1927 fiscal year budget.70 

Justifications submitted with the estimate describe the primitive conditions at 

park headquarters during 1927. Explaining the need for a new rangers’ cabin 

Karstens wrote, “there is much complaint owing to crowded conditions and it is 

hard to keep good men in this small cabin in which men must sleep, cook and 

store their personal effects and provisions.” Karstens related that very low food 

rations had necessitated the need for rangers to spend “considerable time” 

hunting rabbits. Living conditions for the park horses were much worse. 

Karstens reported the wood frame barn as “damp and cold.” He further stated 

the “unhealthy” barn was responsible for the poor condition of the park horses, 

one of which was reported “surveyed off and killed and a second one will have to 

follow soon.” The condition of the tent warehouse was just as bad. According to 

Karstens “the canvas is rotten and it leaks and has been patched many times. 

In justifying the need for an electric light generating plant, Karstens stated, “work 

in the office by kerosene lamp is a hardship during the short days of winter, 

drafting and photographic work is impossible.” He also justified the expense of 

an electrical system by comparing the danger and cost of kerosene lamps: (40 to 

45 kerosene lamps were necessary to light the existing building to provide the 

same light as that of an electrical system. Requested site improvements included 

the water and drainage systems mentioned above, stump removal, and improved 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

26 

site drainage. Karstens recommended stripping away the thick moss that covered 

much of the ground at the headquarters area. He also noted the main 

headquarters road needed to be cleared and ditched in areas in order to reach 

several buildings, and that walks needed to be constructed.71

Despite the poor living conditions, by the close of 1927 Karstens and his small 

crew had made significant progress on the new headquarters. They had 

completed the primary road corridor for the headquarters, as it exists today, and 

several buildings. The straight headquarters road branched off of the main park 

road and descended at a relatively even grade across the terraced area, which was 

carefully selected by Karstens. With the new headquarters road as the primary 

spine, Karstens directed the construction of the buildings which would 

eventually create something like a pioneer village. While the structures at Riley 

Creek appear to have been placed randomly along both sides of the river, the 

layout for the new headquarters was to be more orderly and in alignment with 

the orthogonal grid created by the new headquarters road and its subsequent 

secondary roads. The complex consisted of rustic log buildings and tent 

structures, most of which were visible from the park road. Of these early 

buildings, only Building 22 remains. In the 1950s this small building was moved 

to its current location north of the main park road. 

National Park Service Site Planning and Rustic Design (1928-1941) 

The National Park Service’s 1918 statement of policy called for careful planning 

before undertaking the design and construction of new park facilities. Until 

1941, plans for national park development incorporated native materials and 

architectural designs with the intention to blend facilities with the terrain and to 

harmonize with local building conventions. In national parks throughout the 

United States, this approach led to the adoption of a so-called "rustic style" of 

park architecture until the nation's 1941 entry into World War II. 

Prior to 1928, plans first developed by Superintendent Karstens guided 

headquarters development, and building construction was forced to rely on the 

availability of salvaged lumber from headquarters buildings at Riley Creek and 

various abandoned railroad camp buildings. Early headquarters building 

materials included log, wood frame, and canvas. While it is true the most 

attractive buildings in the headquarters prior to 1928 were constructed of logs, 

and logs served as the approved building material for the headquarters area—no 

source has been found indicating that Superintendent Karstens limited himself 

exclusively to logs as building materials, or to any particular design style. Out of 

practical necessity, Karstens simply used whatever materials were available to 

him for construction. He probably chose log construction for these five buildings 

(superintendent’s office and four residences) because log buildings would have 

retained heat better than frame buildings or tents. Four of the five log buildings, 

including the superintendent’s office, were constructed along the park road, 
SITE HISTORY

 27 

probably as a convenience and possibly also because these buildings were the 

most attractive headquarters structures that best represented the agency's efforts 

to park visitors. 

For fiscal year 1929, which began on July 1, 1928, the National Park Service 

appropriated the first funds for building construction in headquarters. These 

appropriations were based on the estimate submitted by Superintendent Karstens 

in 1927. Although the total budget for fiscal year 1929 was $6,600 less than 

Karstens’ estimate, funds approved for construction of the three buildings 

requested by Karstens – the rangers’ quarters, warehouse (Building 101), and 

barn (Building 106), and the first headquarters water and sewer systems, were 

approved according to Karstens' estimates.72 

In February 1928, Superintendent Karstens met with NPS Chief Landscape 

Engineer Thomas Vint at the Superintendent’s Conference in San Francisco. The 

two men discussed headquarters development. Immediately following the 

conference, Vint prepared drawings of the three new buildings proposed for 

headquarters, and a “free hand sketch” layout plan for the headquarters based on 

a photograph of the area and information provided by Karstens. Prior to 

returning to the park, Karstens met with Vint and approved the plan, which 

specified locations for the rangers’ quarters, warehouse (Building 101), and barn 

(Building 107).73

Recognizing the importance of a master plan for the headquarters area, both 

Superintendent Karstens and Chief Landscape Engineer Thomas Vint requested 

additional design services. In his monthly report for March 1928 to Park Service 

Director Stephen Mather, Karstens stated: 

This park has reached a period in its development where the services of the 

landscape engineer are very necessary... All future development about 

headquarters will be influenced by the proper placing of these buildings and the 

space reserved for future construction. This matter has been taken up with the 

Service in a letter dated March 29th recommending assistance from the Landscape 

Division.74

Vint echoed Karsten's justification in his own letter to Director Mather: 

While Mt. McKinley is but a small building program this year, it is one of supreme 

importance from the landscape view-point, as the locations selected for these 

buildings practically determines the location of all future buildings constructed at 

park headquarters. I believe these problems are of sufficient importance in the 

development of Mt McKinley Park to warrant a trip by some member of the 

Landscape Division.75

A month later, Associate NPS Director Arno B. Cammerer approved Vint’s “free 

hand sketch” layout plan; however, he did not approve a trip by a member of the 

Landscape Division to the park. He explained the division was too busy and 

there were not enough funds, and further justifying his decision he wrote, “surely 

the plan of construction at Mt. McKinley Park is not of such major proportions 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

28 

but that if slight errors are made in location they can be corrected at some future 

time.”76

Despite the lack of immediate on-site assistance from a member of the Landscape 

Division, beginning in 1928 all building plans for the headquarters area were 

created by the Landscape Division (later known as the Branch of Plans and 

Designs) in San Francisco, ensuring adherence to the approved ‘rustic style’ for 

the headquarters area. Further evidence of a firm commitment to a consistent 

architectural style is found in a letter written by Acting Director Arno B. 

Cammerer in 1929, where he directs that the park should not accept a cast-off 

building offered by the Alaska Railroad for use as a superintendent’s residence, 

explaining that the free building “might not fit in with the type of architecture 

approved for headquarters at McKinley Park.”77 He further states, “it might be 

better to go ahead with our plans for the construction of [the superintendent’s 

residence] in harmony with the park location and following our own designs.” 

While not directly stated in documents reviewed, the construction of only log 

buildings, or buildings with log exterior trim, between 1928 and 1937 indicates 

log was the headquarters preferred building style except for a few minor 

structures. 

In May 1928, two months before the start of fiscal year 1929, park rangers began 

construction of the warehouse (Building 101) and rangers’ quarters. By 

September, the log warehouse was nearly complete, except for installation of 

doors and windows, and considerable interior work was still needed on the oneand-a-half-story log rangers’ quarters (Figures 1.19-1.20). Log and lumber were 

stacked at the site of the new barn (Building 106) but construction would not 

begin until the spring of 1929.78 For the first time, the National Park Service hired 

outside laborers for Mt. McKinley National Park headquarters construction 

projects. However, as was mentioned above and will be seen later, ranger 

assistance was also necessary. 

The use of park rangers for headquarters construction projects was not always a 

favored decision. In a letter home to his father written in October 1928, Ranger 

Bill Myers indicated at least some of the rangers resented remaining in 

headquarters constructing buildings, preferring to have been on patrol—a task 

they considered more befitting to a park ranger. In the letter Myers explained 

how the rangers thought the funds received that spring were not enough to 

complete construction of the three new buildings and the water and sewer 

system. They asked Superintendent Karstens to “give it up until he got more 

money.” Karstens began construction anyways, determined to finish the 

projects. In an attempt to do so within the appropriated funds, it was necessary 

to assign rangers to construction projects all summer. Most vocal among the 

discontented rangers was Chief Ranger Nyberg. Altercations with Nyberg over 

this issue and others were among numerous conflicts that led to the resignation 

of Superintendent Karstens in October 1928.79 If Karstens had remained at the 
SITE HISTORY

 29 

park, whether his higher construction estimates would have been approved in 

fiscal year 1929 remains unknown. Given its remote location, compared to other 

National Parks, construction costs for Mt. McKinley were significantly higher 

than parks in the lower forty-eight states. Karstens typically had to make do with 

what he had, which often very little. 

In August of 1928, just prior to his hasty resignation following an argument with 

staff, Superintendent Karstens submitted an estimate for fiscal year 1930

appropriations. In his letter to Director Mather, Karstens prioritized proposed 

building projects, of which all except four were located within the park 

headquarters area. At the top of the list was a new superintendent’s residence. 

Justifying the expenditure, he described the existing superintendent’s cabin as 

“cramped quarters . . . entirely inadequate for the superintendent and his family.” 

Karstens’ wife and teenage son also lived in the cabin. He proposed a log 

residence, with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a living room, to 

include a front porch and a rear shed. 80 

Other projects on the list included a new dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105), a dog corral and kennels, an electric light shop (Building 110), 

laborers’ quarters (Building 6), machine shop (Building 103), and extension of 

sewer, water, and electric lines.81 Later reports indicate funds identified for 

machine shop (Building 103) construction were used to build a garage. 

Karstens described the proposed dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) 

as a place to store sleds and harnesses on the lower floor with bench space for 

repair work and an upper floor to store several tons of dried salmon for dog feed. 

The cookhouse would be located in a side addition, so that steam generated 

would not mold the dog food or warp the sleds. Sleds and harnesses would be on 

display for tourists. The existing one-room dog feed cache and cookhouse, built 

in 1926, would be torn down with the salvaged lumber used to construct the new 

building. Justifying the need for a new dog cache, corral and kennels, Karstens 

reported: 

The park dogs are one of our most attractive features. All visitors insist on seeing 

them and the dog equipment. We are continually embarrassed by the unsanitary 

and makeshift dog corral which causes considerable comment from our visitors.82 

He proposed construction of a double fence of log posts and wire built around 

the kennels to prevent dogs from breaking loose, and also to provide runways 

and exercise pens for the dogs in the summer-time. Karstens also described the 

proposed laborers’ quarters (Building 6) as a 12 by 18 foot log building, 

containing a kitchen and four bunks. Construction of the quarters would replace 

existing laborers’ quarters consisting of two old tents “both uncomfortable and 

inadequate, particularly in the spring and late fall.” 

On November 17, 1928, referencing a letter received two days earlier from 

Assistant Director (Field) Horace M. Albright, Acting Director Arno B. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

30 

Cammerer responded, “Your letter . . . was not received by us until after we had 

completed our hearings before Congressman Cramton of Lapeer, Michigan.”83 

Louis C. Cramton was chairman of the Subcommittee on Appropriations for the 

Department of the Interior.84 Apparently Albright had written Acting Director 

Cammerer to request additional funds to finish fiscal year 1929 construction of 

the barn, water and sewer system too late to be presented at the hearings. Based 

on a report submitted by the park, the hearing determined incomplete projects, 

except perhaps the barn, could be completed by the end of the fiscal year, and 

with “contributed ranger labor” probably within the appropriated amounts. 

Cammerer also said Harry Liek, the newly appointed park superintendent, 

should prepare a report regarding the incomplete projects as soon as he arrived at 

the park, but should “make every effort to complete authorized projects within 

available funds.”85

Acting Director Cammerer also noted in his letter to Assistant Director (Field) 

Albright that Congressman Cramton had read several letters written by Harry M. 

Myers, also of Lapeer, Michigan, that mentioned additional park needs, of which 

former Superintendent Karstens had personally written to Myers. Harry M. 

Myers was the editor of The Lapeer County Press, and father of Ranger Bill Myers, 

mentioned earlier. Congressman Cramton was also from Lapeer, Michigan. 

According to Acting Director Cammerer, the committee seemed favorable to 

adding funds, possibly for two more rangers and for fiscal year 1930 building 

funds derived from construction estimates submitted by Karstens. Following 

Karsten's resignation, Harry Liek transferred from Yellowstone National Park 

and arrived at the park on December 4, 1928. Within two weeks he wrote to then 

Assistant NPS Director Horace Albright, whom was then serving in the field at 

Yellowstone National Park. As instructed, he wrote to Albright regarding the 

status of incomplete fiscal year 1929 construction projects. Liek noted that 

Karstens had only estimated five hundred dollars for construction of the barn 

(Building 106), which had not begun, and the barn was nearly the size of the 

warehouse, which had taken two thousand dollars to complete. He estimated it 

would take approximately an additional twelve hundred dollars to complete both 

the barn and the rangers’ quarters, including the windows, doors, and interior 

finishing. Liek had greater concerns regarding the partially completed water and 

sewer system. He was not confident in Karstens' choice of a reservoir site, so he 

suggested hiring an engineer the following spring to survey the site to see if the 

work could be practically done. As of December, approximately one half of the 

eighty-four hundred dollars allocated for construction of the water and sewer 

system had been spent, and construction of the reservoir had not yet begun.86 

On December 5, 1928, Superintendent Liek submitted a “Preliminary Estimate 

for Improvements for 1931” to Director Mather, in which he requested funds to 

construct new doghouses and a corral for $750, a machine shop for $1,500, an 

electric light shop for $750 (Building 110), and install new telephone lines along 

the park road. Except for the new telephone lines, all of the projects had been 
SITE HISTORY

 31 

initially proposed by former Superintendent Karstens in August prior to his 

resignation. Liek did not request funding for several projects proposed by 

Karstens, including the proposed, superintendent’s residence (Building 1), dog 

feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), laborers’ quarters (Building 6), and the 

extension of sewer, water, and light lines, probably because these projects had 

already been approved for fiscal year 1930.87

Superintendent Liek’s estimate included construction of a kennel facility that 

would provide space for up to forty log doghouses and a corral, surrounded by 

two rows of wire fence that would enclose an exercise pen, and a second pen to 

raise pups. Fourteen pre-existing log doghouses on the site may have been 

retained. The proposed project included clearing, draining, and graveling the 

kennel area. To justify the expenditure Liek explained raising pups on-site would 

be less expensive than purchasing dogs, and result in the park owning better 

quality animals. He also emphasized, just as Karstens had in his fiscal year 1930 

estimate, the importance of the dogs as a visitor attraction. He explained how the 

current “unsanitary” site and the ‘packing boxes” used as doghouses detracted 

from the dogs’ appeal.88 

Regarding construction of a machine shop, Liek proposed converting the existing 

garage (combination garage, workshop and blacksmith shop) into a machine 

shop and building an addition “more suitable for storing cars.”89 Later reports 

indicate the park used money allocated for construction of the addition to the 

existing garage (combination garage, workshop, and blacksmith shop), for 

construction of a new garage (Building 103). 

For the electric light shop, Liek proposed construction of a well-insulated, small 

log structure (Building 110). He explained the building was necessary because 

there was no suitable place within existing buildings to house a “light plant.” He 

thought the basement of the superintendent’s office (Building 22), if enlarged, 

could serve as a temporary location; however “dust and soot from the furnace 

will be hard on the plant and the odors and gases from the plant will be hard on 

the office force.”90

Superintendent Liek’s final fiscal year 1931 recommendation that would affect 

the headquarters area was installation of a new telephone system along the park 

road, to replace the “temporary lines” installed on the ground in 1924. He stated 

the current line would be “useless and wasted after a year or two.” Liek 

recommended installation of a tripod line along the park road from the railroad 

to Copper Mountain.91 

In January 1929, Superintendent Liek followed up with Albright expressing his 

concerns regarding Karstens’ planned location for the reservoir. Instead of the 

reservoir recommended by Karstens, Liek recommended construction of a 

25,000-gallon concrete reservoir on the hill just above headquarters, to be fed by 

a pump from a nearby stream. The original plan conceived by former 

Superintendent Karstens was an open reservoir that would be fed water from 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

32 

seepage of swampy ground above the reservoir. Liek received approval for his 

own plan, provided expenditures did not exceed allotted funds.92

During the summer of 1929, headquarters construction projects included 

completion of the barn (Building 106) (Figure 1.21), partial construction of the 

dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), partial construction of the new 

dog kennels and corral, partial construction of the superintendent’s residence 

(Building 1), and construction of a temporary garage (location unknown). The 

new log barn (Building 106) was built on the site of the original wood frame barn, 

built in 1925. The exposed log and plank dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105) replaced the original dog feed cache and cookhouse built in 1926. 

The two-story log superintendent’s residence (Building 1) was constructed on 

the north side of the park road, opposite the former superintendent’s cabin, 

which became the clerk’s cabin after construction of the new superintendent’s 

residence. Work on the superintendent’s residence stopped in September, when 

the park laid off its outside carpenters.93

Utility improvements during the summer of 1929 included excavation of Liek's 

25,000-gallon water reservoir, installation of a pump and gasoline engine for the 

water system, and installation of water and sewer pipes. A tent sheltered the 

pump and gasoline engine. To prevent freezing, small logs were placed on top of 

the reservoir and the water and sewer pipes to provide air space, then they were 

covered with about fifteen inches of dry moss before gravel was added.94 Also 

installed was a Kohler light system, placed initially in the basement of the 

superintendent’s office (Building 22), until construction of the electric light shop 

(Building 110) was completed in 1931. Electrical lines were strung from roof to 

roof.95 

That same summer, Harry Myers of Lapeer, Michigan, mentioned earlier, and 

Thomas Vint, Chief Landscape Architect, formerly known as Chief Engineer, 

visited the park, both later reporting back to Horace Albright whom had been 

promoted to Director of the National Park Service. Prior to his visit, Myers had 

written to Albright stating he was going to be in the park a month during the 

summer and asked, “If there is anything that I can do for you while I am there or 

get you any information, I would be only to glad to do so.”96 Included with a 

response letter to Myers was a second letter in which Albright gave Myers “an 

official commission to observe conditions in the park as my personal 

representative.”97 He instructed Myers in the letter, to present the letter to 

Superintendent Liek and other NPS officers and “they will extend to you such 

courtesies as are consistent with the performance of your duties, and will be glad 

to help you in any practicable way.”98 Albright ended the letter stating that 

information obtained during Myers’ visit to the park would be valuable to the 

National Park Service. Director Albright would not be able to personally visit the 

park until 1931.99
SITE HISTORY

 33 

After his park visit, Harry Myers wrote Director Albright explaining that he 

would not be able to come to Washington, D.C. as planned that fall to discuss his 

observations during his summer visit. However, he also wrote that he was 

“particularly anxious” to discuss with the director “some matters of the park” in 

detail, before Albright recommended appropriation for “next years work” in 

fiscal year 1931.100 Director Albright responded on November 4, 1929, “Why 

couldn’t you write me a confidential letter giving me your viewpoint on the 

matters that need attention at this time?”101 Three days later, Myers wrote a letter 

to Congressman Cramton describing his observations at the park, a copy of 

which was sent to Director Albright.102 

In the letter Myers wrote, “I am calling your attention to some things which I 

think are very essential for proper development at McKinley Park.”103 Myers 

strongly recommended the NPS send a “good all around man” to the park, to 

“right affairs.” He spent a considerable portion of the letter discussing 

incomplete construction work at headquarters “presumably” because of a lack of 

money necessary to complete the projects and because he thought 

Superintendent Liek and Chief Ranger Nyberg were unable to carry out the 

construction program in an “economical and efficient manner.” Unfinished 

projects mentioned in Myers’ letter included the dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105), rangers’ quarters (construction began in 1928), “smaller 

outbuildings,” and the water and sewer system. Speculating as to Liek’s lack of 

ability to complete headquarters projects, Myers stated Superintendent Liek 

probably could have done a better job if “things [were not] in a mess when he got 

[here].” 

Chief Ranger Nyberg sent a less supportive letter to Director Albright detailing 

Superintendent Liek’s handling of construction projects. To be fair, Nyberg also 

took issue with Superintendent Karstens’ management of headquarters 

construction projects. Thus, while some of his language may reflect general 

anger towards the superintendent for “incompetent estimates resulting in 

insufficient funds” that required rangers to be constantly called off patrols to 

“[clean] up the mess at headquarters,” his letter provides a ranger’s viewpoint of 

the situation at headquarters during the 1928-1929 construction period.104 He 

described the new water system as “one totally unfit to meet the conditions here, 

and which has proven a failure, so that the work of the rangers went for nothing,” 

and complained that relatives of Superintendent Liek, who were park employees, 

were living in the rangers’ quarters, forcing the rangers to occupy “unfurnished, 

filthy tents.” Regarding himself he wrote, “it would seem to me that the head 

ranger’s duties are other than just pick and shovel, especially during the tourist 

season.” In a letter to Director Albright, Liek answered Nyberg’s accusations, 

explaining that he was forced to employ the rangers in the building projects due 

to insufficient appropriations to cover the high cost of labor in Alaska.105
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

34 

Chief Landscape Architect Thomas C. Vint finally arrived at the park in August 

1929.106 At the time of Vint's inspection, the headquarters consisted of twelve 

buildings, tents, a dog corral and doghouses (Table 1.1). It also included a 

flagpole at the entrance, the main headquarters road, and road spurs, either crude 

road segments or trails, to buildings not located adjacent to the road. Later that 

December, he submitted a trip report to Director Albright, detailing 

recommendations for several areas within the park, including the park 

headquarters. Vint's recommendations included moving headquarters facilities 

to a place closer to railroad, just as former Superintendent Karstens had once 

recommended in the early 1920s. Vint's December 1929 trip report suggested 

that beginning in 1932 all new park headquarters buildings be constructed at the 

proposed location.107 

Responding to Vint's proposals in March 1930, Director Albright related that he 

had already authorized implementation of several of Vint's prior 

recommendations and would consider the remaining suggestions including 

relocation of the headquarters when he visited the park later during the coming 

summer. Superintendent Albright’s trip to Alaska was ultimately postponed until 

August 1931, yet when finally reviewing the situation on-site, Vint's 1929 

proposal failed to persuade the Director to relocate the park headquarters for a 

second time: 108 

. . . if this were an all-year-round-park, I would be disposed to favor your views [to 

move the headquarters back to near the railroad], but as the season here is little 

more than 60 days, and as the railroad station section is much colder, and subject to 

high winds, and as the country therebouts has been burned over, I think the 

present site of headquarters is much the better site, and will continue its use. 109 
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 35 

TABLE 1.1 HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS – 1929 

BUILDING BUILT NOTES 

Administrative 

Superintendent’s office (Building 22) 1925-1926 

Residential

Superintendent’s cabin 1925 Used as clerk’s cabin beginning 

in 1929; razed October 1933 

Clerk’s cabin (Building 3) 1925 Use in 1929 is unknown 

Rangers’ cabin 1925 Burned March 1931 

Chief ranger’s cabin 1926 

Rangers’ quarters 1928-1929 Partially constructed; burned 

May 1935 

Superintendent’s residence (Building 1) 1929 Partially constructed 

Service

Garage 1929 Temporary construction 

Combination garage, workshop, and 

blacksmith shop 

1927 

Warehouse (Building 101) 1928 

Barn (Building 106) 1928-1929 

Dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 

105) 

1929 Partially constructed 

22 doghouses and corral c. 1925-1926 

Tent - pump house 1929 Along Rock Creek 

Tents (1-3) – laborers’ quarters unknown 

(Note: Refer to Karsten's "Map 3" 1925) 

With the National Park Service Director making a commitment to the current 

headquarters site, building projects between 1930 and 1933 included completion 

of the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) and the superintendent’s 

residence (Building 1) (Figure 1.22); construction of an electric light house 

(Building 110), a new garage (Building 103), an oil and gas house, a comfort 

station (Building 112), a boiler house (Building 107), a laborers’ quarters 

(Building 6), new dog kennels, and a coal shed; and grading and terracing around 

the new superintendent’s residence (Building 1).110 Construction of the electric 

light shop (Building 110) began in late July 1930 and was completed in January 

1931 (Figure 1.23). The electric light shop housed the Kohler light plant 

purchased by the park in 1929 that was temporarily installed in the basement of 

the superintendent’s office (Figure 1.24).111 

By 1931, crews constructed the laborers’ quarters (Building 6) (Figure 1.25). The 

one-story log building stood west of the rangers’ quarters.112 By July 1930, about 

one-half of the new dog kennels had been completed and in January 1931 they 

had all been built. The new kennels included forty doghouses enclosed within 

forty side-by-side wood and wire pens. The pens were arranged in two parallel 

rows, twenty per row (Figure 1.26).113 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

36 

Buildings constructed in 1931 included the small oil and gas house and the new 

garage (Building 103). The oil and gas house stood south of the machine shop, 

which was the location of the original combination garage, workshop and 

blacksmith shop built in 1927. Original plans for the four-stall garage that 

specified solid log construction were changed to exposed log and plank, due to 

insufficient funds (Figure 1.27). After completion, cars previously parked in the 

combination garage, workshop and blacksmith shop that was built in 1927 were 

relocated to the new garage (Building 103), and the old garage was converted into 

a machine shop.114 Between May and June, crews constructed the exposed log 

and plank comfort station that included separate lavatories for male and female 

employees (Figure 1.28). Water lines to the comfort station were not laid until 

the summer of 1933.115 

In late 1932, park rangers constructed the boiler house (Building 107). A secondhand boiler was located and installed in the new building to provide steam heat 

for buildings as well as to warm the ground and prevent permafrost from 

affecting the operation of underground water and sewer lines. Located at the 

lowest elevation of all the headquarters buildings in order to provide for positive 

drainage for the steam piping, the solid log structure was the only building 

constructed at the headquarters between 1928 and 1934 without plans approved 

by the Landscape Division, except possibly the small coal sheds and/or oil and 

gas houses. 116 Although the exact year is unknown, the coal shed is known to 

have been constructed c. 1930-1933. The small structure was located across from 

the warehouse (Building 101) along the main headquarters road.117

After Director Albright's visit to the park in 1931, he wrote to Vint extending his 

praise for the condition of the headquarters development: 

Supt. Liek has made a very presentable village here at headquarters. The new 

buildings are well built, and compare favorably with those in any of the States 

parks, the grounds are kept in perfect condition, and in other respects the plant 

here is a distinct credit to the Service, and an important asset, as it is seen by all 

tourists as they go down to visit and inspect the dog kennels and feeding 

establishment.118

Albright's use of the term "village" for development at park headquarters and his 

comparison with other national parks in the "Lower-48" was not accidental. 

Since 1914, well before the creation of the National Park Service when planning 

was underway for facilities and infrastructure for Yosemite National Park, there 

had been a concerted effort to minimize widespread impacts to park scenery by 

concentrating visitor and administrative services into picturesque compositions 

reminiscent of a village or rudimentary town. This approach was later 

incorporated into National Park Service master planning for several other major 

western parks, including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, Sequoia 

Kings Canyon and Crater Lake.119
SITE HISTORY

 37 

 Yet, aesthetics and long-range visions of appropriate national park development 

were always balanced against the more practical circumstances of the moment. 

Albright's 1931 report of his visit to Vint identified three or four older buildings 

that needed to be replaced, including the superintendent’s office (Building 22). 

However, Albright reasoned that the building replacements would need to “await 

a more favorable condition of the Treasury.” 

Several headquarters buildings were lost or removed during in the early 1930s, 

including two of the original log cabins constructed in 1925 from materials 

salvaged from the Riley Creek headquarters site or otherwise from abandoned 

railroad camps. These were likely two of the “older buildings” referred to by 

Director Albright. In March 1931, the laborers’ cabin (original rangers’ cabin, 

built 1925) was destroyed by fire. Superintendent Liek stated in his monthly 

report that he did not consider it much of a loss, as it was a “shack and a disgrace 

to the rest of the buildings” that he had planned to tear it down that summer.120 

The following February, a small tent-frame building, location unknown, was 

destroyed by four feet of heavy snow fall. This was probably one of the tents 

used as housing for temporary laborers. Superintendent Liek had also planned to 

remove this structure prior to its demise. 121 In October 1933, crews razed the 

clerk’s cabin, which was the original superintendent’s cabin built 1925, to make 

room for a new employee’s quarters. The following month, logs salvaged from 

the building were used to construct a lean-to addition on the barn (Building 

106).122 

Building maintenance projects between 1930 and 1933 included upgrades and 

additions. Between 1930 and 1931, “old building paper” covering the roofs was 

replaced with corrugated steel, aiding snow removal. Heat absorbed by the metal 

roofs melted snow cover, allowing the snow to slide off without shoveling. Snow 

that did not melt could easily be shoveled off the galvanized material without 

damaging the roofs.123 During the summer of 1931, park crews replaced moss 

chinking on the log buildings with stucco and cement. After the job was 

complete, Superintendent Liek reported, “the buildings now present a much 

better appearance besides providing added warmth.”124

Utility improvements in the early 1930s included upgraded telephone lines along 

the park road, utility lines, and underground steam lines to warm the 

underground water and sewer lines. A contractor installed tripod-mounted 

telephone lines along the park road in 1930, replacing the lines laid directly on 

the ground in 1924.125 The following year, utility poles were erected throughout 

the headquarters to support electrical and telephone wires, replacing the original 

roof-to-roof wiring method (Figure 1.29). Superintendent Liek hoped that the 

new system would reduce fire hazards. Electrical equipment to power the 

electrical transmission lines was installed in the machine shop, which was the 

original combination garage, workshop and blacksmith shop built in 1927.126 In 

January 1931, eighteen months after construction of the water and sewer system, 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

38 

Superintendent Liek reported, “the work of protecting the water and sewer 

system from freezing has occupied much of our time.”127 During the summer of 

1932, in an attempt to keep the systems operational year round, crews removed 

the old water and sewer lines, filled in the trenches, which were previously six to 

ten feet below the surface, to within three feet of the surface, and reinstalled the 

water and sewer lines and a new steam line within a wooden conduit. Despite the 

effort, Superintendent Liek reported problems with the new system by October 

1932 and closed the system down until adjustments could be made.128 

Three new roads built in the 1930s led to the dog kennels. Two of the roads were 

identified by Superintendent Liek in his monthly reports. In June 1930, he 

reported a “road and trail [is] completed to the dog kennels.” Two roads that 

appear on mid to late 1930s aerial photographs fit this description. The first one 

connected to the main headquarters road just south of the barn (Building 106) 

and the other connected to the road opposite the rangers’ quarters (current site 

of Building 21, original rangers’ dorm) both ended at the dog kennels. Liek's 

reference to the road and trail may refer to separate features, indicating one of 

the primitive two-track roads visible in 1930s aerial photographs originated as a 

trail. A year later he reported, “workers graded and graveled the road leading to 

the dog kennels.”129 This may refer to a separate road to the dog kennels, or it 

more likely refers to the “road and trail” mentioned in his June 1930 report. 

Details in Liek’s June 1932 report specifically identify the location of the third 

road—a 600-foot road constructed by the Alaska Road Commission from the 

park road to the dog kennels, at that time located in the current residential area. 

Liek stated the road was “a continuation of the present road leading from 

headquarters to the dog kennels,” indicating it connected to one of the two roads 

mentioned above. The road was constructed to permit automobiles to exit, 

without returning through the headquarters after visiting the kennels. 

Construction of the road was completed in July 1932.130

Additional road construction in the early 1930s included construction of a road 

“down over the hill towards Hines Creek” to a unspecified future dump site, 

construction of a “larger parking strip” by the “administrative buildings,” and 

resurfacing the service road with gravel. The location of the road towards Hines 

Creek is unknown. The exact location of the improved parking area is unknown, 

but it would have been near the superintendent’s office. It was large enough to 

hold about seven cars, and was used by tourists who stopped to register at the 

park. Both were constructed in 1930. 131

In January 1934, the park received a memorial plaque honoring former Director 

Stephen T. Mather (1867-1930). The energy and zeal with which Mather had 

pursued his duties as Director are often said to have affected his health and led to 

his untimely death. The plaques were designed by sculptor Bryant Baker for an 

organization called “Stephen T. Mather Appreciation,” which distributed the 

plaques to each of the twenty-three national parks and thirty-three national 
SITE HISTORY

 39 

monuments. Each plaque measured 30” x 35” and was cast in either bronze or 

aluminum, bearing an inscription written by Congressman Louis C. Cramton. 

According to Superintendent Liek’s January 1934 superintendent’s report, the 

park planned to hold a dedication ceremony on July 4, 1934, on what would have 

been Mather’s sixty-seventh birthday.132 The original 1934 location of the plaque 

in the Mt. McKinley National Park headquarters area is unknown; however, in 

1952 the plaque was moved from “its site near the Ranger [Dorm]” (Building 21) 

to “a more prominent position near the Naturalist office” (Building 22, use of 

original superintendent’s office in 1952133), which may indicate its original 

location. Today the plaque is attached to the front of the administration building 

(Building 21, original rangers’ dorm). 

Destruction by fire of the rangers’ quarters (built 1928-1929) in May 1935 altered 

the park’s building plan for fiscal year 1935. Original plans included a new fiveroom employee’s quarters (Building 11). After the fire, plans were amended to 

include a new eight-room replacement building, known as the rangers’ dorm 

(Building 21). With logs cut by park rangers along the Nenana River, 

construction of the employee’s quarters (Building 11) began in June, and by 

August construction of the rangers’ dorm (Building 21) had begun.134 In 

September 1934, Superintendent Liek described the two “modern” buildings “far 

superior to the general run of residences in the interior of Alaska.”135 

Construction work on both buildings continued into 1935 (Figures 1.30-1.31).136

Smaller mid-1930s construction projects included a stone retaining wall built in 

back of the superintendent’s residence (Building 1) in 1936, and a small pump 

house that replaced an “old tent” used for the same purpose, built in 1937.137 

Also located in the headquarters by 1936 was a small stone meat house, cooled by 

ice obtained from nearby winter ice flows. The icehouse stood slightly behind, 

and between the rangers’ dorm (Building 21) and the warehouse (Building 

101).138

In January 1935, Superintendent Liek submitted a list of proposed improvement 

projects to be funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA), one of 

President Roosevelt’s New Deal work-relief programs, to NPS Director Arno B. 

Cammerer, who succeeded Albright in 1933.139 The list recommended 

improvement and repair of existing buildings and structures, construction of new 

buildings, and landscape improvements. Seeking to improve fire protection, Liek 

requested funds to replace roofs and chimneys, construct a building to house fire 

prevention equipment, and to extend water lines. He also requested funds to 

insulate the garage (Building 103) and to repair the dog kennels, which needed 

new fencing and gates. 

Proposed building construction included a new administration building to 

replace the superintendent’s office (Building 22) and a cold storage plant, neither 

of which were ever constructed. As replacements for the original clerk’s cabin 

(Building 3) and chief ranger’s cabin, Liek proposed construction of two 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

40 

employee’s residences (Building 12 and Building 13). The final proposed 

building was a “double garage and storehouse” (Building 111) to be located near 

the superintendent’s residence (Building 1) for storing the superintendent’s car 

and the chief ranger’s truck. 

Liek requested landscape improvement funds to install stone walks and a stone 

retaining wall, to plant lawns, and to transplant shrubbery. The list was not 

approved for PWA funding. However, the project would be revived under the 

Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) program a few years later.140 Justifying 

landscape improvements, Liek offered, ". . . all tourists pass through the 

headquarters area en route from the station to the camp. Thus far there has been 

no landscaping done in this park. " 

In September of 1935, Landscape Architect Ernest A. Davidson of the NPS 

Branch of Plans and Designs arrived at the park to investigate proposed sites for 

several lodges and a hotel. While at the park, Davidson also inspected the park 

headquarters. In a report to NPS Chief Architect and Superintendent Liek, 

Davidson commented on the newly constructed residential buildings, suggested 

future building design guidelines, and reexamined the issue of relocating the park 

headquarters.141 He described the superintendent’s residence (Building 1), 

employee’s quarters (Building 11), and rangers’ dorm (Building 21) “as 

comfortable and modern as any buildings in Alaska.” He also commented that 

stone masonry veneer had not been applied to the concrete foundations of the 

three buildings, as originally planned, and he thought they needed the veneer 

treatment for “proper final appearance.” Historic photographs of the three 

buildings indicate the veneer was never applied. 

With regard to future building construction, Davidson recommended lowering 

the roof pitch, as maintaining snow on the roofs would help maintain warmth 

within the buildings. He also suggested changing construction of the buildings 

from log to “hewn-type timbers for trim, with rough lumber siding of special t & 

g [tongue and groove] or shiplap style . . . or with siding of jumbo shakeshingles.” Davidson thought these exterior finishes would be more practical and 

harmonize with future construction. Superintendent Liek had advised his 

visiting architect that securing suitable logs for construction in or near the park 

headquarters was “an impossibility.”142

Regarding the location of the park headquarters, Davidson was not in favor of 

moving the headquarters to a site near the railroad, as first proposed by 

Superintendent Karstens in 1921, once again by Karstens in 1924, and in 1929 by 

Thomas Vint. Davidson reasoned the temperatures at McKinley Park Station 

were colder; the expense to move existing buildings and structures would 

probably be greater than constructing new ones; and it would be better to keep 

hotel operations separate from administrative activities at headquarters. 

Regarding the benefits of the current location he observed: 
SITE HISTORY

 41 

I feel the present location lends a dignity and also a landscape beauty to 

Headquarters which would not easily be achieved at McKinley Station in 

competition with a Hotel Development. . . . The present headquarters is not 

cramped for room and expansion as needed will not be a difficult problem. It is 

likely that no very large expansion of headquarters will be needed for quite some 

years. 

Throughout the mid to late-1930s, the park staff engaged in preparing a park 

master plan that included the headquarters area. In support of this planning 

exercise, the Alaska Road Commission engineer prepared a plat map of the 

headquarters area in 1933 showing contour lines and buildings. This map, 

requested by the NPS Branch of Plans and Designs in San Francisco, was the 

basis for all subsequent headquarters’ master plan drawings. Superintendent’s 

monthly reports and master plan drawings indicate plans were sent between the 

park and the Branch of Plans and Designs for approval several times between 

1933 and 1939.143 

Comparing park master planning for the headquarters area between 1933 and 

1938 well illustrates intentions for future headquarters development. Comparing 

the 1933 and the 1938 master plan drawings, it is abundantly clear that a 

fundamental reorganization of the park headquarters was soon to be underway. 

This reorganization included the separation, or zoning, of residential dwellings 

into a separate precinct east of the headquarters road, and a consolidation of 

service and administrative functions to the west of the headquarters road. In 

order to accomplish this shift, it was first necessary to relocate the sled dog 

kennels from where they stood in 1933 east of the headquarters road to the 

southwest of the headquarters service court. Additional improvements 

recommended between 1933 and 1938 include three new (unidentified) buildings 

in the service area and a new horse corral. New residential buildings are shown 

proposed at the base of the sloping landscape east of the main headquarters road 

(current residential area) (Figure 1.32 and 1.33). New roads are also depicted 

connecting these new and relocated buildings to the headquarters road spur and 

the main park road. 

While master planning drawings during this time sometimes present a potentially 

confusing mixture of existing conditions and project proposals, a 1935 oblique 

aerial photograph provides excellent documentation of the physical state of park 

headquarters prior to the arrival of CCC enrollees at Mt. McKinley National Park 

(Figure 1.34). This aerial photograph is helpful in filling gaps in documentation 

because it clearly indicates landscape features that do not appear on the earlier 

1933 master plan drawing for park headquarters. Specifically, this photograph 

shows the origins of the layout of roadways to the east of the central 

headquarters road, within an area that would later be used to site park housing. 

The 1935 oblique aerial photograph clearly shows a rudimentary road system 

leading to the boiler house (Bldg. 107) and bending around to the southwest to 

intersect with the central headquarters road south of the barn (Bldg. 106). Of 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

42 

further interest is the location of the so-called corral, shown east of the barn in 

the 1933 master plan drawing, is seen in this 1935 photograph as being filled with 

evergreen trees, hardly what one would expect within an enclosure reserved for 

park horses. The wagon-turn terminus of the central headquarters road is clearly 

visible in the 1935 photograph, as well as the tell-tale signature of this areas use as 

a dumping grounds, the evidence of refuse being seen scattered across the slope 

immediately south of the wagon-turn. A cleared corridor serving as a 

concentrated location for underground utilities is also in view, leading at a rightangle from the central headquarters road, directly down-slope to the boiler 

house. 

If the 1935 aerial photograph of park headquarters establishes the extent of the 

development of park infrastructure at that time, A narrative park development 

outline, as revised in 1937, describes proposed headquarters improvements, some 

of which are seen depicted in the 1938 park master plan. Park headquarters 

improvements found in the 1937 narrative outline include the construction of 

new buildings, reduction of fire hazards, improvement of the dog kennels, and 

landscaping. Appearing prominently within both narrative and graphic proposals 

for park headquarters are a new administration building, five new residences, and 

six new service buildings. The report stated the style of the proposed 

administration building should be “designed to be in keeping with the dignity and 

beauty of its use and its surrounding.” While the narrative development outline 

specified that the proposed administrative office building “need not be very 

large.” The proposed building appears on the 1938 master plan drawing as the 

largest building at headquarters, about twice the size of the rangers’ dorm 

(Building 21). Despite the expressed need for such a building, the short two-year 

tenure of the Mt. McKinley National Park CCC program, combined with the 

looming war in Europe contributed to a general reduction of building activity at 

the park, and the long sought-after administrative building was never 

constructed. 

Two of the five proposed new residences were intended to replace two Karstens 

era employee’s quarters (original clerk’s cabin, built 1925 and original chief 

ranger’s cabin, built in 1926). The narrative plan described the original clerk’s 

cabin (Building 3) as in a “bad state of repair,” and the original chief ranger’s 

cabin as “[un]fit for use by family.” Construction of additional residences was 

proposed in anticipation of increases to park staffing as well as a greater need for 

family housing. Four of the five proposed residences are shown depicted on the 

1938 master plan drawing. Two of the buildings (employee’s residences, Building 

12 and Building 13) were constructed in 1938, and others would follow in the 

1940s and at the conclusion of World War II. Proposed service buildings 

included a double garage and storage shed, a cold storage plant, a pump house, a 

warehouse addition, a garage and machine shop, a mess hall and bunk house, and 

a greenhouse. Of these many proposals, only three buildings were ultimately 

constructed. These included the pump house, built in 1937, the double garage 
SITE HISTORY

 43 

and storage shed (Building 111) and the garage and machine shop (Building 102), 

both built in 1939.144 

To reduce fire hazards, the narrative outline proposed replacing fire-prone 

chimneys and roofing material on some buildings, the extension of water mains 

and hydrants, and construction of a small building to house fire fighting 

equipment. It is not certain if these improvements were made. 

 Dog kennel improvements outlined included sanitation and repair of the dog 

pens, and replacing the pen’s gravel surfacing. The report did not specify 

relocating the dog kennels, which occurred later in 1938. 

Landscape improvements described in the development outline included final 

grading around buildings, construction of pathways, and planting of trees, 

shrubs, and grass. Locations where these measures were to be implemented were 

not further specified. Improvements recommended also included the application 

of stone masonry veneer to the foundations of the superintendent’s residence 

(Building 1), rangers’ dorm (Building 21), and the employee’s quarters (Building 

11), to complete these buildings as originally planned, and to “give the structures 

a proper architectural and landscape finish,” previously recommended by 

Landscape Architect Earnest A. Davis.145

In 1937, as inventoried on the revised development outline and the 1937 master 

plan drawing, headquarters consisted of eighteen buildings, two water closets 

(outhouses), and forty dog kennels (Table 1.2). The park headquarters continued 

to feature a flag pole marking the entrance to the headquarters area off of the 

main park road. 

Initiated in 1933 soon after Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration, the Civilian 

Conservation Corps (CCC) fast became one of President Roosevelt's most 

politically successful economic relief programs. Yet the CCC program was late in 

coming to Alaska. Four years after the program began in the lower 48 States, 

between 1938 and 1939 the National Park Service operated Company NP-1 camp 

within Mt. McKinley National Park. During the active two-year period when the 

program operated at Mt. McKinley, numerous physical improvements were 

made park-wide and within the headquarters area. According to Frank Been, 

who followed Harry Liek as superintendent in March of 1939, the CCC was “an 

asset of inestimable value as accomplishments are possible which would have 

taken years through regular appropriations.”146
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

44 

TABLE 1.2 HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS – 1937 

See Figure 1.11 

BUILDING BUILT NOTES 

Administration 

superintendent’s office (Building 22) 1925-1926 

Residential 

employee’s quarters (Building 3) 1925 original clerk’s cabin 

employee’s quarters 1926 original chief ranger’s cabin 

superintendent’s residence (Building 1) 1929 

laborers’ quarters (Building 6) 1931 

employee’s quarters (Building 11) 1934-1935 original employee’s quarters 

rangers’ dorm (Building 21) 1934-1935 

Service & Visitor Service 

machine shop 1927 original combination garage, 

workshop, and blacksmith 

shop 

warehouse (Building 101) 1928 

barn (Building 106) 1929 

dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) 1929 (service & visitor service) 

power house (Building 110) 1930-1931 original electric light shop 

40 dog kennels and pens 1930-1931 (service & visitor service) 

boiler house (Building 107) 1931-1932 

garage (Building 103) 1931 

comfort station (Building 112) 1932 

oil and gas house 1931 back of machine shop, 

removed 2000. 

coal shed c. 1930-1933 across from warehouse 

(Building 101) 

pump house (Building 109) 1937 along Rock Creek 

3 water closets unknown 

A contingent of two hundred men arrived in April 1938, and by June of that year 

crews of CCC enrollees were engaged in construction projects within the park 

headquarters area. During the following two construction seasons, the park CCC 

program constructed four buildings, one of which was built with additional 

assistance of park rangers. The CCC program was also responsible for building a 

retaining wall, moving the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) as well 

as the dog kennels themselves. The CCC program enrollees also constructed two 

roads, installed water and sewer lines, buried overhead electrical and telephone 

lines, and dug drainage ditches within the park headquarters area. 
SITE HISTORY

 45 

In 1938, the CCC built the two employee’s residences (Building 12 and Building 

13), at the base of the slope east of the main headquarters road.147 The two sixroom, two-story, single family residences were built side-by-side facing the 

southeast. Unlike previous buildings designed by the Branch of Plans and 

Designs, the residences were of frame construction with a rough lumber finish 

(Figure 1.35). These residences were also the first major buildings constructed at 

the headquarters since Landscape Architect Ernest A. Davidson of the NPS 

Branch of Plans and Designs wrote his report recommending non-log 

construction for headquarters buildings in August 1935. Also pursued in 1938 

during the first year of CCC operations, the power house was converted into a 

one car garage (Building 110), and park rangers constructed a second one-car 

garage (Building 50) across from the rangers’ dorm (Building 21). The 

“temporary” 10’ x 20’ garage was equipped with a small heater to warm cars 

during severely cold weather.148 

In 1938 one particularly significant CCC project successfully relocated the 

existing dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) and the dog kennels from 

where they had stood since 1926 east of park headquarters to an undeveloped 

area southwest of the service area.149 The kennels operation and its dogs, which 

could be disruptively noisy, was relocated elsewhere, making the area available 

for the construction of new park housing. In preparation for the move, the CCC 

constructed two ‘minor roads’ to the new site, one connecting to the southern 

terminus of the main headquarters road and the other to the western terminus of 

the service drive that had also been extended during construction of the ‘minor 

roads’ about one hundred and sixty feet past the garage (Building 103). The CCC 

began moving the dog feed cache and cookhouse and dog kennels in June 1939 

and completed the move in August (Figure 1.36-1.37).150 The basic organization 

of the earlier kennel operation was retained at the new location. 

In 1939, the CCC constructed the superintendent’s garage (Building 111) and the 

machine shop and garage (Building 102). The log and stone veneer 

superintendent’s garage was built about twenty-five feet northwest of the 

superintendent’s residence (Building 1). Earthwork completed prior to 

construction included cutting a small shelf into the hillside north of the park road 

and construction of a stone retaining wall (111A) at the base of the cut (Figure 

1.39-1.40).151 

The combined efforts of park rangers and CCC enrollees made possible the 

construction of another building containing a machine shop and garage (Building 

102) replacing the former machine shop (original combination garage, workshop 

and blacksmith shop, built in 1927) that was destroyed by fire nine months 

earlier. Built as a joint CCC and park ranger project with emergency 

reconstruction funds, the fireproof building was constructed of concrete, except 

for wood siding on the gable ends, a significant yet practical departure from the 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

46 

all log, or exposed log and plank building styles previously approved by the NPS 

Branch of Planning and Design (Figure 1.41).152 

During the two-year period of operation, the enrollees of the park CCC program 

installed over 800 feet of new water pipes and over 1,000 feet of new sewer 

drains, supporting the operation of the two new employee’s residences (Building 

12 and Building 13) and the relocated dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 

105) and dog kennels. They also buried over 700 feet of electrical lines and over 

1,000 feet of telephone lines, protecting telephone and electrical services from 

disruptions caused by wires blown down during storms. Along the main park 

road, CCC crews replaced the ground tripod telephone lines erected in 1930 with 

metallic telephone lines.153 

Other projects completed during the two-year tenure of the Mt. McKinley CCC 

program included construction of over 1,700 feet of open drainage ditches 

primarily between the service area and the relocated dog feed cache and 

cookhouse (Building 105) and dog kennels; work also included resurfacing and 

graveling of the service road and several other landscape projects. In 1938, 

Superintendent Liek reported “landscaping reservoir complete.” In 1939, CCC 

crews planted small spruce trees around the new employee’s quarters (Building 

12 and Building 13) and along the road leading to the residences from the park 

road (Figure 1.42).154 

Following the departure of CCC enrollees in the autumn of 1939, Superintendent 

Been assessed that: 

Park headquarters presents a tidy appearance compared to the disarray existing 

during height of construction when inadequate storage space necessitated piling 

materials almost everywhere. When our ramshackle dilapidated buildings are 

replaced by new ones, our administrative area will be a credit to any national 

park.155

The “ramshackle dilapidated buildings” that the park superintendent referred to 

were most likely the superintendent’s office built 1925-1926, the original clerk’s 

cabin built in 1925 (Building 3), and the original chief clerk’s office built 1926. All 

of these buildings had been constructed of salvaged building materials from the 

dismantled first headquarters on Riley Creek or otherwise from lumber taken 

from abandoned railroad camps. 

The state of planning for the park headquarters is well documented in a wellcrafted drawing included within the 1939 edition of the park master plan. The 

date of this drawing coincides with the effective end of the CCC program of work 

at Mt. McKinley National Park. This drawing, entitled, "Administrative Area 

Utilities Layout" captures both existing conditions and future proposals 

following the departure of the CCC, and as war loomed in Europe (Figure 1.43-

1.44). Existing buildings and roads scheduled to remain in place are depicted in 

the drawing with a dark continuous line. Buildings and roads identified for 

removal are drawn as a dashed line using short strokes. Buildings and roads 
SITE HISTORY

 47 

planned for future construction are drawn as a dashed line using relatively longer 

strokes. Among the more prominent proposals indicated in this 1939 drawing is a 

visitor parking lot that closely approximates the existing visitor parking lot. The 

proposed parking lot, which was not built until fifteen years later, was designed 

to be within sight of the main park road, serving the proposed central 

administrative office building. The 1939 plan for park headquarters provides for 

an eastern expansion of the residential area, clearly departing from the compact 

village model, favoring a more suburban arrangement of homes for park staff, as 

well as an apartment building as an efficient means of housing seasonal 

employees. However, the service-oriented facilities located to the west, the 

longstanding compact village concept of park development was reinforced. The 

1939 drawing clearly identifies two distinct "blocks" within which park 

infrastructure might be appropriately concentrated. 

In the years immediately following the 1939 departure of the CCC, the number of 

construction projects at headquarters significantly decreased, partially due to the 

lack of CCC-funded projects and also due to the impending entry of the United 

States into World War II. Fire destroyed the superintendent’s residence on 

October 23, 1939 (Figure 1.45). A defective flue pipe between the furnace and the 

chimney was the cause. The fire also severely damaged the east wall of the 

superintendent’s garage (Building 111).156 By May 1940, it was clear there were 

not enough funds to replace the destroyed superintendent’s residence (Building 

1). Instead the funds were used to construct a more modest employee’s 

residence (Building 23). Originally designed by the NPS Branch of Plans and 

Design as a wood frame structure sheathed with horizontal clapboards (similar to 

employee’s residences, Building 12 and Building 13), the new employee’s 

residence (Building 23) was redesigned with a log veneer exterior. The change in 

design probably occurred because logs which had been cut and peeled by CCC 

men under the direction of the Alaska Fire Control Service for construction of 

the unapproved superintendent’s residence stood unused at headquarters.157

Construction of the new employee’s residence (Building 23) became the major 

building project at park headquarters for the next several years. Construction 

began in July 1940 when the Alaska Road Commission excavated the basement 

(Figure 1.46). Reflecting changing national priorities in response to war in 

Europe, Superintendent Been reported that month “work is slow, labor hard to 

find because of all the military construction.”158 In September 1940, work 

stopped for the year, due to a lack of funds.159 Labor shortages caused further 

construction delays in 1941. By June 1941, construction of the exterior was 

completed (Figure 1.47), and in July a permanent park staff member was assigned 

to finish the interior of the residence. A significant portion of the construction 

was undertaken by the park rangers and administrative staff. During the 

construction period, Superintendent Been’s monthly reports refer to the 

employee’s residence by several names, including ranger’s residence and the 

superintendent’s residence. 160 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

48 

Smaller construction projects during this two-year period included repair of the 

scorched superintendent’s garage (Building 111) damaged in the 1939 fire that 

destroyed the superintendent’s residence (Building 1) and conversion of the 

clerk’s residence (Building 11, original employee’s quarters) into the park's 

administrative building. Repairs completed on the superintendent’s garage in 

June 1940 were funded with emergency construction funds. Renovation of the 

employee’s quarters was also completed and occupied by administrative staff in 

1940.161 Justifying the move, Superintendent Been stated “it [Building 22, original 

superintendent’s office] presents an unfavorable impression to the public, is 

uncomfortable, and entirely too small.”162 The park planned to use the renovated 

building (Building 11) as the administrative building until a proposed 

administrative building could be built, then move the building eastward to a 

location in the residential area. 

 A handwritten note on the superintendent’s monthly report for November 1940 

indicated the park planned to raze the original superintendent’s office (Building 

22).163 By 1941, either a new oil and gas house was built (across the main 

headquarters road from Building 102) or the original oil and gas house (built 

1931, located in back Building 102) was moved to the 1941 location.164 

Relocation of the original coal shed may also have occurred at this time. Two 

coal houses are depicted on the January 1942 master plan, neither in the location 

of the original coal shed (across from Building 101), constructed c. 1930-1933. 

One coal shed stood west of the garage (Building 103) and the other coal shed 

(Building 114) stood south of the boiler house (Building 107). If the original coal 

shed was moved, it is likely it was the coal shed west of Building 103, as its 

dimensions do not match that of the coal shed (Building 114) south of the boiler 

house, and because this coal shed does not appear on later maps reviewed.165

In May 1940, fire hose boxes and hose connections were installed outside of each 

residence. Prior to this, the hoses were kept in the basement of each residence, 

which proved to be an inaccessible location during the fire that destroyed the 

superintendent’s residence (Building 1) in the previous year (Figure 1.48).166 

In an August 1941 letter to the National Resources Planning Board (a New Deal 

planning agency established to coordinated planning efforts at the federal, state, 

and local levels) NPS Chief of Planning Thomas C. Vint outlined a six-year 

construction program for the park.167 Included on the plan were fifteen projects 

within the headquarters area. Proposed projects included construction of five 

new buildings (superintendent’s residence, employee’s residence, administration 

building, fuel storage building, apartment house, and warehouse), relocation of 

an employee residence and a restroom, alteration of existing buildings, extension 

of the dog kennels, completion of four utility projects (sewer, pipelines, steam 

lines, power and telephone lines), and construction of a trail from the hotel to the 

park headquarters. As planned by the NPS Branch of Engineering, the proposed 

trail bordered the south side of the park road (within the current historic 
SITE HISTORY

 49 

district), crossed over the Rock Creek Bridge, then cut north across the park 

road. Approximately one half of the proposed trail followed a telephone line 

installed between the hotel and headquarters (Figure 1.49). 

To complete the proposed projects, Vint requested $178,000. He justified the 

expense stating the park’s remote location made it necessary to establish more 

facilities and accommodations for visitors and park staff than was required at 

parks in more populated areas. Among the highest priority projects were a new 

superintendent’s residence—despite the fact construction of a replacement was 

denied several months earlier—and a new administration building, neither of 

which received funding. 

Headquarters Landscape (1941) 

The 1941 park headquarters landscape included the relatively level terrain west 

of the main headquarters road and the sloping terrain east of the road (Figure 

1.50). As envisioned by Superintendent Karstens in 1925, the roads in the 

headquarters area divided the more level terrain into a grid pattern. Prior to 

Karstens’s resignation in 1928, development east of the main headquarters road 

was limited to buildings constructed on the relatively flat land within twenty feet 

of the road, except for the dog kennels located at the base of the east-facing 

slope. Karstens thought construction along the abrupt slope was unnecessary, 

since there was abundant relatively flat land west of the road. He was also 

concerned about the appearance and success of construction along the hillside. 

Despite Karstens reservations, roads and buildings were successfully developed 

in the sloped area, under the guidance of the Landscape Division, subsequently 

known as the Branch of Plans and Designs. Implementing National Park Service 

rustic design principles in the development of park housing in this eastern 

portion of the headquarters site, the Landscape Division designed roads leading 

down the slope that curved with the topography and buildings that harmonized 

with the natural landscape. 

A significant shift in headquarters land use began in 1938 with the construction of 

employee’s residences (Building 12 and Building 13), initiating the development 

of a new residential area to the east of the main headquarters road. While earlier 

residential buildings remained on the more level terrain west of the main 

headquarters road, all subsequent residential development would occur on the 

slope to the east. 

At least thirty buildings and structures, excluding dog kennels and tents, had 

been built in the headquarters area since 1925, of which at least twenty-three 

were extant in 1941 (Table 1.3). Four of the missing buildings were destroyed by 

fire and others were replaced by larger, more substantial buildings. Additional 

features present included forty individual dog kennels and a weather station 

apparatus—though it is unclear whether the apparatus was still present in 1941. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

50 

The flagpole was shifted slightly from its original location at the intersection of 

main headquarters road and park road to the west side of the nearby 

superintendent’s office (Building 22) by 1931 and then shifted back again to the 

east side of the superintendent’s office (Building 22) by 1937.168 

TABLE 1.3 HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS – 1941 

BUILDING BUILT NOTES 

Administration 

administrative building (Building 11) 1934-1935 original employee’s 

quarters 

Residential 

laborers’ quarters (Building 6) 1931 

rangers’ dorm (Building 21) 1934-1935 

employee’s residence (Building 12) 1938 

employee’s residence (Building 13) 1938 

employee’s residence (Building 23) 1940-41 partially constructed 

Service/Visitor Service 

warehouse (Building 101) 1928 

barn (Building 106) 1929 warehouse for CCC 

supplies (1938-1938) 

dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) 1929 

one-car garage (Building 110) 1930-1931 original electric light shop, 

converted into one-car 

garage in 1938 

40 dog kennels and pens 1939 

boiler house (Building 107) 1931-1932 

garage (Building 103) 1931 

oil and gas house (Building 108) by c. 1940-41 possibly the oil and gas 

house built c. 1931 

(originally stood back of 

Building 102) relocated c. 

1940-1941. 

comfort station (Building 112) 1932 

coal shed (west of Building 103) by c. 1940-41 possibly the coal shed built 

c. 1930-1933 (originally 

stood across from Building 

101) relocated c. 1940-

1941. 

pump house (Building 109) 1937 along Rock Creek

one-car garage (Building 50) 1938 temporary construction 

machine shop and garage (Building 102) 1939 

coal shed (Building 114) c. 1939-1941 

2 water closets unknown Appear on 1938 master 

plan map, assumed present 

in 1941 

Use Unknown

Building 22 (original superintendent’s office) 1925-1926 

Building 3 (original clerk’s cabin) 1925 removed 1943 

original chief ranger’s cabin 1926 removed 1943 

Building 111 (superintendent’s garage) 1939 damaged in fire – 1939 
SITE HISTORY

 51 

ENDNOTES: PREHISTORY TO WORLD WAR II 

1 Michele Curran. Cultural Landscape Inventory (hereafter CLI), Park Headquarters Historic District, Denali National Park and 

Preserve, 2004, Part 1, p. 9.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4

 Frank Norris, Crown Jewel of the North: An Administrative History of Denali National Park and Preserve (U.S. Department of the 

Interior, National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, Anchorage: 2006), pp. 21-22. 27. 

5

 Ibid., pp. 27-28, 31. 

6

 Ibid., p. 29. 

7

 Ibid., p. 28. 

8

 64th Congress 1st Session, Report No. 440, p.2 SMR June 1921, 1-2. As quoted by Norris in, Crown Jewel... p. 32. 9 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 32. 10 Stephen T. Mather, "Ideals and Policy of the National Park Service Particularly in Relation to Yosemite National Park," in 

Handbook of Yosemite National Park, Ansel F. Hall ed. (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1921) 11 James G. Steese (ARC) to Stephen Mather, April, 20, 1922 - DENA Historical Files. As quoted by Norris in, Crown Jewel..., p. 

35. 

12 Ibid., p. 29. 

13 Superintendent’s Monthly Report (hereafter SMR), Mount McKinley National Park, October 1921, as quoted in Norris, Crown 

Jewel, p. 44, footnote 23. 14 SMR, June 1921, as quoted in Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 29. 15 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 30. 16 Ibid., p. 30. 

17 Pearson, “History of Mount McKinley,” pp. 28, 30; Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 30 18 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 30. 19 SMR, September 1921, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 20 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 31; SMR, November 1921, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 21 SMR, April 1922, as quoted in Cultural Landscape Inventory, Park Headquarters Historic District, Denali National Park and 

Preserve, 2004, Part 2a, p. 2. 

22 SMR, December 1921, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 23 SMR, March 1922, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 24 SMR, April 1922, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 25 Estimate for Appropriation for Fiscal Year 1929, sent with cover letter Karstens to NPS Director, May 2, 1927, NARA College 

Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 301 Part 1. 

26 SMR, April 1922, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 27 SMR, October 1922, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 28 SMRs, March, April, September and October 1922, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 29 SMR, February 1922, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 30CLI, 2004, Part 2a, p. 2. 31 SMRs, March, April, September, December 1923, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 32 SMR, July 1924, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 33 SMR, October 1922, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 34 Harry Karstens to Arno B. Cammerer, Feb 15, 1924, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 111, Folder “quarters.” 35 Arno B. Cammerer to Karstens, Mar 21 1924, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 111, Folder “quarters.” 

36 Karstens to NPS Director, April 25, 1924, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 111, Folder “quarters.” 37 Norris, Crown Jewel, pp. 47-48. 38 Curran, CLI, Part 2a, p. 3. 

39 SMR, September 1924, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 40 “Mount McKinley National Park” included with Harry Karstens, “To the Governor of Alaska, Statement covering activities at 

Mount McKinley National Park, 1924.” NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 111, Folder “reports-superintendent-annual.” The 

article is not signed but appears to have also been written by Karstens. 41 Harry Liek, “Mount McKinley National Park, Preliminary Estimate for Physical Improvements – 1931,” December 14, 1928. 42 SMR, June 1924, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 43 Funds allocated for park operations increased for the first time in fiscal year 1925, from $8,000 to $11,020. With these funds, 

Karstens hired a third ranger and a full time clerk, and provided minimal funding for the move to the new headquarters. Norris, 

Crown Jewel, Appendix B, p. 283 and Appendix C, p. 285. Prior to fiscal year 1925, an employee had served as both a ranger and a 

clerk. 

44 SMR, August 1924, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 45 SMR, September 1924, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 46 SMR, October 1924, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 47 SMRs, October and December 1924, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 48 SMR, September 1925, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

52 

 49 SMR, November 1925, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 50 Descriptive report and maps, sent with cover letter, Karstens to NPS Director, December 29, 1925, NARA College Park, RG 79, 

Box 372/E 7, Folder 2001-006 Part 1; Estimate for Appropriation for Fiscal Year 1929, sent with cover letter, Karstens to NPS 

Director, May 2, 1927, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 301 Part 1; CLI, Part 2a, p 3; Superintendent’s Monthly 

Report, December 1925; Draft Adm History, Chpt 4, p. 16. 

51 Karstens to NPS Director, November 5, 1925, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 2001-0006 Part 1. 52 Descriptive report and maps, sent with cover letter, Karstens to NPS Director, December 29, 1925, NARA College Park, RG 79, 

Box 372/E 7, Folder 2001-006 Part 1. 

53 Albert H. Good, ed., "Administrative and Basic Service Facilities," in Park and Recreation Structures (Washington, DC: United 

States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1938) v.1, p5. 54Descriptive report and maps, sent with cover letter, Karstens to NPS Director, December 29, 1925, NARA College Park, RG 79, 

Box 372/E 7, Folder 2001-006 Part 1

55 Ibid. 

56 Ibid. 

57 Ibid. 

58 Descriptive report and maps, sent with cover letter, Karstens to NPS Director, December 29, 1925, NARA College Park, RG 79, 

Box 372/E 7, Folder 2001-006 Part 1. 

59 Ibid. 

60 Karstens to NPS Director, February 26th, 1926, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 201-006. 61 The twenty-two doghouses may have been built the same time as the corral, mentioned previously. 

62 SMRs, May, and June, 1926; May 1927, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 63 SMRs, May and August, 1926; May 1927, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; Norris, Crown 

Jewel, p. 62. 64 SMR, September 1927, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 65 The flag pole is not included in a photograph that depicts the superintendent’s office (construction complete in June 1926) and 

the clerk’s cabin (before construction of an addition in October 1926), Scan obtained from Jane Bryant, DENA, “Dartmouth McK 

HDQ” 

66 SMR, July 1927, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 67 SMR, July 1927, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 68 Mt. McKinley headquarters master plans from the mid-1930s depict the circular wagon turn; the wagon turn is further 

documented in a 1935 oblique aerial photograph of the headquarters site. 

69 SMR, December 1927, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 70 Justification for Estimate, Mt. McKinley National Park, [fiscal year] 1929, sent with cover letter Karstens to NPS Director, May 

2, 1927, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 301 Part 1. 

71 Ibid. 

72 SMRs, March and August 1928, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; Norris, Crown Jewel, 

Appendix B, p. 283; Harry J. Liek to Horace M. Albright, Yosemite, Dec 13, 1928 NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373, E7 Folder. 73 Karstens to NPS Director, March 29, 1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 620; Thos. C. Vint to NPS 

Director, March 10, 1928,NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 620. 74 SMR, March 1928, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 75 Thomas C. Vint to NPS Director, March 10, 1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 620. 76 Assistant NPS Director Arno B. Cammerer to Thomas C. Vint, Chief Landscape Engineer, April 14, 1928 

NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 620. 

77 Acting NPS Director Arno B. Cammerer to Harry J. I, December 20, 1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 6 E17. 78 SMRs, May, August, September 1928, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; HSR, p. 23. 79 Norris, Crown Jewel, pp. 62-63; Denali Historic Resource Study, Chapter 7: The Pioneer Park, 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/dena/hrs7b.htm. 

80 Harry Karstens to The Director [NPS], August 9, 1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 303 Part 1. Included 

with the letter are a series of pages, one for each project with a statement of justification for each proposed project. 81 Ibid. 

82 Ibid. 

83 Arno B. Cammerer (Acting Director) to Horace M. Albright, Assistant Director (Field), Nov 17, 1928 NARA College park, RG 

79, Box 373 E7, Folder 302 Part 1. 

84 Wirth, Conrad Louis, Parks, Politics, and the People, 1980, Chapter 11: Congressional Relations: Official and Personal, 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/wirth2/contents.htm. 85 Arno B. Cammerer (Acting Director) to Horace M. Albright, Assistant Director (Field), Nov 17, 1928 NARA College park, RG 

79, Box 373 E7, Folder 302 Part 1. 

86 Harry J. Liek to Horace M. Albright, December 13, 1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 302 Part 1. 87 Preliminary Estimates for Physical Improvements – 1931, sent with cover letter Harry J. Liek to the NPS director, December 14,

1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 302 Part 1. Plans prepared by the NPS Landscape Division are approved 

for the administrative area (unspecified work), power house (Building 110), laborers cabin (Building 5), dog feed cache and 

cookhouse (Building 105), and dog kennels with corral fence. (Acting NPS Director to Acting Superintendent Moore, c. 

November 1928; Assistant to the NPS Director A.E. Demaray to Superintendent Harry J. Liek, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 

1412 E7, Folder 620.) 

88 Preliminary Estimates for Physical Improvements – 1931, sent with cover letter Harry J. Liek to the NPS director, December 14,

1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 302 Part 1. Up to thirty log doghouses (kennels) were on the site before 

construction began (see May 1927), some of the doghouses may have been the “packing boxes” mentioned by Liek in the letter. 
SITE HISTORY

 53 

 Fourteen pre-existing doghouses are depicted on the plan prepared by the Division of Landscape Architecture. According to the 

superintendent’s monthly report for October 1931 some of the “old dog kennels” were hauled from the headquarters to the 

Savage River Camp. This probably indicates some of the existing doghouses on the plan were reused. 89 Preliminary Estimates for Physical Improvements – 1931, sent with cover letter Harry J. Liek to the NPS director, December 14,

1928, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 302 Part 1. 

90 Ibid. 

91 Ibid.

92 Harry J. Liek to NPS Director Horace M. Albright, January 22, 1929, NARA College Park, RG79, Box 1413, Folder 660-05; NPS 

Director Horace M. Albright to Harry J. Liek, c. January 1929, NARA College Park, RG79, Box 1413, Folder 660-05. 93 SMRs, June-September, November 1929, May 1940 (reference to park rangers constructing the residence); Report on Mt. 

McKinley National Park, Thos. C. Vint, Chief Landscape Architect, Dec 26, 1929, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7; SMR 

5/40. 

94 SMRs, April to September 1929, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 95 SMRs, October 1929, July 1931, September 1937, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 96 Harry M. Myers to NPS Director Horace M. Albright, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 377 Entry 7, File 857. 97 Horace M. Albright, Director to H. M. Myers, Editor, Lapeer County Press, March 29, 1929, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 

377 E7, Folder 857 (second letter from Albright to Myers enclosed in same envelope with letter above). 98 Horace M. Albright, Director to H. M. Myers, Editor, Lapeer County Press, March 29, 1929, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 

377 E7, Folder 857 (second letter from Albright to Myers enclosed in same envelope with letter above). 99 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 67. 100 H.M. Myers to Horace M. Albright, Director, October 28, 1929, NARA College Park, RG 70 Box 6 E17. 101 Horace M. Albright to H.M. Myers, Nov 4, 1929, NARA College Park, RG 79 Box 377 E7, Folder 857 102 H.M. Myers to Congressman L.C. Cramton (copy to Albright), November 7, 1929, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1404, 

Folder 204. 

103 Ibid. 104 Fritz A. Nyberg, Chief Ranger to Horace Albright, Director, National Park Service, March 12, 1930, NARA College Park, RG 

79, Box 373, E7, File 202-006 Part 2. 

105 Harry Liek to Horace M. Albright, Director, Feb 3, 1931, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7 F202-006 Part 2. 106 Superintendent’s Monthly Report, August 1929. 107 Report on Mt. McKinley National Park, Thos. C. Vint, Chief Landscape Architect, Dec 26, 1926, NARA College Park, RG 79, 

Box 373 E7. 

108 NPS Director Horace M. Albright to Thomas C. Vint, March 17, 1930, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 204-

020 Vint Part 1; S Director Horace M. Albright to Thomas C. Vint, August 18, 1931, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, 

Folder 204-020 Albright Part 1. 

109 Ibid. 110 CLI, part 2a, p. 8. 111 SMRs, October 1929, July 1930, July 1931, January 1931, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 112 1931 Park Development Outline, as quoted in CLI, Part 2a, p. 8. 113 SMRs, July to November 1930, January 1931, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 114 SMRs, January, April to July 1931, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 115 SMRs, May-June 1932, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; HSR, p. 68. 116 SMR, September 1932, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; HSR, p. 37; E.E. Tillet to The 

Director, July 29, 1934 NARA College Park, RG 79, Folder 1405, Box 204-20, 117 The coal shed is not listed on the headquarters building inventory included in Thomas Vint’s 1929 report. It appears on the 

1933 master plan drawing. 

118 Horace M. Albright, NPS Director to T.C. Vint, Chief Landscape Architect NPS, Aug 18, 1931 

College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 204-020 Albright Part 1. 

119 Ethan Carr, Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture and the National Park Service, (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska 

Press, 1998) 135.

120 SMR, March 1931, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 121 SMRs, February 1932, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 122 In 1933-4 celotex insulation from the clerk’s cabin was installed into the boiler house (Building 107) ceiling. SMRs, OctoberNovember 1933, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; HSR, p. 37. 123 SMRs, April 30, October 1929, and October 1930, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 124 SMR, July 1931, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 125 Memorandum, Frank T. Been to Regional Director, July 2, 1941, College Park RG 79, Box 1413, Folder 660-044. 126 SMRs, July and October 1931, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 127 SMR, January 1931, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 128 SMRs, July and October 1931, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 129 SMR, June 1931, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 130 SMRs, June and July 1932, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 131 SMR, June 1930, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 132 Superintendent’s Monthly Report, January 1934; David Nathanson “The Mather Memorial Plaques” (National Park Service 

History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center: 12/4/97, edited and updated 1/7/2002). 

133 SMR, July 1952, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 134 SMRs March, June to August 1934, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 135 SMR, September 1934, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

54 

 136 SMRs, December 1934, January and May 1935, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 137 SMRs, July 1936, August and September 1937, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. Meat house 

is also depicted on park master plans. 

138 Paul H. Gallagher, CCC Field Auditor to The Director [NPS], August 10, 1938, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1404, Folder 

204. 

139 List of Physical Improvement Projects and justifications with cover letter , Liek to NPS Director, Jan 17, 1935, NARA College 

Park, RG 79, Box 1412, Folder 616-1 (file: Public Works Administration). 140 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 101, 114. 141 Report to the Chief Architect and to the Superintendent of Mt. McKinley National Park, Ernest A. Davidson, Landscape 

Architect on Special Assignment, Sept 1935 (AKRO processing for DENA, National Register Files). 142 Ibid. 143 SMRs, October 1933, February 1934, March and November 1936, November 1939, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, 

Alaska Regional Office. 

144 The Master Plan for Mount McKinley National Park, NARA College Park, Cartographic and Architectural Records, RG 79, 

330/14/19/5-4. 

145 Ibid. 146 SMR, June 1939, AKSO-processing files for DENA (Nat’l Register Files). 147 SMRs, June to October 1938, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 148 SMR, November 1938, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 149 SMRs, June to August 1939, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 150 Ibid. 151 Superintendent’s Monthly Reports, May – September 1939, AKSO-processing files for DENA (Nat’l Register Files). 152 Superintendent’s Monthly Reports, January 1938, June-August 1939; Supervisor of Recreation and Land Planning to Harry J. 

Liek, February 15, 1939, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1404, Folder 201-06; FY 40 Annual Report, NARA College Park, RG 79, 

Box 1405-207-01.4. 

153 SMRs, September 1938, May to September 1939, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; Linear feet 

of electrical, telephone, water, and sewer lines measured from “Administrative Area, Utilities Layout, Master Plan Mt. McKinley

National Park, 

154 SMRs, October 1938, May to September 1939, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; CLI, part 2b, 

p. 1. Linear feet of ditches measured from “Administrative Area, Utilities Layout, Master Plan Mt. McKinley National Park, 

1939,” NARA College Park, Cartographic and Architectural Records. 

155 SMR, September 1939, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 156 SMR, October 1939; HSR, p. 55. 157 HSR, p. 88; Fiscal Year 1940 Annual Report, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1405-207-01.4. 158 SMR, July 1940, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 159 SMR, September 1940, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 160 SMRs, April, June, and July 1941, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; [Field Auditor] to 

Director, Sept. 11, 1941, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1405, Folder 204-20. 

161 SMRs, June and September 1940, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 162 SMR, May 1940, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 163 SMRs, October and November 1940, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 164 The 1939 master plan drawing depicts the original oil and gas house in its 1931 location. The January 1942 master plan 

drawing depicts an oil and gas house across from Building 102, and not one in the 1931 location. 165 Dimensions of 1930-33 coal shed found in Master Plan Development Outline, as revised in 1937. Dimensions of coal shed 

(Building 114) found in Mount McKinley National Park Building Check List, October 1, 1951, AKSO-Processing for DENA, Nat’l 

Register Files (copy). Original located at NARA SF RG 79 Box 80 Classified Records, Mt McKinley NP 1938-5/19/53, File No. 

620. 

166 FY 40 Annual Report, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1405-207-01.4 167 Thomas C. Vint to H.A. Bauer, Consultant, National Resources Planning Board, August 26, 1940. AKRO processing for DENA, 

original NARA SF RG 79, Box 80, Classified Records, Mt McKinley N.P., 1938-5/19/53, File No 620. 168 Flag pole references and photographs are included in the Analysis chapter. 
55

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.1. View to south of the Karstens “home cabin” at Riley Creek c. 1921-1925. Notes on 

the original photo indicate, “Blanchard, Dame [Mrs.] and Superintendent Karstens starting from 

headquarters with four-horse team on a 17 day trip in park for purpose of taking photographs.” 

Note Riley Creek to the left, the tree stumps in the foreground, stacks of boulders, and the clothes 

line in the background (National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD., RG 79-g, 

Box 11, Folder 67). 

Figure 1.2. View to the southwest of the Riley Creek headquarters area, July 31, 1922. Buildings 

from left to right: tent (use unknown), superintendent’s offi ce, superintendent’s “home cabin,” small 

building (possibly “the necessary outbuilding”) and a large tent, which was probably the storehouse 

and workshop. Also depicted is Riley Creek (foreground), a log bridge over the creek with crib piers 

and log decking, what appears to be a tri-pod phone line at far left, and a small area bounded by a 

post and rail fence (Dartmouth College Library). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

56

Figure 1.4. View southwest of the headquarters, along west side of Riley Creek. Buildings left to right include 

a small structure obscured by trees (use unknown), superintendent’s offi ce, superintendents “home cabin,” 

small frame structure (possibly frame meat and storehouse), very small frame structure (possibly “necessary 

building”) and a large tent, which was probably a storehouse and workshop (DENA 4678, Denali National Park 

and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.3. Text accompanying the original photo identifi es the image as: “First Park Headquarters on Riley 

Creek near the McKinley Railroad Station, 1922-1925.” This former roadhouse, on the east side of Riley Creek 

(and within the abandoned claim acquired by the government in 1921) and used as ranger housing, is possibly 

the cabin purchased by Superintendent Karstens and repaired by the park ranger for his family cabin. Note 

Riley Creek in the foreground, the rise in elevation behind the building, the tree stumps surrounding the 

building, the clothes line to the right, and the group of horses. In addition to the former roadhouse, a barn 

was located on the east side of the creek, once part of the large Alaska Engineering Commission camp (National 

Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD). 
57

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.6. View of the superintendent’s offi ce at Riley Creek, the superintendent’s “home cabin,” and Karstens 

automobile, c. August 1924. Also note the clothes line, supplies, tools, caribou antlers south of the offi ce and 

fl ower boxes attached to the front of the offi ce, as well as the weather station (far right). Photograph by 

Walter C. Henderson, Assistant Chief of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey (National Archives and Records 

Administration, College Park, MD).

Figure 1.5. View of the superintendent’s offi ce at Riley Creek and the automobile purchased by Karstens 

to power a wood saw, c. August 1924. Also shown is an unidentifi ed structure behind the offi ce (left, use 

unknown). This photograph was possibly made by Walter C. Henderson, Assistant Chief of the U.S. Bureau 

of Biological Survey. Henderson visited the park in April 1924 (National Archives and Records Administration 

College Park, MD).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

58

Figure 1.8. Horse barn with a shed roof along the east side of the main headquarters road, 1927 (Estimate for 

Appropriation for Fiscal Year 1929, sent with cover letter from Karstens to NPS Director, May 2, 1927 (National 

Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD. RG79, B373 E7/F301 Pt, 1).

Figure 1.7. At the new headquarters area, view northeast of the rangers’ cabin, 1927. The main headquarters 

road is in the foreground (Estimate for Appropriation for Fiscal Year 1929, sent with cover letter from Karstens 

to NPS Director, May 2, 1927 (National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD. RG79, B373 E7/ 

F301 Pt. 1).
59

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.10. View of new headquarters area from park road, c. 1929. Depicted clockwise from foreground 

at left are the clerk’s residence, ranger’s cabin, temporary barn, and the chief ranger’s cabin (foreground 

right). Note the openness between the buildings, which refl ects the tree clearing proposed by Karstens’ 1925 

headquarters plan (Herbert Heller Collection, #79-44-1315, University of Alaska Fairbanks Archives).

Figure 1.9. Tent warehouse moved to the new headquarters area from Riley Creek, 1927. Also note the 

dog sled (left) and possible dog house to the right of the warehouse (Estimate for Appropriation for Fiscal 

Year 1929, sent with cover letter from Karstens to NPS Director, May 2, 1927, National Archives and Records 

Administration, College Park, MD. RG79, B373 E7/ F301 Pt. 1).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

60

Figure 1.11. Map 3, which accompanied the descriptive report submitted by Superintendent Karstens to the NPS Director on 

December 29, 1925. The map depicts existing buildings as well as proposed construction, with shaded rectangles marking the park 

headquarters (Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection). 
61

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.12. View south of the superintendent’s offi ce or park offi ce (Building 22) in its original location along the south side of the park 

road, July 1, 1927. Note the sign above the porch entrance. This appears to be the same sign hung on the wood frame superintendent’s 

offi ce at the fi rst headquarters at Riley Creek (see Figure 1.5) (DENA 14976, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.13. View southwest of park headquarters buildings along the south side of the park road, c.1926. Buildings and structures from 

left to right: superintendent’s cabin, original offi ce (tent), clerk’s cabin, weather station structure, and chief ranger’s cabin. By the time 

this photograph was made, construction of the new park offi ce (Building 22) had been completed (beyond left border of photo). Note 

the openness of the landscape in front of the buildings, with only a few trees that “look attractive” adjacent to the buildings, as specifi ed 

by Karstens’ 1925 headquarters plan (Haskell Collection, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

62

Figure 1.14. View southwest of park headquarters buildings along the south side of the park road, 

1926. Buildings and structures from left to right: park offi ce (Building 22), superintendent’s cabin, 

clerk’s cabin, weather station structure, and chief ranger’s cabin. No longer needed, the original 

offi ce (tent) had been removed when this photograph was taken (Dartmouth College Library). 

Figure 1.15. Combination cook-house and cache (constructed in 1927) and miniature log cabin dog 

houses located to the east of the headquarters area (near the present location of Building 27), c. 

1928-1930 (Nyberg Photo Album, DENA 1501, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
63

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.16. Combination garage, workshop, and blacksmith shop located to the west of the wood frame barn (near the present 

Building 102), c. 1927-1930. Also note the tent structure on the right, the use of which is unknown. (Nyberg Photo Album, DENA 

1501, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.17. View east of park rangers erecting the fl ag pole at the intersection of the park road and the site of the main 

headquarters road, c. June 1926 to July 1927. Note the gravel park road on the left and the superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22) in 

the center (Karstens Library, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

64

Figure 1.18. Panoramic view of the park headquarters, showing fl ag pole installed at the intersection of the park road (foreground) and 

the main headquarters road (center, back of fl ag pole). Also note the park buildings, from left to right: superintendent’s offi ce (Building 

22), rangers’ cabin (center, distance), superintendent’s cabin, clerk’s cabin, and chief ranger’s cabin at far right (DENA 3555, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.19. View northwest of the warehouse (Building 101) built in 1928 and the ranger quarters (right) built in 1928-29, photo dates 

to c. 1929-1930 (DENA 1501, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
65

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.20. View southwest of the ranger’s quarters soon after construction, c1928-1929. Note the temporary 

structures in the background left, likely housing temporary laborers (DENA 4319, Denali National Park and Preserve 

Museum Collection).

Figure 1.21. View southeast of the barn (Building 106), prior to 1931. Note also a building or tent barely visible 

in the background to the left of the barn, whose use is unknown (DENA 3974, Denali National Park and Preserve 

Museum Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

66

Figure 1.22. View northeast of the superintendent’s residence (Building 1). Photographed by Joseph S. Dixon, 

Field Naturalist for the NPS, June 2, 1932 (DENA-70-4-34, Harpers Ferry Center).

Figure 1.23. View south down the main headquarters road, c. 1930. Note from right to left: superintendent’s 

cabin in the foreground, rangers’ quarters, warehouse (Building 101), and the combination garage, workshop 

and blacksmith shop. Also note what appears to be the roofl ine of the electric light shop (Building 110) under 

construction (far left). The logs piled between the superintendent’s cabin and the rangers’ quarters, as well 

as on the opposite side of the road, were probably for construction of the building (Candace Waugaman 

Collection, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collections).
67

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.24. View of original roof-to-roof electrical wiring between the original clerk’s cabin (left) and the 

superintendent’s cabin (converted into clerk’s cabin in 1930), prior to 1931 (Nyberg Photo Album, DENA 1501, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.25. Laborers’ cabin, undated, pre-1941 (Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

68

Figure 1.26. View southwest of the kennels and the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105). Photographed 

by Joseph S. Dixon, Field Naturalist for the NPS, June 2, 1932 (DENA-69-3-43, Harpers Ferry Center).

Figure 1.27. View northwest of the garage (Building 103), c. 1937 (DENA 3-33, Denali National Park and Preserve 

Museum Collection).
69

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.28. View northwest of the comfort station (Building 112) during construction. Photographed by 

Joseph S. Dixon, Field Naturalist for the NPS, May 29, 1932 (DENA-69-3-43, Harpers Ferry Center).

Figure 1.29. View of new utility poles carrying electric and telephone wires, 1932. Buildings depicted 

in the photograph include, from left to right: electric light house (Building 110), combination machine, 

workshop, blacksmith shop (original garage, workshop, and blacksmith shop, built in 1927), warehouse 

(Building 101), and rangers’ quarters (built in 1928). The main headquarters road (covered in snow) runs 

between the buildings (photo center) (DENA 3-34, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

70

Figure 1.30. View southwest of the employee’s quarters, c. 1935. The main headquarters road is in the 

foreground and the original clerk’s cabin is to the right. Note the laborers’ quarters (right, original clerk’s 

quarters built in 1925) utility lines and the stones bordering the road. The two buildings to the left may 

be the garage (far left, Building 103) and the laborers’ quarters (Building 6) (National Archives and Records 

Administration, College Park, MD).

Figure 1.31. View northwest of the rangers’ dorm (Building 21), c. 1935-1940. The main headquarters road is in 

the foreground (DENA 10485, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
71

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.32. Headquarters Master Plan, 1933 (National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD., Cartographic and 

Architectural Records).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

72

Figure 1.33. Headquarters Master Plan, 1938 (National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD., Cartographic and 

Architectural Records).
73

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.34. Oblique 1935 aerial photograph of park headquarters area. Note the unimproved quality of roads in the 

eastern half of the headquarters area. Also note the wagon-turn at the terminus of the north-south headquarters road 

(DENA 3906, Lincoln Washburn photograph, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection). 

Figure 1.35. View northwest of CCC crew standing in front of employee residence (Building 12), c. 1938 (NPS, Alaska 

Regional Offi ce fi les).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

74

Figure 1.36. View southwest of CCC crew reconstructing the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), August 

1938 (Ickes Collection, B75-175-295, Anchorage Museum of History & Art). 

Figure 1.37. View south of the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), 1939. Note the dog kennels on the 

right, and what appears to be a water spigot at left (NPS, Alaska Regional Offi ce, LCS fi les). 
75

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.38. View west of the completed dog kennels, August 1938 (Ickes Collection, B75-175-303, 

Anchorage Museum of History & Art).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

76

Figure 1.39. “Plan of Two Car Garage and Storage Shed,” Branch of Plans and Design, July 12, 1938. Map depicts 

the location of the superintendent’s garage and the stone retaining wall with steps. Also note the existing features 

associated with the superintendent’s residence (Building 1, built 1929) including an existing stone wall (to be 

removed), a driveway and terraced walk to the front door, and a fence (to be moved) (DENA 4600, Denali National 

Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
77

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.40. View west of CCC enrollees at work during construction of the superintendent’s garage (Building 

111), 1939. Note the retaining wall (111A) on the right (DENA 3-5, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection).

Figure 1.41. View southwest of the machine shop and garage (Building 102), June 28, 1939 (DENA 3-1, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

78

Figure 1.42. View to west of the two employee residences (Building 12 and Building 13), 1939. Note the small spruce 

trees planted by the CCC, the drive leading to Building 12, and the road in the foreground. This road, constructed in 1932, 

originally led to the dog kennels before the kennels were moved in 1939 (NPS, Alaska Regional Offi ce, Regional Cultural 

Resources (RCR) program fi les).
79

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.43. Detail of 1939 plan of park headquarters area and adjacent CCC camp. Late in arriving to Alaska, the Civilian Conservation 

Corps program was active for only two years within the park. NPS-TIC 184-5308. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

80

Figure 1.44. Detail from the 1939, “Administrative Area Utilities Layout, Part of the Master Plan for Mt. McKinley National Park.” This 

well-crafted drawing depicts both existing and proposed features of the park headquarters area. Curiously, neither this or the previous 

drawing (Fig. 1.43) indicate the location of the barn (Bldg. 106), which may have been slated for demolition with the arrival of the 

automobile age (National Archives and Records Administration, Cartographic Branch, College Park, Maryland). 
81

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.45. View to southwest of the superintendent’s residence on fi re, October 23, 1939 (National Archives and Records Administration, 

College Park, MD).

Figure 1.46. View northwest of concrete forms in place for construction of the new employee’s residence basement (Building 23), August 

1940. Depicted in the background is one of the two employee residences built in 1939 (Building 13) (National Archives and Records 

Administration, College Park, MD).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

82

Figure 1.47. View to the south, of the employee’s residence (Building 23) during construction, September 1941 (Denali National Park and 

Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.48. Weather proof fi re hose box and hose connections, c. May 1940. A note attached to the original photo from a 

superintendent’s monthly report, dated the same month, remarked “weather proof fi re hose box and hose connections installed at 

buildings supplied with water.” Depicted is one of the two employee’s residences (Building 12 or 13) built by the CCC in 1938 (National 

Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD).
83

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.49. “Proposed Park Headquarters Trail,” 1940 (NP-McK 5310-A, Denver Service Center, Technical 

Information Center 5310).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

84
Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

1941 Period Plan

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Figure 1.50

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. Headquarters and Administration Build 1925

2. Two Car Garage & Storage Shed, July 1938

3. Administration Area Utilities Layout, 1-1-1937

4. Administration Area Utilities Layout, 1-1-1938

5. Administration Area Utilities Layout, 1-1-1939

6. Headquarters Area Fluid Systems, Jan. 1942 

7. Aerial photographs (1935, 1937, 1938, 1947, 2004)

8. Historic photographs (1925 to 1941)

Approximate Scale

Existing Building

Existing Circulation

Drainage Ditch

110

one-car

garage

(original

superintendent's

office)

employee's

residences

employee's

residence

employee's

cabin

(laborers' cabin)

barn

boiler

house

114

coal shed

comfort

station

(original 

clerk's 

cabin)

(original chief

ranger's cabin)

warehouse coal

shed

garage

108

oil and

gas house

machine shop

and garage

dog feed cache 

and cookhouse

dog kennels

drainage ditch

drainage ditch

drainage ditch

superintendent's

garage

rangers' 

dorm one-car

garage

administration

bldg. (original

employee's 

quarters)

3

water

closet

water

closet

flag

pole

park road

service court

main headquarters road

former kennel location

dump

park road

unimproved wagon road

103 101

106

102

21

23

107

6

22

111

12

13

50

105

50

Creek

Rock

SITE HISTORY

87 

SITE HISTORY - WORLD WAR II TO PRESENT 

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF PARK HEADQUARTERS, 1942-2006 

World War II and Post War Development (1942-1955) 

The United States entered into World War II following the attack on Pearl 

Harbor in December 1941. As a result, federal funds formerly designated for 

national park operations became severely restricted. Agency appropriations 

went from a pre-war high of $33,577,000 in 1940, to $4,740,000 in 1945.1

 Mt. 

McKinley National Park's budget cuts were possibly less severe than those 

imposed elsewhere because the park served several valuable wartime functions. 

Also, practically speaking, there would have been less funding to cut in the Mt. 

McKinley budget as the park never had been staffed or funded as well as other 

more highly visited national parks in the lower forty-eight states. Nevertheless, 

the loss of staff inducted into the armed forces had its effect on park operations. 

Among those leaving for service in the armed forces was Superintendent Been 

who left the park in 1943. Filling his position as Acting Superintendent was Grant 

Pearson, a former ranger who had served in the park for over ten years during the 

1920s and 1930s. Adding to these significant changes was the dramatic decrease 

in non-military recreational users. Because of Alaska’s strategic location and its 

defense vulnerabilities, the War Department closed Alaska to tourist travel in 

December 1941.2

 

In 1941, the park began its war-time role as a site to test winter military 

equipment, and in 1943 it opened the Mt. McKinley U.S. Army Recreation Camp, 

housed in the McKinley Park Hotel. Between the spring of 1943 and the spring 

of 1945, over 11,000 members of the armed services and civilian defense workers 

took furlough at the park.3

A small drawing of the park headquarters area appearing as an inset on a larger 

master plan drawing dated January 1942 well captures both the state of facilities 

development and identifies proposals for the future (Figure 1.51). In this 1942 

sketch, proposed measures appear as dashed lines. Many of the proposals 

depicted remain consistent with the master planning of the late 1930s, including a 

group of single-family residences arranged around a teardrop shaped circuit 

road, as well as a large apartment building. The 1942 drawing omits placing the 

large visitor parking lot at the intersection of the park road and the headquarters 

road, and for the first time indicates the creation of a materials storage area east 

of the wagon-turn terminus of the north-south headquarters road. This drawing 

also appears to call for upgrading the unimproved pathways routed past the 

boiler building and the barn into actual roadways. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

88 

In 1943, Company F of the 176th Engineers completed a number of projects 

throughout the park, including at the headquarters. That summer, the engineers 

improved utilities, razed old log structures, moved a garage, and remodeled 

buildings to serve new uses. Utility improvements included extending the 

telephone line from park headquarters to the McKinley Park Hotel, installing a 

return steam line, and extending the sewer line. The “old cabins” removed were 

the original clerk’s cabin (Building 3) and the chief ranger’s cabin, both built of 

salvaged building materials from the Riley Creek headquarters site or otherwise 

from abandoned railroad camps between 1925 and 1926.4

 According to Acting 

Superintendent Pearson, these cabins were “unsightly objects without sanitary 

facilities and, being located near the park road, were eyesores to every passing 

visitor. They [are] of no historical value.”5

 

During WWII, military engineers also moved the temporary one-car garage, built 

in war-time during 1943, (Building 50) standing east of the rangers’ dorm on the 

other side of the headquarters road (Building 21) to the rear of the machine shop 

and garage (Building 102). According to Acting Superintendent Pearson, the 

garage was moved so that it would be “out of sight and no longer a fire hazard.”6

 

Several buildings were also remodeled during this period—at least one with 

assistance from the engineers. The warehouse (Building 101) was remodeled. 

The administration building (Building 11) was converted back to its original use 

as an employee’s residence by park staff (Figure 1.52 - 1.54). The 

superintendent’s garage (Building 111) was converted into the new 

administrative building by engineers (Figure 1.55). The original superintendent’s 

office, located at the intersection of the main park road and headquarters road 

spur (Building 22), was converted for use as a park museum.7

 In May 1944, 

Acting Superintendent Pearson reported, “some landscaping [done] around our 

log museum.”8

 

A significant change during this war-time period was the use of mechanized 

vehicles rather than dog sleds for winter patrols. Superintendent Been 

considered eliminating the use of dog sled teams, as early as 1940 and by 1943 a 

reduction in the number of dogs within the park was underway. For the duration 

of the war, the park terminated the use of sled dogs, for a time effectively ending 

the popular sled dog demonstrations at park headquarters.9

As the end of World War II neared, National Park Service Director Newton B. 

Drury directed Region Four Landscape Architect Alfred C. Kuehl to conduct 

surveys and planning studies in five National Park Service areas in Alaska, 

including Mt. McKinley National Park, from which to base postwar development 

plans.10 In response, during February of 1946, Kuehl submitted a prioritized list 

of thirty projects for Mt. McKinley National Park to the territory's Governor 

Gruening, including thirteen projects within the headquarters area. Foremost on 

this list of proposed projects was headquarters utility systems work, including 

providing a new power and boiler house, upgrading the water system, and 
SITE HISTORY

89 

improving the sewage system. The cold winters had continually disrupted utility 

services since the 1930s, despite numerous efforts to make improvements. 

Additional headquarters projects found on Kuehl's list included an extension to 

the telephone line, repair of the dog kennels, construction of two 

superintendent’s residences, a gas and oil storage house, coal sheds, an 

incinerator, and a storage building.11

In March 1945, crews moved an infirmary building (Building 123) from the 

nearby CCC camp to headquarters and converted it into a carpentry and paint 

shop. In the years immediately following the end of the war, park staff repaired 

and renovated deteriorated existing buildings as scarce Federal funding made 

new construction impossible. 

As horses were no longer used at headquarters, crews converted the barn 

(Building 106) into a carpentry shop (Figure 1.56). The former carpentry and 

paint shop, originally the CCC infirmary (Building 123), was remade as 

temporary quarters for the park biologist (Figure 1.57). Between 1948 and 1949, 

crews further improved Building 123 to serve as a year-round residence. The 

residence, referenced as “Quarters 24” in the superintendent’s March 1949 

monthly report, was placed at the perimeter of the service court, west of the 

garage (Building 103).12 Additional buildings repaired and renovated during this 

early post-war period included the employee’s quarters (Building 11), the 

laborers’ quarters (Building 6) (Figure 1.58), and employee’s residence (Building 

23). Upon completion of renovations, Acting Superintendent and Mrs. Pearson 

moved into Building 23 and the handsome log structure became known as the 

superintendent's residence).13 

Utilities improved and repaired during this period included the telephone system 

and the water and sewer systems. In August of 1946, Acting Superintendent 

Pearson reported the headquarters telephone line had been buried because of 

recent outages caused by severe wind storms. Presumably this was the telephone 

line installed by the military in 1943, since all other lines had been buried earlier 

by the CCC in 1939.14 Regarding the condition of the water and sewer systems, 

Superintendent Frank Been returned to the park following his war-time service 

and reporting what he found upon his return in February of 1947: 

The sins of little or no maintenance during war years were wreaked upon us. As 

soon as the temperature rose to make safe pumping to the reservoir, we found leaks 

in water lines and steam lines and frozen sewer and water lines. All hands struggled 

... and were working at the month’s end to do makeshift repairs...”15

With limited funds, park personnel fought to keep the systems operating, 

routinely repairing sections of the “decayed and earth-choked...plank 

utilidor.”16 In 1948, with specially allotted funds, rehabilitation of the sewer and 

water systems began. By that June, most of the sawdust-filled underground 

timber utility corridor had been uncovered. In August Superintendent Been 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

90 

reported “excellent progress” had been made rehabilitating the systems and the 

trenches were nearly ready for backfill.17

During the 1950 fiscal year, prior to the outbreak of the Korean War, the park 

received increased appropriations to fund its first new construction projects 

since the beginning of World War II. Over the next five years, headquarters 

projects included construction of four new employee’s residences, an equipment 

storage shed, utility improvements, new roads, and a trail. 

Contractors built four one-story frame single-family employee’s residences in the 

long-planned residential area at the base of the slope east of the main 

headquarters road between 1949 and 1952. Beginning in October 1949, the 

Alaska Road Commission, the park's longstanding partner, excavated basements 

for two of the new employee’s residences (Building 26 and Building 27) and in 

May 1950 contractors resumed construction work on these residences with the 

arrival of spring weather. Both dwellings were completed by November 1950 

(Figure 1.59). Construction of the third employee’s residence (Building 28) was 

underway by September 1950 and construction of the fourth employee’s 

residence (Building 34) by September 1951. Both were completed between 1951 

and 1952. 18

The four new residences, designed by National Park Service architect Cecil Doty 

(1907-1990), who had been successful designing in the Park Service Rustic style, 

represented a fundamental departure from pre-war designs, and portended even 

greater stylistic changes for the future. Doty perceived his involvement in this 

agency-wide stylistic shift as part of the changing social and political climate in 

the post-war United States. Citing the technological and engineering 

achievements of the 20th century as the influences leading to the adoption of new 

design values, Doty would wonder, "How could you help but to go away from 

that board-and-batten stuff."19 

Other than Director Wirth, Thomas Vint, Herb Maier and others within the 

bureau leadership who promoted the shift toward Modernism, field personnel 

were not often ready to embrace the result. Mt. McKinley's own Superintendent 

Grant Pearson was less than pleased with Doty's designs for the park's new 

residences, offering a harsh critique soon after the completion of Buildings 26 

and 27. 

The new quarters are very comfortable, roomy and light. Unfortunately from the 

outside they look very much like tool sheds on a construction job. They are squat, 

ugly and look as foreign to the scenery of Mt McKinley National Park as would 

[be] the Empire State Building.20

Additional housing units were created between 1953 and 1954 at park 

headquarters when Building 12 and Building 13 were converted into two-unit 

apartments. Even more space was made available when six house trailers were 

delivered and sited for seasonal employee use. The Alaska Road Commission 
SITE HISTORY

91 

delivered four of the trailers in July 1953 and placed them in a row along the east 

side of the main headquarters road, across from the garage and repair shop 

(Building 102) and the warehouse (Building 101). The two remaining house 

trailers were delivered to the park the following year, yet their location or 

placement remains unknown.21

Additional park housing was necessary in order to serve a growing work force 

following the war. Yet as the first of these new housing units were becoming 

available for occupancy in November of 1950, a fire caused by faulty wiring 

destroyed Building 11 which had long met housing needs within the headquarters 

area (Figure 1.60).22

The only other building known to have been lost during this period was the 

original dog feed cache and cookhouse (built 1926, replaced in 1929 by Building 

105), razed during the summer of 1950. According to Superintendent Pearson, 

the structure was removed because it was a “hazard.”23 The structure’s location 

in 1950 is unknown. If it stood on its original location it may also have been 

removed to make way for construction of the four new employee’s residences 

(Buildings 26, 27, 28, and 34), built on the site of the earlier dog kennels, which 

were moved to their existing site in 1939. 

An equipment storage building (Building 118) was built at the end of this period. 

Private contractors built the six-stall concrete block building in 1955, adjacent to 

the west wall of the machine shop and garage (Building 102).24

Utility improvements included repair and extension of the water and sewer lines, 

the construction of a new water reservoir, and installation of overhead power 

lines. With assistance from the Alaska Railroad, excavation for the new 50,000 

gallon reservoir began in July 1950 and by August the footings had been poured 

(Figure 1.61). Construction of the reservoir was completed in 1951, and in 

August 1953 a new water pumping system and pump house (Building 127) was 

installed (Figure 1.62). In 1955, installation of six hundred feet of steel pipe 

replaced old wooden lines. Overhead power lines connecting all residences were 

installed by May 1953.25 

New headquarters roads and a trail built between 1950 and 1955 included a road 

to access the new reservoir (north of the main park road), a teardrop shaped loop 

road joining the new employee’s residences (Buildings 26, 27, 28, and 34), and a 

trail leading from headquarters to the McKinley Park Hotel. The Alaska Road 

Commission built the bituminous loop road and driveways during the 1953 fiscal 

year.26 Construction of the two and one-half mile trail from the headquarters to 

the hotel, also built by the Alaska Road Commission, was based on a plan 

completed in 1952 by the NPS Branch of Plans and Designs. The 1952 plan 

followed large portions of the 1940 plan for the trail prepared before WWII by 

the NPS Branch of Engineering.27 It differed at its eastern end, where it met the 

hotel, and at its western end, where it entered the headquarters. Unlike the 1940s 

plan that followed the southern edge of the park road within the current historic 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

92 

district, the proposed 1952 plan crossed the park road just east of its intersection 

with the main headquarters road, also within the current historic district. The 

trail is currently known as the Rock Creek Trail. 

In addition to the conversion of employee’s residences (Building 12 and Building 

13) into two-unit apartments, a number of buildings were also renovated and 

adapted for new uses between 1950 and 1954. The most notable building 

affected was the original superintendent’s office (Building 22), in use since 1943 

as the park museum and the last of the pre-1928 Karstens era headquarters 

buildings still extant. In 1950, due to defects in the foundation which rendered 

the building unsafe for public use, the museum was closed and the building was 

moved to the service court (west of Building 102) for use as a construction office 

and then as the naturalist’s workshop and office (Figure 1.63). The building 

would remain at this location for two years, until it was moved again, this time 

north of the park road, east of the administrative building (Building 111, original 

superintendent’s garage) (Figure 1.64). At the new location, Building 22 served as 

the park naturalist’s workshop and office, and as a museum display area. 

The following year, crews converted the one-car garage, which was originally the 

electric light plant (Building 110), into a food cache. Renovations included a new 

concrete floor, door repair and rewiring.28 In 1954, the naturalist’s office 

relocated to the administrative building (Building 111) and the interior of the 

Karsten's era Building 22 was renovated for use once again as museum exhibit 

space.29 The same year, park administrative offices were relocated from the 

garage-turned-administrative building (Building 111) to the recently renovated 

rangers’ dorm (Building 21). The former administrative building became the park 

visitor contact office.30 

One of the most welcome changes from the viewpoint of park visitors was the 

return of the park's sled dogs. In March 1949, Superintendent Pearson reported 

the most commonly asked questions by visitors was “Why don’t you keep sled 

dogs?”31 In September 1950, the park acquired a team of seven dogs for short 

patrol use in sections of the park inaccessible to motorized vehicles. These were 

the first working dogs in the park since the early 1940s. The following month 

“everyone in the park” watched as park rangers hooked up the dogs and began to 

break in the team.32 By December 1950, sled dog demonstrations had resumed at 

headquarters. In 1952 crews rehabilitated the old dog kennels. Three years later, 

major kennel renovation was pursued. 33 The north row of kennels and a portion 

of the south row were removed and only the eastern section of the remaining row 

was extant in 1963 and were probably rebuilt (Figures 1.65-1.66). Rows of 

doghouses without pens occupied the vacated kennel areas. 
SITE HISTORY

93 

Auto Tourism and the Park Mission-66 Program (1956-1966) 

The completion of the Denali Highway in 1957, running from Paxton to Cantwell 

and to the park’s entrance, opened Mt. McKinley National Park to automobile 

tourism. With the completion of the George Parks Highway (Alaska Highway 3) 

from Anchorage to Fairbanks in 1972, the portion of the Denali Highway to the 

park’s entrance became part of the George Parks Highway. As a result of the two 

highways (1957 and 1972) automobile tourism to the park became the primary 

mode of transportation marking the end of the “old-style” railroad park.34

The post-war National Park Service Mission 66 program resulted in additional 

development of the Mt. McKinley National Park headquarters area. Conceived 

of by National Park Service Director Conrad Wirth during the early 1950s and 

approved by President Eisenhower in 1956, the Mission 66 program funded a 

long-range development effort for national parks throughout the country. The 

ten-year program was established in anticipation of 1966, the year the National 

Park Service would celebrate its 50th anniversary and when most of the projects 

were scheduled for completion.35 One of the fundamental goals of the program 

as stated in the report “Mission 66 for Mount McKinley National Park” was to 

“correct present day deficiencies and to prepare for the increase in visitation and 

its attendant problems due to the opening of the park to automobile traffic.”36 

Prior to the opening of the Denali Highway, which the park Mission 66 

prospectus indicated would occur in July 1957, few visitors traveled to the park in 

personal automobiles. Before that time, most arrived by railroad or by tour bus. 

Even prior to President Eisenhower's oblique reference to the Mission 66 

program in his 1956 State of the Union Address, the National Park Service had 

already prepared ambitious plans toward remaking the Mt. McKinley National 

Park headquarters area (Figure 1.67). As early as March of 1955, a new master 

plan was proposed for park headquarters and approved by Director Wirth and 

Thomas Vint. The new master plan continued to recommend many elements 

proposed years earlier, but the 1955 drawing is most interesting for the way in 

which its aims to eliminate visitor traffic from park administrative and residential 

areas. This plan proposes closing the north-south headquarters spur road at its 

intersection off of the main park road, and confining park visitor automobile 

traffic to a large new parking lot constructed immediately adjacent to the main 

park road. The location of the proposed visitor parking lot, paired with a 

proposed large new administration building located nearby, had been a 

prominent feature of the park's plans for its headquarters since the 1930s. 

However, as growing numbers of visitors were projected to soon begin arriving in 

personal automobiles, park planners are likely to have considered the impacts of 

increased auto traffic as they developed their plan. With the straight central 

headquarters road marked for closure, and the nearby bridge over Rock Creek 

proposed for reconstruction following a more generous radius curve to 

accommodate higher speeds, the 1955 master plan proposed that all access to the 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

94 

headquarters area be via the eastern residential quarter of the existing 

headquarters development. In an effort to reduce return traffic through the 

residential area, the plan provided a second means of egress by way of a new 

access road for service vehicles as a western extension of the existing service 

court. 

Ultimately, the north-south headquarters spur road remained opened. Perhaps 

park employees who would be impacted by greater traffic routed past their 

homes successfully argued against the measure. While neither the closure of the 

central headquarters road, nor the large administration building were completed, 

many elements of the plan were implemented, including the new western service 

road, extending from the service court, as well as the new visitor parking lot near 

the main park road. 

In 1956, one year after the new master plan for the park headquarters area was 

approved, the proposed new visitor parking lot became the subject of further 

design studies (Figure 1.68). The NPS Region Four - Western Office of Design 

and Construction, Branch of Landscape Architecture completed a plan, crosssection and site details for the proposed visitor parking lot in May of 1956. The 

plan of the proposed parking lot, except for its provision to close the 

headquarters spur road, is conceptually consistent with the lot that was 

ultimately constructed. However, it is in review of the accompanying crosssection diagram that explains the more widespread landscape changes resulting 

from both the proposed parking lot and the proposed new Rock Creek Bridge. 

The proposed construction of the new bridge over Rock Creek downstream from 

the current bridge placed the new bridge approximately fifteen feet lower than 

the existing bridge. In order to make up this difference in elevation, and to 

seamlessly tie back into existing grades further west, the surface of the main park 

road and its intersection with the headquarters spur road needed to be lowered 

by approximately seven feet. 

The Mission 66 prospectus for Mt. McKinley National Park also listed 

infrastructural improvements necessary to directly, or indirectly enhance visitor 

services, including construction and renovation of employee housing, offices, 

shops, garages, warehouses, and utility systems. According to the park Mission 

66 prospectus, all development “... shall complement rather than supplement the 

scene” and “must be in harmony architecturally with the surrounding area.” This 

appears to have been more of a sentiment than a reality, at least within the 

headquarters area, as Mission 66 buildings reflected more the design aesthetic of 

Cecil Doty's four modern one-story frame employee’s residences (Buildings 26, 

27, 28, and 34) constructed in the early 1950s, than the late 1920s to early 1940s 

rustic style buildings. In support of the ambitious program of Mission 66 funded 

infrastructural improvements, the National Park Service arranged to have the 

headquarters site surveyed in 1957 by the Army Corps of Engineers. The 
SITE HISTORY

95 

resulting drawing gives good account of the state of development at park 

headquarters just prior to undertaking the planned improvements (Figure 1.69). 

Headquarters construction during the Mission 66 period finally implemented 

many of the projects that had been proposed during the 1930s. These included a 

new visitor parking area near the main park road, an apartment building, two 

residential garages, a new boiler house, and two buildings of unknown original 

use. The new visitor parking area was constructed adjacent to the park road, in 

the approximate location of the original superintendent’s cabin (built 1925, razed 

1933) and the original clerk’s cabin (Building 3, built 1925, razed 1943). The plan 

for the parking area is depicted in Figure 1.68, which indicates the intended 

surface was asphalt, but that the first surface would have been gravel. 

Construction of the parking area was completed by October 1959.37 

By June 1958, contractor J.M. Warrack Co. of Anchorage had begun construction 

of the clapboard-sided six-unit apartment building (Building 51) and the 

clapboard-sided six-stall garage (Building 53). Both were constructed in the 

residential area along the loop road. By the end of the year, both were nearing 

completion (Figure 1.70).38 A second garage with three stalls (Building 217) was 

built in the residential area by 1966, next to the employees residence (Building 

12).39 The new boiler house (Building 54) was constructed in an area south of the 

residential area between 1960 and 1961.40 The original use of the remaining two 

buildings constructed during this period is unknown. The current exercise room 

known as “The Downunder” (Building 59) was built in 1962 in the residential 

area along the loop road.41 

The current dispatch and library (Building 141) was built in 1958 immediately 

west of the park administrative building (Building 21) which was the original 

rangers’ dorm. Further investigation may reveal Building 141 incorporates 

elements of the original log laborers quarters (Building 6). Building 141 

continued to be labeled “Building 6” on maps and park inventories well into the 

1970s, including the “General Development, Part of the Master Plan, Mount 

McKinley National Park, NP-MCK 2013-A,” and the 1979 “Base Map, 

Headquarters Area, Mount McKinley National Park.” On the base map, Building 

6 appears in the same configuration as the current Building 141. 

Also constructed during the Mission 66 period was the first sled dog 

demonstration trail. Prior to construction of the trail, dog teams were simply run 

through the service area. Describing the pre-trail conditions, Superintendent 

Duane D. Jacobs stated “Summer dog sledding . . . is not a safe and sane activity, 

but visitors like it—just as they like bull fights in Mexico.”42 The new trail, “built 

primarily to provide a safe trail for the naturalists-mushers” was constructed in 

1958. It looped northeast from the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) 

to the main headquarters road—entering the road south of the carpentry shop 

(Building 107, original barn) (Figure 1.71). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

96 

Buildings renovated between 1956 and 1966 for new uses including the park 

contact office (Building 111, original superintendent’s garage), the museum 

(Building 22, original superintendent’s office), the food cache (Building 110, 

original electric light plant), and the garage (Building 103). In 1960, the park 

contact office (Building 111) and the museum (Building 22) were both converted 

into seasonal employees residences.43 Three years prior, the park contact office 

(Building 111) was closed, the park naturalist and chief ranger moved their offices 

into the administration building (Building 21). In 1959, the park naturalist moved 

his office again, this time to the food cache (Building 110, original electric light 

shop), renovated for office use.44 In 1963, the garage (Building 103) was 

converted into a heavy duty equipment repair shop, upgrading the “cold, dark, 

floorless” condition of the previously unaltered 1931 building.45 

Additional changes within the headquarters included installation of a new 

weather station, two house trailers for use as seasonal employee’s residences, and 

new fire hydrants and hoses, and relocation of two buildings. During 1959, in 

keeping with a long-standing tradition of making-do with what is readily 

available, a portion of an old building formerly used by the Alaska Road 

Commission was moved to park headquarters and placed near the visitor parking 

lot. This was to be used as a temporary exhibit room and information center. 

The temporary entrance station remained at headquarters until at least 1962.46 

The following year, the employee’s residence (Building 123, original infirmary at 

CCC camp) was relocated from the service area to across from the administration 

building (Building 21, original rangers’ dorm) along the main headquarters 

road.47

During 1965 and 1966, the park undertook a major clean-up project within the 

headquarters and around the McKinley Park Hotel. The project included 

removal of “old horse-drawn wagon parts and earthmoving equipment . . . which 

must surely have been discarded during the first construction in this area 

sometime in the 20s and 30s.” In July 1965, Superintendent Oscar T. Dick 

commented, “No embarrassment need be felt now when showing the area to 

visitors. Now neat and orderly.”48 

In 1966, the park prepared a building inventory, as part of a new master planning 

effort. 49 At least twenty-eight buildings and structures (list did not include dog 

kennels and house trailers) on the list were located within the headquarters.50 Of 

these, at least nineteen were located within the current Mt. McKinley 

Headquarters Historic District, and twelve (possibly fourteen) were marked “to 

be obliterated” (Table 1.4). Of the buildings and structures recommended for 

demolition, nine (possibly ten—if Building 6 was incorporated within Building 

141) remain today—eight of which contribute to the significance of the historic 

district. 

. 
SITE HISTORY

97 

TABLE 1.4 HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS – 1966 

BUILDING BUILT NOTES 

Administration 

administration building (Building 

21)*

1934-1935 original rangers’ dorm 

Residential 

 seasonal employees’ residence 

(Building 22) 1925-1926 original superintendent’s office (relocated) 

employees’ residence – 2 apartments 

(Building 12) 1938 original employee’s residence 

employees’ residence – 2 apartments 

(Building 13) 1938 original employee’s residence 

seasonal employees’ residence 

(Building 111) 1939 original superintendent’s garage 

 employee’s residence (Building 123) c. 1938-39 original CCC infirmary, moved to 

headquarters in 1945 

employees’ residence – 2 apartments 

(Building 23) 1940-43 original employee’s residence 

employee’s residence (Building 26) 1949-1950 

employee’s residence (Building 27) 1949-1950 

employee’s residence (Building 28) 1951-1952 

employee’s residence (Building 34) 1951-1952 

apartment building (Building 51) 1958-1959 

house trailers (up to 8) 1953-1964 

Service/Visitor Service 

warehouse (Building 101)* 1928 

carpentry shop (Building 106)* 1929 original barn 

dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105) 1929 relocated in 1938 

storage building (Building 110)* 1930-1931 original electric light shop 

sign shop (Building 6 and/or 141)* 1958 

dog kennels and pens 1955 

boiler house (Building 107)* 1931-1932 

heavy duty equipment repair shop 

(Building 103)* 1931 original garage 

storage shed (Building 50)* 1938 original one-car garage - temporary 

construction (relocated) 

oil and gas house (Building 108)* by c. 1940-

41 

possibly the oil and gas house built c. 1931 

(originally stood back of Building 102) 

relocated c. 1940-1941. 

comfort station (Building 112)* 1932 

machine shop and garage (Building 

102) 1939 

pump house (Building 127) 1953 along Rock Creek 

equipment storage building (Building 

118) 1955 

fuel storage (Building 117) + by 1958 

garage – six stall (Building 52) 1958-1959 

boiler house (Building 54) 1960-1961 

garage – 3 stall (Building 217) by 1966 

storage building (Building 120)* + by 1966 location unknown 

storage building (Building 121)* + by 1966 location unknown 

* Marked “to be obliterated” on the 1966 building inventory. 

+Inconsistencies (existing or proposed) between 1966 building inventory and period maps. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

98 

Contemporary Development (1967-2006) 

Between 1967 and 1979, seven headquarters buildings were renovated for new 

uses, including three service buildings converted into offices. This type of 

conversion became a trend that continued into the 2000s, as the use of the older 

service buildings became obsolete. The three new office buildings included the 

storage building (Building 110, original electric light shop) converted into the 

East District Ranger Station (1975), the heavy duty equipment repair shop 

(Building 103, original garage) converted into the West District Ranger Station 

(1978), and the warehouse (Building 101) converted into the naturalist’s office 

(1978). Of the four remaining buildings, one was converted into a seasonal 

employees’ residence in 1967 (Building 112, comfort station) and three retained 

their original use as service buildings: boiler house (Building 107) converted into 

the plumbing shop (1970), carpentry shop (Building 106, original barn) converted 

into the paint shop (1978, after interior destroyed by fire), and the garage and 

repair shop (Building 102) converted into the carpentry shop (c. 1978).51

In the 1980s, two significant events took place that shaped future park 

development. In 1980, the park boundary was increased to more than six million 

acres after passage of the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act 

(ANILCA) and the park was renamed Denali National Park and Preserve. Seven 

years later, the National Register of Historic Places accepted the nomination of 

the Mt. McKinley National Park Headquarters District. The district 

encompasses the historic core of the park headquarters, developed between 1924 

and 1941. 

Prior to National Register designation, three new residences were built within the 

residential area along the loop road (outside the historic district): two 

"Panabode" type houses in 1983 (Building 169 and Building 170) and a modular 

home in 1985 (Building 171).52 Additional changes included renovation of two 

seasonal employee’s residences—one into a year round employee’s residence 

(Building 111, original superintendent’s garage) in 1980 (Figure 1.72) and the 

other into the concessions office (Building 112, original comfort station) in 1986. 

Between 1980 and 1981, two additions were built on to the equipment storage 

building (Building 118), a workshop adjacent to the south wall and an ambulance 

bay and office space adjacent to the west wall.53 These two additions were 

demolished in 2005 owing to substandard foundations, and the ambulance 

parking was moved to the park's "C-Camp." A new structure was added onto the 

west wall of Bldg. 118, including downstairs and upstairs offices and equipment 

storage for the Fire Management staff. 

Following National Register designation, eleven historically significant buildings 

were rehabilitated. Of the eleven buildings, three were converted from service 

buildings into office space. These included, the paint shop in 2000 (Building 106, 

original barn), the plumbing shop in 2002 (Building 107, original boiler house), 
SITE HISTORY

99 

and the carpenter shop also in 2002 (Building 102, original garage and repair 

shop). The remaining seven buildings renovated between 1985 and 2007 

included the concessions office (Building 112, original comfort station) and the 

West District Ranger Station (Building 103, original garage) in 1989; the 

naturalist’s office (Building 101, warehouse) in 1982, 1994 and once again in 

2006; the employee’s residence (Building 22, original superintendent’s office) in 

1995; the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) in 1998, the employees' 

residence (Building 23) in 1999; two employees’ residences (Building 12 and 

Building 13) in 2005; and the West District Ranger Station (Building 103, original 

garage) in 2007 (Figure 1.74).54 Additional structural changes between 1987 and 

2007 included renovation of the dog kennels and the sled dog demonstration 

area, construction of two new employee’s residences. One of these, Bldg. 251, 

constructed during 1994-1995 inside the National Register of Historic Places 

district, was built using rustic design elements, helping this new building to blend 

in with its setting (Figure 1.74). 

By 1997, crews rehabilitated the dog kennels and sled dog demonstration area. 

Part of this work included the relocation of six dog houses from a line east of the 

Kennel Cache (Bldg. 105), where the friendliest and most approachable of the 

dogs were kept, to a new third row of dog houses west of the Kennel Cache. 

Further improvements at this time included a 144’ long three-tiered visitor 

viewing stand, and a new dog sled demonstration trail. The new demonstration 

trail was constructed in the general location of the former 1958 trail, but was 

reconfigured for safer use. The three-tiered visitor viewing stand was 

constructed on a portion of the road to the kennels constructed by the CCC in 

1938, east of the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105). 

A staff residence (Building 251) was built in 1994, being the only post-1950 

residence not constructed along the loop road to the east, and within the historic 

district. The following year a duplex residence (Building 252 a & b) was built 

along the boiler plant driveway. The storage shed (Building 50, original 

temporary one-car garage built in 1938) was removed in 2000.55 National 

Register documentation identified Building 50 as a non-contributing building. 

Circulation projects completed after 1987 included improving a path from the 

visitor parking lot to the sled dog demonstration area; widening the service road 

running west from the park service area to the park road; and construction of a 

small vegetative island at the southern end of the loop road.56 

In 2004 the park implemented a fuel load reduction plan in the headquarters area. 

Documented in a 2001 report entitled, “Cultural Landscape Rehabilitation Plan, 

Vegetative Evaluation for Coordination with the Park Fire Management 

Strategy,” the objectives were to eliminate vegetation to more closely reflect the 

historic character of the district while also applying “firewise” management 

principles. The firewise strategy, removing all flammable vegetation within thirty 

feet of all structures, was balanced with the desire to retain some of the mature 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

100 

trees within the district, resulting in the removal of approximately two-thirds of 

the over story vegetation. As a result, distant views, admired by Karstens in the 

1920s, were partially restored. 

In the early 2000s, the park initiated a repaving program in the headquarters area. 

The overall paved area was increased to respond to drainage and erosion issues, 

snow plowing requirements, and the need for more parking spaces. As noted in 

the 2004 Cultural Landscape Inventory, the increased paving resulted in an 

adverse effect on the historic district.57 This change in character prompted the 

development of this cultural landscape report and treatment recommendations. 

The next chapter presents an overview of the existing conditions of the 

headquarters area. 
SITE HISTORY

101 

TABLE 1.5 HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS – 2007 

BUILDING BUILT NOTES 

Administration 

administration building (Building 

21) 1934-1935 original rangers’ dorm 

office (Building 101) 1928 original warehouse 

office (Building 106) 1929 original barn 

office (Building 110) 1930-1931 original electric light shop 

dispatch and Library (141) 

1958 

included original laborers’ 

quarters (Building 6, built 

1931), later converted to 

dispatch and library 

office (Building 107) 1931-1932 original boiler house 

office (Building 103)* 1931 original garage 

office (Building 112) 1932 original comfort station 

office (Building 123) 

c. 1938-39 

original CCC infirmary, 

moved to headquarters in 

1945 

office (Building 102) 1939 machine shop and garage 

office (Building 118) 

1955 

original equipment storage 

building, later converted to 

offices 

Residential 

Employee’s residence (Building 22) 1925-1926 original superintendent’s 

office 

apartments – 2 unit (Building 12) 1938 original employee’s 

residence 

apartments – 2 unit (Building 13) 1938 original employee’s 

residence 

seasonal employees’ residence 

(Building 111) 1939 original superintendent’s garage 

apartments – 2 unit (Building 23) 1940-43 original employee’s 

residence 

employee’s residence (Building 26) 1949-1950 

employee’s residence (Building 27) 1949-1950 

employee’s residence (Building 28) 1951-1952 

employee’s residence (Building 34) 1951-1952 

apartment building (Building 51) 1958-1959 

employee's residence (Building 251 1994-1995 

Service/Visitor Service 

dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105) 1929 visitor service

dog kennels and pens 1997 visitor service 

pump house (Building 127) 1953 

garage – six stall (Building 52) 1958-1959 

boiler house (Building 54) 1960-1961 

garage – 3 stall (Building 217) by 1966 

visitor comfort station 2004 visitor service
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

102 
SITE HISTORY

103 

ENDNOTES: World War II to Present 

1

 Conrad L. Wirth, Parks, Politics, and the People, (Norman OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980_ 227. 2

 Frank Norris, Crown Jewel of the North: An Administrative History of Denali National Park and Preserve, Volume 1 l, 

(Anchorage, AK: National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office, 2006)105, Appendix C, pp. 284-285. 3

 Ibid., pp. 106-109. 

4

 Ibid, p. 110; CLI, part 2b, p. 2. 

5

 Superintendent’s Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1944, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1405, Folder 207-01.4. 6

 Ibid. 

7

 SMRs, April, June, and July 1943, November 1944, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; 

Superintendent’s Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1944, NARA College Park, RG 79, Box 1405, Folder 207-01.4. 8

 SMR, May 1944, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 9

 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 103. 10 CLI part 2b p. 2. 

11 CLI part 2b p. 2. 

12 SMRs, March 1945, March and April 1947, March to July 1948, March 1949, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska 

Regional Office. 

13 SMRs, May, August, and December 1946, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 14 SMR March 1945, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 15 SMR February 1947, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 16 SMR, May 1947, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 17 SRMs, May, June, and August 1948, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 18 SMRs October 1949, May, September, and November 1950, October 1952, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska 

Regional Office. 

19 Interview with Cecil Doty by Laura Harrison, 1985. As quoted by Sarah Allaback, Mission 66 Visitor Centers: The History of a 

Building Type, (Washington, DC: National Park Service, 2000) 221. 20 SRM, November 1950, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 21 Superintendent’s Monthly Report, July 1953, June and August 1954; “Administration and Utility Area, Part of the Master Plan, 

McKinley National Park (TIC 2109, 3/21/54). 22 SMR, November 1950, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 23 Memo from Superintendent to Regional Director, October 1, 1951, AKSO-Processing for DENA, Nat’l Register Files (copy). 

Original located at NARA San Francisco RG 79 Box 80 Classified Records, Mt McKinley NP 1938-5/19/53, File No. 620. 24 “Equipment and Storage Bldg. – 118, Headquarters Administration Area, Mt. McKinley National Park.” (TIC 2106, 8/1/54); 

CLI, part 2b, p. 8; HSR, p. 14. 

25 SMRs, July and August 1950, July 1951, May and August 1953, September 1955, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, 

Alaska Regional Office. 

26 Lawrence C. Merriam, Regional Director to Alaska Road Commission, December 22, 1952. AKRO processing for DENA, NR 

Files, original NARA SF, RG 79, Box 80, File 630; SMR September 1953, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska 

Regional Office. 

27 Superintendent’s Monthly Report, August 1952. 

28 HSR, p. 48. 

29 SMRs, July and September 1950, June 1952, July and September 1954, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska 

Regional Office. 

30 SMRs, August 1952, June and July 1954, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 31 SMR, March 1949, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 

32 SMRs, September and October 1950, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 33 SMR, December 1950, April and June 1952, September 1955 from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 34CLI, 2004, part 2a, p. 1.

35 Norris, Crown Jewel, p. 159. 36 “Mission 66 for Mount McKinley National Park,” National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior (Mission 66, 

3/26/65, D304, TIC) 

37 SMR, October 1959, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 38 SMRs, March, June to December 1958, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 39 “General Development, Part of the Master Plan, Mount McKinley National Park, NP-MCK 2013-A.” DENA Archives, flat file: 

‘blue print’ drawer. 

40 SRMs, July 1960, July 1961, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 41 E-mail, Jane Bryant, 12/13/06. 

42 SMR, June 1958, as quoted in the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 43 SMR, February and May 1960, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 44 SMR, October 1957, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office; CLI, part 1, p. 18. 45 SMR, September 1963, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, Alaska Regional Office. 46 SMRs, August and October 1958, September 1961, March 1962, and April 1964, from the notes of Historian Frank Norris, 

Alaska Regional Office. 

47 Building depicted during move in photograph DENA 7 63, July 1963, DENA Archives. 

48 Superintendent’s Monthly Reports, June – August 1965. 

49 “General Development, Part of the Master Plan, Mount McKinley National Park, NP-MCK 2013-A.” DENA Archives, flat file: 

‘blue print’ drawer. Notations on several buildings do not clearly indicate they were in or out of the headquarters area (3 possibly 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

104 

 in C-Camp), or if they were existing or proposed. Possibly as many as four additional buildings were located in the headquarters 

area in 1966. 

50 There may have been thirty-one buildings and structures at headquarters in 1966. There is conflicting information regarding 

three of the buildings between the list and period maps. See Table 1.4. 51 CLI, part 1 p. 19, part 2b p. 12. 

52 E-mail, Jane Bryant, 12/13/06. 

53 CLI, part 1, p. 19; part 2b, p. 12. 

54 CLI, part 1, p. 20; part 2b, p. 13 and 17. 

55 CLI, part 1, p. 19; E-mail, Jane Bryant, 12/13/06. 56 CLI, part 1, p. 19; part 2b p. 13. 

57 CLI, Part 2b, p. 17.
105

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.52. View south down the main headquarters road, c. 1940-1941. Buildings from left to right: original park offi ce (Building 22, 

use in 1941 unknown), one-car garage that was the original electric light shop (Building 110), temporary one-car garage built in 1938, 

machine shop and garage (Building 102), warehouse (Building 101), rangers’ dorm (Building 21), and administrative building that was 

the original employee’s quarters (Building 11). Note the utility pole without lines north of Building 110. Note the herbaceous quality of 

understory vegetation growing near the roadway (DENA 3-7.7, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.51. Detail from 1942 Mt. McKinley National Park Master Plan. This small 

drawing indicates the informal quality of road segments leading from the north-south 

headquarters road to the eastern residential quarter by way of the barn and boiler 

house. This drawing also appears to recommend creation of a storage east of the 

wagon-turn terminus of the headquarters road (NPS-TIC, DENA 184-2013).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

106

Figure 1.54. View northwest of headquarters buildings, c. 1941-1942. Buildings from left to right: warehouse (Building 101), 

rangers’ dorm (Building 21), administrative building (original employee’s quarter, Building 11), and the oil and gas house 

(Building 108). Also depicted is the snow covered u-drive in front of the oil and gas house (tire tracks visible), and the snow 

covered main headquarters road left of group of three trees (DENA 3-7.4, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.53. View southwest of the administration building (Building 11, original employee’s quarters) from the main 

headquarters road. Also depicted is the rangers’ dorm (Building 21, left), and employee’s quarters (original clerk’s cabin, 

Building 3, right), November 1940 (NPS, Alaska Regional Offi ce fi les).
107

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.56. Carpentry shop (Building 106, original barn), March 1950 (DENA 3-14, Denali National Park and Preserve 

Museum Collection).

Figure 1.55. View northwest of the administrative building (Building 111, original superintendent’s garage), c. 

1946-1950. Note the gravel driveway in front of the building and the stone retaining wall (111A) (DENA 3-8, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

108

Figure 1.58. Laborers’ quarters (Building 6), March 1950 (DENA 7-7, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection).

Figure 1.57. Quarters 24 (Building 123, original infi rmary at the CCC camp), c. 1950. According to a label on 

the photograph, this residence was also known as “Mosquito Manor.” (DENA 7-10, Denali National Park and 

Preserve Museum Collection).
109

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.60. View of the employee’s residence (Building 11) on fi re, November 3, 1950 (DENA 8-9, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.59. Employee’s residence (Building 26), designed by regional architect Cecil Doty, under construction, 

July 21, 1950 (NPS, Alaska Regional Offi ce, CLI program fi les).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

110

Figure 1.62. View of the old pump house and suspended water line (left, Building 109) and the new pump 

house and wooden water line scaffold, August 1953 (DENA 41-15.4, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection).

Figure 1.61. View during construction of the 50,000 gallon reservoir, September 26, 1950 (NPS, Alaska Regional 

Offi ce, CLI program fi les).
111

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.64. View northwest during relocation of the log naturalist’s offi ce and workshop (Building 22, 

original superintendent’s offi ce), June 1952. Note the animal hide attached to the side of the building, the 

administration building (left, Building 111, original superintendent’s offi ce) and the stone retaining wall (right, 

Building 111A) (National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD).

Figure 1.63. View of the former log park museum (Building 22, original superintendent’s offi ce), September 12, 

1950, several months after it was relocated to the service area for use as a construction offi ce. This building 

subsequently became the park naturalist’s offi ce and workshop. Also depicted is the machine shop and garage 

(Building 102, left) and the unpaved service road (DENA 3-18, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

112

Figure 1.65. View west of the dog kennels during renovation, October 1955 (DENA 11-40, Denali National Park 

and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.66. View west of the dog kennels during a sled dog demonstration, July 1963. Note the shortened 

row of kennel pens, and the single row of dog houses (DENA 11-66, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection).
113

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.67. Detail from March 1955 “Mission-66” era park master plan. This plan proposed fundamentally reorganizing vehicular 

circulation throughout park headquarters in anticipation of the arrival of greater numbers of visitors travelling in their own automobiles. 

In tandem with the visitor parking lot proposed adjacent to the main park road, this master plan drawing recommends closing the 

central north-south headquarters road, and routing all NPS employee and service vehicles through the residential area and a proposed 

new east-west service road. Also shown is a new bridge over Rock Creek (NPS-TIC 184-2006E). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

114

Figure 1.68. Detail from 1956 plans for the new visitor “Parking Lot No. 1” at park headquarters. This new parking lot was intended 

to serve a large new park administration building, which had been a part of park plans since the 1930s. The proposed new parking lot 

required regrading of the main park road, lowering the surface of the road by approximately seven feet (NPS-TIC DENA 184-3107).
115

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.69. Composite of a 1957 multi-sheet Army Corps of Engineers survey of the park headquarters area. This drawing documents 

the facilities and infrastructure of park headquarters prior to the onset of Mission-66 funded improvements (NPS-TIC DENA184-9007).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

116

Figure 1.70. View of the six-unit apartment building, May 7, 1959. The sign in front of the building reads: “Mission 

66 Project.” The loop road is in the foreground (DENA 7-28, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 1.71. View southeast of a sled dog demonstration, July 11, 1959. The start of the sled dog demonstration 

trail is to the left, just outside the photograph. The dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) is in the 

background (DENA 11-60, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
117

SITE HISTORY

Figure 1.72. View northwest of employee’s residence (Building 111) after conversion into a year-round residence, June 1984. 

(NPS-DSC photo 30).

Figure 1.73. Oblique aerial photograph of Denali National Park & Preserve headquarters area on 8/24/1982 showing ground 

disturbance of the utility corridor leading to the water reservoir. NPS, Denali Resource Management slide fi le. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

118

Figure 1.74. Site plan for new employee residence, Bldg. 251, constructed 1994-1995. The original plans for this 

residence specifi ed a buffer of native vegetation along the adjacent roadway (NPS-TIC DENA 184-41095).

Figure 1.75. View west of original garage (Building 103) during rehabilitation (NPS, Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation, 2006).
EXISTING CONDITIONS

 119 

View looking southeast of the crescent-shaped parking area and Building 106 (NPS - Olmsted Center for Landscape 

Preservation, August 2005). 

EXISTING CONDITIONS
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

 120 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

 121 

EXISTING CONDITIONS 

The existing field conditions of the Denali National Park and Preserve 

Headquarters District reflect the construction and active use of the area over its 

service during the past eighty years. This chapter of the cultural landscape report 

presents an overview of the existing conditions of the cultural landscape of the 

headquarters areas documented through photographs and text during the 

summer of 2005. An existing conditions plan illustrates the layout of the district 

and surrounding developed area (Figure 2.1). 

The headquarters site is described according to the landscape characteristics as 

defined in A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports, and includes natural systems 

and topography, spatial organization, land use, buildings and structures, 

circulation, hydrology, constructed water features, drainage and utilities, 

vegetation and views, small scale features, and archeology. The description in 

this part describes the overall character of the headquarters area. In the next part 

of the CLR, Analysis, the existing condition of each characteristic and feature will 

be described in greater detail. 

Located on the eastern side of the park, high above the floodplain of Rock Creek 

and Hines Creek, the headquarters area occupies some thirty acres on a natural 

bench, which slopes gently to the south and east (Figure 2.2). The land is at 

elevation ranging from approximately 2,000 to 2,100 feet with the administrative 

and park operations buildings placed on a higher elevation than the residential 

and utility areas. Most of the 11.91 area within the designated National Historic 

District is at the higher elevation. After the 1940s the residential and utility areas 

expanded to the east and at a lower elevation. Of the approximately thirty-five 

buildings within the headquarters area, fourteen historical buildings and three 

structures with the Historic District are listed on the List of Classified Structures. 

Five buildings within the Historic District post-date 1940 and are considered 

non-contributing. 

The circulation pattern within the core of the Historic District follows a grid 

pattern, while expansion of the district to the east at a lower elevation responds 

to the natural topography and includes a series of curvilinear roads (Figures 2.3, 

2.4). The slope of the land allows most water to flow across the landscape and 

drain to the east into Rock Creek and south into Hines Creek. Roads within the 

headquarters area that extend across the landscape from east to west create a 

series of terraces within the natural bench and retain water, creating areas of 

boggy landscape with dense shrub vegetation dominated by willows. Examples 

include the area to the north of the kennels bus drop off, north of the 

Superintendents office, and north of the dog kennels and dog sled loop. Several 

road culverts facilitate the flow of water, though the park has found that surface 

drainage swales are more effective during the winter and spring (Figure 2.5). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

 122 

Vegetation is a key component in the character of the headquarters area and is 

representative of the boreal forest or taiga. The area receives an average of fifteen 

inches of precipitation, most of which falls during the summer months. 

Temperatures at park headquarters range from -54 degrees in the winter to 90 

degrees in the summer - a harsh climate which supports a limited number of plant 

species. The landscape is predominately conifers, but also includes modest-sized 

deciduous trees, understory woody shrubs, and groundstory plants. The tall 

narrow silhouette of the spruce trees contrasts with the low horizontal profiles of 

the park structures (Figure 2.6). Deciduous trees, including cottonwood, birch 

and willow, dot the landscape in small stands, particularly in the open areas 

around the buildings where sun is most abundant (Figure 2.7). A dense 

understory covers most of the undeveloped landscape, particularly wet areas, and 

includes alder, willow and various berry-producing shrubs. Along road edges 

and around buildings, a groundstory layer of vegetation includes grasses, sedges, 

roses, yarrow, fireweed, low shrubs, and in some areas, manicured lawn (Figure 

2.8). An analysis of the vegetation in the Historic District completed in April 

2001, identified one-half of the vegetation as understory and groundstory 

vegetation and almost one-third of the area as structures and paving.1 After 

implementation of the fuel reduction program in 2004 and recent expansion of 

the paved area, it is likely that the percentage of groundstory vegetation has 

increased. 

The 2004 fuel reduction program greatly improved the views of the structures 

within the headquarters area as well as partial views to the distant hills. Most 

notable views include the view to the south along the headquarters entry road, 

and the view to the east along the bus access road (Figures 2.9 and 2.10). 

The dog kennel area is a popular destination within the park. Park visitors arrive 

by bus via the access road at the west end of the headquarters area or visitors park 

at the lot near the headquarters entry road and walk along a pedestrian path to 

the kennels. To the west of the Dog Feed Cache and Sled Storage (Building 105) 

a path extends along the dog kennels (Figure 2.11). To the east, a demonstration 

area contains a series of viewing benches for visitors and a dog sled 

demonstration loop. The loop is partially obscured by a dense growth of shrubs, 

predominately willow (Figure 2.12). South of the demonstration area, the 

landscape drops off of the edge of the bench, providing a dramatic backdrop for 

the area with distant views to the south. Wildlife occasionally seen in the 

Headquarters District includes wolves, moose, grizzly bears, and golden eagles. 

Many small-scale features are evident throughout the headquarters area. Most 

notable is the flagpole and sign at the entrance from the Denali Park Road (Figure 

2.13). Both the nearby parking area and the kennel area contain kiosks, display 

panels with small roof structures (Figure 2.14). Signs are located throughout the 

headquarters area. Other small scale features include trash receptacles, safety 

bollards, lights, and picnic tables (Figures 2.15 and 2.16). 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

 123 

While archeology is not fully addressed in this report, an area at the southern 

edge of the headquarter district appears to have served as a dumping area for 

many years. This area is discussed in greater detail in the Treatment part of the 

report. The next part of the report, Analysis, reviews the historical and existing 

conditions in greater detail and evaluates the significance of landscape 

characteristics and features. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

 124 

ENDNOTES: EXISTING CONDITIONS 

1 Cultural Landscape Rehabilitation Plan: Vegetation Evaluation for Coordination with the Park Fire Management Strategy. Denali 

National Park and Preserve Headquarters Historic District. April 2001.
141

National

Register

Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonsration

Track

Existing Buffer

Rostrum

Zone

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice

Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

171

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

51 

V isitor Park ing

Loop

Road

Sled

D og

Trails

M aterial Storage Sheds Leach Field

M aterial Storage Yard

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

& Preserve

Figure 2.1

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp OLMSTED

forLANDSCAPEPRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale 0

100

200

300 N

Existing Building

National Register Boundary

Existing Circulation

Managed Lawn

Existing Conditons: 2007

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Existing Conditions: 2007

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Figure 2.1

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30 OLMSTED for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATIO

N

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Approximate Scale

Existing Building

National Register Boundary

Existing Circulation

Managed Lawn

EXISTING CONDITIONS

127

Figure 2.2. Aerial photograph of the Headquarters Historic District and surrounding landscape, 2004 (Denali National Park and Preserve 

park fi les).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

128

Figure 2.4. Residential road in the headquarters area, a curvilinear road winding through the wooded 

landscape with short driveways and structures set into the slope (August 2005, OCLP). 

Figure 2.3. Park headquarters entry drive, one of two 

major roads that form a cross-axis within the headquarters entry area (August 2005, OCLP). 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

129

Figure 2.5. The roads, paths and structures create 

a series of terraces within the headquarters area 

which retain water and are drained by culverts and 

swales. Infl ow of culvert south of Building 107, 

Plumbing Shop (August 2005, OCLP).

Figure 2.6. Spruce trees surrounding park structures, north of Building 106, Old Sign Shop (August 2005, 

OCLP). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

130

Figure 2.8. Groundstory vegetation including fi reweed and grasses surrounding Building 110, the Engineer Offi ce (August 2005, OCLP). 

Figure 2.7. Birch tree growing in lawn area at east entrance to Building 21, Administration Building (August 

2005, OCLP). 
EXISTING CONDITIONS

131

Figure 2.9. View from headquarters entry road looking north, with Building 101 on the left and Building 123 on 

the right (August 2005, OCLP). (For view looking south, see Figure 2.3) 

Figure 2.10. View from bus access road looking east, with frames of Buildings 103 and 101 visible on the left 

(August 2005, OCLP).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

132

Figure 2.11. Building 105, Dog Feed Cache and Sled Storage, and the dog kennels are a popular destination 

for park visitors (August 2005, OCLP). 

Figure 2.12. Dog sled demonstration loop and viewing stands. Lower branches of spruce and tall willows 

are pruned to improve visiblitiy of the dogs as they run the loop (August 2005, OCLP).
EXISTING CONDITIONS

133

Figure 2.13. Flagpole and sign at headquarters entrance from the Denali Park Road (August 2005, 

OCLP). 

Figure 2.14. Visitor kiosk at parking lot near entrance 

to park headquarters with display panels capped by a 

small roof (August 2005, OCLP).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

134

Figure 2.15. Safety bollards mark the location of a fuel storage tank (August 2005, OCLP). 

Figure 2.16. Light fi xture in headquarters area, south 

of of Building 112 (August 2005, OCLP).
ANALYSIS

135 

View southeast of headquarters from the main park road, c. 1926 (DENA 3475, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection). 

ANALYSIS

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 

EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPE INTEGRITY 

EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES 

SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

136 
ANALYSIS

137 

LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS 

This part of the report provides an analysis of the historical significance of the 

headquarters area and an evaluation of the integrity of the physical character of 

the landscape.1

 The analysis is based on criteria developed by the National 

Register of Historic Places, which lists properties significant to our country’s 

history and prehistory. The analysis reviews the current National Register status, 

identifies inconsistencies and potential new areas of significance, and evaluates 

them in accordance with National Register criteria and related historical 

contexts.2

 The evaluation portion of the chapter examines the physical integrity 

of the extant landscape characteristics and features, such as spatial organization, 

vegetation, views, and circulation, with respect to the site’s historical appearance 

and identifies which contribute or do not contribute to the site’s historical 

significance. When feasible, historic and contemporary photos are paired to 

show the extent of historical integrity. An awareness of contributing and noncontributing characteristics and features facilitates the development of the next 

part of the CLR, the treatment plan. 

The park headquarters area was nominated to the National Register of Historic 

Places in 1987, with SHPO concurrence in 2004 for a historic district that 

comprises 11.91 acres. The nomination identifies the areas of significance as 

conservation, recreation and architecture as representative of the presence and 

early growth of the National Park Service in the State of Alaska, with a period of 

significance as 1926 to 1941. The district is listed under Criterion A because of its 

strong association with both the National Park Service and the Civilian 

Conservation Corps, who contributed to the conservation and recreation 

movement through out the nation and locally at Mount McKinley. The district is 

listed under Criterion C, for the design, construction materials, and siting of 

buildings in the Headquarters District, which represent an early example of the 

NPS philosophy of rustic style architecture during its zenith and last period of 

expression. The character of the Headquarters District, as well as its physical 

appearance, shows minimal alteration from the period of significance, 1926 to 

1941. The year 1926 marks the completion of the oldest extant structure, the 

superintendents office (Building 22), which was subsequently moved, and the 

definition of the overall spatial organization of the headquarters as envisioned by 

Karstens in his 1924 to 1925 plan for the new headquarters area. The year 1941 

marks the end of a period of construction of NPS rustic architecture, which 

slowed with the departure of the Civilian Conservation Corps from Denali in 

1939, and eventually halted with American involvement in World War II. In 

December of 1941, the War Department closed Alaska to tourist travel. The 

overall spatial organization remains intact and fourteen of the eighteen buildings 

in the district contribute to its sense of time and place, thus, the historic district 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

138 

retains sufficient integrity to convey its significance for the 16-year period of park 

service construction.3

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 

As presented in the CLI (2004), the Headquarters Historic District features a 

cultural landscape reflecting the evolution of the typically practical frontier mode 

of site development and architectural design toward a more integrated and 

formal community master planning. This transition to a carefully planned layout 

and design for the park headquarters in reflected in the first site plan drawn by 

Harry Karstens in 1924 and 1925, and implementation started in 1924. By 1926, 

the overall spatial organization was evident and rough roads had been laid out 

according to Karsten’s plan. The superintendent’s office (Building 22) was 

complete by 1926 and the flagpole at the entrance to the headquarters road was 

in place by late in 1926 or early in 1927. In 1928, the park received its first major 

appropriation for building construction in the headquarters area, the preparation 

of a plan for the headquarters in consultation with NPS Chief Landscape 

Architect Thomas Vint, and the completion of two extant buildings, the barn 

(Building 106) and the warehouse (Building 101), both of which are in their 

original locations. Plans were further developed with NPS Landscape Division 

input, first in 1928 and then continuing throughout the mid and late 1930s. 

Karsten’s initial plan and layout of the headquarters area in 1924 and 1925 is 

similar to other park master plans developed by the NPS between 1916 and the 

early 1940s. The development of the headquarters area from 1924 to 1941 is 

characterized by a rustic architectural design. The cultural landscape of the 

Headquarters Historic District is one in which the earliest Mt. McKinley park 

administration attempted to merge a regional settlement pattern of vernacular 

buildings typical of Alaska frontier settlements made with local materials with a 

community master planning style with an orthogonal "grid" spatial character. 

This grid and the frontier architecture are still present and clearly retain the 

influence of its earliest superintendent, Harry Karstens, along with the landscape 

vision of Thomas Vint, NPS Chief Landscape Architect in charge of planning and 

design. The initial construction of the Headquarters Historic District between 

the years of 1924 and 1938 was largely achieved by park labor, while the later 

construction was completed through the efforts of the Civilian Conservation 

Corps (CCC) in the years of 1938 and 1939.4

 
ANALYSIS

139 

EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPE INTEGRITY 

Integrity is the ability of a property to convey its historic identity or the extent to 

which the physical features of a property evoke its appearance during the period 

of significance. The National Register identifies seven aspects of integrity.5

 

Retention of these qualities is essential for a property to convey its significance, 

though all seven qualities of integrity need not be present to convey a sense of 

past time and place. Using these seven aspects of integrity, the property is 

evaluated as summarized below and in Table 3.1. 

As evaluated in the CLI (2004), the Headquarters Historic District possesses 

integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and 

association. Contributing features constructed on the site between 1926 and 

1941 include fourteen historical buildings; various footpaths, a traffic circulation 

system, and the sled dog kennels, the dry-laid stone retaining wall (111A) on the 

north side of the park road between Buildings No. 111 and 22, and the flagpole 

within the visitor parking area. Non-contributing features include four buildings 

(Nos. 118, 123, 217, 251) that lack historical integrity or were built after the 

historic period, and a dog kennel access footpath, which passes through the 

historic district from the headquarters visitor parking lot to the kennels. Four 

roads are non-contributing and lie outside the district boundary join the historic 

road system: (1) the loop road, (2) the road to Building 54, (3) a graveled spur 

road to the east leading to an outdoor disposal storage area, and (4) the service 

road extension from the kennel road to the park road.6

 

From 1942 to the present, the Headquarters District has evolved with the 

addition of some new buildings as well as landscape modifications. These 

alterations have accommodated an increased number of park staff and visitors. 

Associated with greater contemporary use of the area is an increase in the amount 

of asphalt paving in the historic core. Once an open landscape in the 1920s the 

site is now characterized by mature spruce, poplar and birch. A woodland 

thinning project in 2004 as part of a fuel load reduction plan has partially restored 

some of the views to the surrounding mountains. These changes and other issues 

related to historical integrity will be addressed in greater detail in the next part of 

the CLR, the treatment plan. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

140 

TABLE 3.1: SUMMARY OF LANDSCAPE INTEGRITY FOR DENALI PARK HEADQUARTERS HISTORIC 

DISTRICT 

Aspects of 

Integrity 

1. Criterion A: NPS and CCC 

conservation and recreation movement, 

1926 - 1941 

2. Criterion C: NPS Rustic Style Architecture, 

1926 - 1941 

Location Yes Yes 

Design Yes Yes, but buildings added 

Setting Yes Yes, but increased development to the east during 

Mission 66 period 

Materials Yes Yes, but some examples of more contemporary 

materials 

Workmanship Yes Yes, but some examples of more contemporary 

workmanship 

Feeling Yes, but less open landscape Yes, except for minor changes in building clusters 

Association Yes Yes 
ANALYSIS

141 

EVALUATION OF LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES 

This section provides an analysis and evaluation of the physical characteristics of 

the landscape. An array of landscape characteristics are examined, including 

topography, spatial organization, land use, cluster arrangements, buildings and 

structures, circulation, vegetation, views and small-scale features. The evaluation 

includes a brief description of the historic and existing condition of each 

landscape characteristic, as well as a determination regarding the contribution of 

each characteristic or feature to the significance of the landscape as a whole. For 

each characteristic, Table 3.2 summarizes all of the specific characteristics and 

features, whether the feature was extant in circa 1941, currently extant, whether 

it contributes to the historical significance of the landscape, and in some cases a 

brief description. 

Contributing characteristics and features are those that were present in the 

historic landscape that survive or are those which are replacements in-kind of 

historic features. Because the site retains integrity to the period of significance 

defined above, many of the extant landscape characteristics and features 

contribute to historical significance. Many are also considered “contributing 

resources” as defined by the National Register.7

 Through the NPS List of 

Classified Structures inventory, many features, particularly structures, have been 

identified as contributing resources as indicated in the tables in this section. Also 

noted in Table 3.2 are features that have been reconfigured, are missing, or added 

since the period of significance. Some of these changes diminish the historical 

significance and integrity of the landscape. The next part of the CLR, the 

treatment plan, will address measures to be taken to remove or replace features to 

more appropriately reflect or compliment the historic setting. 

Topography 

Topography describes the configuration of landforms and features, such as slope, 

elevation, and solar aspect. Spatial organization refers to the three-dimensional 

organization of physical forms and visual associations in the landscape. 

Historic Condition: The topography upon which the headquarters area was 

developed included a relatively flat upland gently sloping to the south that 

extends from the park road south, bordered on the east by the main headquarters 

road. East of the main headquarters road, the land slopes steeply down to a 

lower terrace which serves as a residential area, then drops steeply again down to 

Rock Creek. North of the park road, the gentle grade continued to rise to the site 

of the reservoir. Karstens selected this site because of the relatively flat terrace 

with a southern aspect. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

142 

Existing Condition: The topography remains basically unchanged since the 

historic period. 

Evaluation: The siting of the headquarters area and its topography contributes to 

the significance of the historic landscape. 

Spatial Organization 

Historic Condition: The original spatial organization of the headquarters area 

was an L-configuration, defined by the park road (east/west) and the main 

headquarters road (north/south). All early buildings were constructed along 

these two roads. Early planning indicated the landscape was to be divided up 

into a grid pattern, through the addition of two more roads intersecting 

perpendicularly to the main headquarters road, the furthest south of which was 

the service road, constructed in the 1930s. While there is evidence of east-west 

access south of the original log cabins, it was not substantially developed. The 

grid was extended further south in the late 1930s, when the CCC constructed two 

roads to the new kennel site: one ran east/west from the southern terminus of the 

main headquarters road to the kennels, and the other ran north/south from end 

of the service drive (extended slightly during construction of the two roads) to 

the kennels. Prior to the early 1930s, headquarters development did not extend 

down the slope east of the main headquarters road, with the exception of the 

horse corral, the early dog kennels, and possibly a crude road or path to the site. 

Beginning in the late 1920s and 1930s, buildings and roads to service the buildings 

were developed in this area, as well as in a small area north of the park road. 

Compared to the flat upland, buildings along the slope and at the base of the 

slope are organized along curving roads, some responding to the natural 

topography. Post WWII, this area, which primarily includes employee 

residences, was the most heavily developed. A significant portion of the 

residential area is outside the historic district. During the historic period, the 

headquarters area was covered with sparse vegetation, giving it an open feeling. 

This will be discussed in greater detail under vegetation. 

As noted in the CLI (2004), the first site plans for the headquarters district, drawn 

by Harry Karstens, identified administrative, residential, visitor service and utility 

areas separated by roads. The subsequent NPs master plans also reflected this 

site organization. Administrative and public facilities lay closes to the park road, 

while residential buildings were clustered away from public access with paths up 

the hill to administrative buildings. The dog kennels were relocated several times 

to accommodate visitor accessibility. The organization of the headquarters area 

into different areas contributes to the historic character of the district. 

Existing Condition: The existing spatial organization of the historic district 

includes elements of the original grid pattern on the flat upland, the curving 

patterns created by the roads constructed down the slope east of the main 
ANALYSIS

143 

headquarters road, the small area developed north of the park road, and the open 

feeling, with less vegetation than the surrounding landscape. Though some of the 

uses of individual buildings has changed, the district continues to provide 

separate areas for administration, residences, utilities, and visitor services. 

Evaluation: The headquarters spatial organization contributes to the significance 

of the historic district. 

Land Use 

Land use describes the major human forces that shape and organize any historic 

landscape. Sometimes it is the most difficult characteristic to preserve and is 

often the subject of interpretation only. Land use in the headquarters area has 

included administrative, residential, service, and visitor facility uses. 

Administrative Use 

Historic Condition: Between 1925 and 1941, the headquarters included only one 

administration building. The original superintendent’s office (Building 22) 

served as the administrative building from 1926 to 1940 and an employee’s 

residence (Building 11) served as the administration building from 1941 to 1943). 

Existing Condition: Today, administration offices occupy eleven former 

residential and service buildings in the headquarters area. 

Evaluation: The continued use of a centrally located building (s) for park 

administration, now Building 21, contributes to the significance of the historic 

landscape. The increased number of buildings, however, used for administrative 

offices do not contribute to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Residential Land-Use 

Historic Condition: In 1941 there were five known residential buildings: two 

located on the flat upland (Building 6, laborers’ quarters and Building 21, rangers’ 

dorm) and three within a newly developing residential area at the base of the 

slope east of the main headquarters area (Buildings 12, 13, and 23 – all employee’s 

residences). There were three c. 1920s buildings which may also have been used 

as a residences in 1941: the original superintendent’s residence (Building 22); 

original clerk’s cabin (Building 3); and original chief ranger’s cabin. 

Existing Condition: Today there are five residential buildings within the historic 

district (12, 13, 22, 23, and 111) and an additional five residential buildings 

outside the historic district. Buildings within the historic district include the 

three buildings located in the residential area in 1941 and two buildings located 

north of the park road, in buildings converted for residential use (Building 22, 

original superintendent’s cabin and Building 111, original superintendent’s 

garage). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

144 

Evaluation: The number of residential buildings within the historic district 

contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Maintenance Land-Use 

Historic Condition: Thirteen maintenance service buildings (excluding water 

closets and dog kennels) were located in the headquarters in 1941 at the end of 

the period of significance. With the exception of the more recently constructed 

Mission-66 residential area, service buildings were located throughout the 

headquarters area. Within the current boundaries of the National Register 

historic district, maintenance or service oriented buildings included the 

warehouse (Building 101), barn (Building 106), three garages ( including Building 

110, Building 103 and Building 50) boiler house (Building 107), comfort station 

(Building 112), pump house (Building 109, machine shop and garage (Building 

102), dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105), and several small fuel storage 

structures. 

 Existing Condition: Today, only three service buildings are located within the 

historic district: the garage in the residential area (Building 217) the dog feed 

cache and cookhouse (Building 105) and the visitor comfort station (no #) built 

in the 1990s. A modern boiler house (Building 54) is located outside the historic 

district. All of the remaining buildings that were originally constructed as service 

buildings have been converted into park administrative offices or residences. 

Evaluation: The significant decrease in the number of buildings used for service 

purposes does not contribute to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Visitor Services Land-Use 

Historic Condition: In 1941, the dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) 

and the dog kennels served dual functions as headquarters service and visitor 

service buildings and structures. 

Existing Condition: The dog feed cache and cookhouse (Building 105) and dog 

kennels (replaced since 1941) have continued to serve their historic use as both 

facilities contain service and visitor service operations. Recent visitor service 

buildings and structures constructed include the visitor comfort station built in 

2004 along the trail to the dog kennels and the wooden viewing stand for visitor 

use during sled dog demonstrations. 

Evaluation: The visitor service operations associated with the dog feed cache and 

cookhouse (Building 105) and the dog kennels contribute to the significance of 

the landscape. 
ANALYSIS

145 

Cluster Arrangement 

Cluster arrangement refers to the location and pattern of buildings in a landscape 

and associated outdoor spaces. Building clusters prior to 1941 are listed and 

evaluated below. 

Cluster of buildings along the main headquarters road 

Historic Condition: As one enters the headquarters district along the main 

headquarters road, one passes through a cluster of buildings. Although a number 

of these buildings and structures are associated with other clusters, it is helpful to 

review them within this context, since the road is the oldest and most significant 

organizing feature within the landscape. During the historic period, ten buildings 

and structures were found within this cluster. They included the original 

superintendent’s office (Building 22), original employee’s residence (Building 11), 

original electric light shop (Building 110), rangers’ dorm (Building 21); laborers’ 

cabin – behind rangers’ dorm (Building 6), one-car garage (Building 50), 

warehouse (Building 101), machine shop and garage (Building 102), oil and gas 

house (Building 108), and barn (Building 106). 

Existing Condition: Currently the cluster includes seven buildings and 

structures, of which five were present in 1941. Missing buildings include the 

original superintendent’s office (Building 22), moved out of area post-1941, 

employee’s residence (Building 11), one-car garage (Building 50), and oil and gas 

house (Building 108). The original infirmary at CCC camp (Building 123) was 

moved to this area post-1941. 

Evaluation: The cluster of buildings along the main headquarters road 

contributes to the character of the landscape. 

Cluster of buildings along the park road 

Historic Condition: During the period of significance, the four buildings in this 

cluster included the superintendent’s office (Building 22), original employee’s 

residence (Building 11), original clerk’s cabin (Building 3), and the original chief 

ranger’s cabin. The employee’s residence (Building 11) replaced the original 

superintendent’s cabin. 

Existing Condition: After 1941, all buildings located within this cluster were 

either moved (original superintendent’s office, Building 22 in 1950), destroyed 

(employee’s residence, Building 11 in 1950), or razed (original clerk’s cabin 

(Building 3) and the original chief ranger’s cabin (no #) both razed in 1943). 

Evaluation: Since there are no remaining buildings, the cluster does not 

contribute to the significance of the landscape. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

146 

Cluster of buildings in the service area 

Historic Condition: The eight buildings in this cluster were located at the 

southern end of the headquarters, along both sides of the main headquarters 

road and along the slope east of the road. They included the warehouse 

(Building 101), garage (Building 103), machine shop and garage (Building 102), 

barn (Building 106), oil and gas house (Building 108), and a coal shed. 

Existing Condition: Today the cluster includes six buildings, of which five were 

present in 1941. Missing buildings include the oil and gas house (Building 108), 

coal shed (Building 114), and a second coal shed. The original equipment storage 

building (Building 118) was built post-1941. 

Evaluation: The service area cluster contributes to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Cluster of buildings north of the park road 

Historic Condition: Two buildings originally stood in this area in 1941, the 

superintendent’s residence (Building 1) and superintendent’s garage (Building 

111); however by 1939 only Building 111 remained after the superintendent’s 

residence was destroyed in a fire. 

Existing Condition: Today there are two buildings in the cluster, 

superintendent’s residence (Building 111) and original superintendent’s office 

(Building 22), which was moved to this location post-1941. 

Evaluation: The cluster of buildings north of the park road contributes to the 

significance of the landscape. 

Cluster of building and structures in the dog kennel area 

Historic Condition: The cluster included the dog feed cache and cookhouse 

(Building 105) and forty dog pens and dog houses. 

Existing Condition: Today the cluster includes Building 105, and approximately 

the same number of dog pens and houses. The cluster also includes a recently 

constructed wooden viewing stand for visitor use during sled dog 

demonstrations. 

Evaluation: The cluster of buildings and structures in dog kennel area 

contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 
ANALYSIS

147 

Cluster of buildings in the residential area 

Historic Condition: The four buildings in this cluster were located along and at 

the base of the slope east of the main headquarters. They included Building 12 

and Building 13 (employee’s residences), and Building 23 (employee residence), 

and Building 112 (comfort station). 

Existing Condition: All four of the pre-1941 buildings in this cluster are extant. 

Evaluation: The cluster of buildings in the residential area contributes to the 

significance of the landscape. 

Circulation 

Circulation is a system of movement composed of features providing pedestrian 

and vehicular access through a landscape. Within the historic district these 

include roads, paths, trails, and parking areas. As noted in the CLI (2004), the 

circulation pattern within the headquarters district, first envisioned by Karstens 

and later developed during the master plans of the 1930s, followed a grid pattern 

across the relatively flat upland terrace. Curvilinear roads were added to access 

the original kennels, residential, and maintenance areas. 

Park road 

Historic Condition: By the fall of 1924, the section of the park road, with one 

lane in each direction, passing through the headquarters had been completed. 

Existing Condition: The road is asphalt surfaced and one lane in each direction 

(Figures 3.1 to 3.6). 

Evaluation: The park road contributes to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Main Headquarters road 

Historic Condition: The main headquarters road, oriented north-south, was 

surveyed in 1924. In 1927, the Alaska Road Commission constructed the eight 

hundred-foot earthen road. The road terminated in a circle drive at the southern 

end of the headquarters (see Figures 3.7 to 3.10). The road was later paved. 

Existing Condition: The asphalt surfaced road includes one lane of travel in each 

direction and is not striped. 

Evaluation: The main headquarters road road contributes to the significance of 

the historic landscape. 
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148 

Road from park road to early dog kennels, now residential area 

Historic Condition: In 1932 the Alaska Road Commission constructed the six 

hundred-foot earthen road from the park road to the dog kennels (current 

residential area). The road permitted vehicles to access the dog kennel area 

without driving through the headquarters. 

Existing Condition: The asphalt surfaced road includes one lane of travel in each 

direction and is not striped. 

Evaluation: The road from the park road to the early dog kennels (current 

residential area) contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Road from barn (Building 106) to early dog kennels, now residential area 

Historic Condition: This earthen road may be the “road and trail completed to 

the dog kennels” mentioned in Superintendent Liek’s June 1930 monthly report. 

Although this road/trail does not appear on the 1933 edition of the park Master 

Plan, the road was likely constructed by 1932, as it passes the boiler house also 

built in 1932. Vehicular access would have been necessary during construction. 

The road appears on the 1935 aerial photograph, the earliest known aerial 

photograph of the headquarters. However at that time the route was more in 

keeping with the character of a trail than that of a road. In early 1942, park 

master plans called for the improvement of the trail into a roadway. Further 

improvements to this route were also proposed as part of the park's Mission-66 

master planning. 

Existing Condition: The road is currently paved, widened to accommodate twoway traffic, but not at all in the character of the route present at the end of the 

period of significance (Figure 3.11). 

Evaluation: The road from barn (Building 106) to early dog kennels does not 

retain integrity to the period of significance and does not contribute to the 

significance of the historic landscape. 

Road past comfort station (Building 112) to early dog kennels, now 

residential area 

Historic Condition: This earthen road is likely the “road and trail completed to 

the dog kennels” mentioned in Superintendent Liek’s June 1930 monthly report. 

The road appears on the 1935 aerial photograph, the earliest known aerial 

photograph of the headquarters. 

Existing Condition: The road is currently used as a foot path and for limited 

vehicular traffic (Figure 3.12). 

Evaluation: Road past the comfort station (Building 112) to early dog kennels 

(current residential area) contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 
ANALYSIS

149 

Trail from the boiler house (Building 107) to the main headquarters road 

Historic Condition: The trail appears on the 1935 aerial photograph, the earliest 

known aerial photograph of the headquarters. It probably came into use c. 1932, 

following installation of the underground steam line from the boiler house to the 

main headquarters. The area would have been cleared of vegetation prior to 

installation and the resulting opening space would have encouraged foot travel. 

Existing Condition: The earthen path is still present (Figure 3.13). 

Evaluation: The trail from the boiler house (Building 107) to the main 

headquarters road contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Service Court 

Historic Condition: The earthen service court extended west to access the garage 

(Building 103) by 1931, the year the garage was constructed. In 1939, the earthen 

road was extended approximately one hundred and sixty feet to the west (about 

doubling its size) during construction of the ‘minor’ roads to the dog kennels 

(current site). 

Existing Condition: The service court survives, and is surfaced with asphaltic 

pavement. 

Evaluation: The service court contributes to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Service Road 

Historic Condition: Built during the late 1950s early 1960s, as part of Mission-66 

development plans for the park headquarters area, the service road was 

constructed to extend westward from the service court at the core of the 

headquarters area, past buildings 103 and 118, and up the steep slope to intersect 

with the park road. 

Existing Condition: The asphalt service road is currently used by park tour buses 

to bring visitors to the sled dog demonstration area. 

Evaluation: The service road was built after the historic period and does not 

contribute to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Road to current dog kennels 

Historic Condition: This road connects the main headquarters road with the 

current kennel area and may have built as early as 1938 by the CCC. 

Existing Condition: The road is extant and is not paved. Maintenance storage 

areas at the end of the road make it uninviting and unsightly. 

Evaluation: The service road contributes to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 
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150 

Loop Road 

Historic Condition: The loop road was built in 1953. 

Existing Condition: The road is extant. 

Evaluation: The loop road does not contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Sled Dog Demonstration Trail 

 Historic Condition: Prior to construction of the first sled dog demonstration 

trail, sled dog teams were run through the service area. The original dog 

sled demonstration trail was built in 1958, northeast of the dog feed cache and 

cookhouse (Building 105). The current demonstration trail was built in the same 

general location as the 1958 trail in c. 1997. 

Existing Condition: The earthen trail is extant. 

Evaluation: The sled dog demonstration trail does not contribute to the 

significance of the historic landscape. 

Rock Creek Trail 

Historic Condition: The trail currently known as the Rock Creek Trail did not 

exist during the historic period. The trail was built in 1998. 

Existing Condition: The trail is present. 

Evaluation: The Rock Creek Trail does not contribute to the significance of the 

historic landscape. 

Visitor Parking Area 

Historic Condition: Construction of the visitor parking area (built in the 

approximate location of the original superintendent’s cabin and the original 

clerk’s cabin) was complete in 1959. The construction plan for the parking area 

indicated the original surface was gravel, with an asphalt surface planned for the 

future. 

Existing Condition: The asphalt parking area retains its basic 1959 configuration. 

Evaluation: The visitor parking area does not contribute to the significance of the 

historic landscape. 

Crescent drive at Oil and Gas House (former Building 108) 

Historic Condition: The crescent drive is depicted on a c. 1941-1942 historic 

photograph (Figure 3.14) and the January 1942 plan “Headquarters Area Fluid 

Systems.” The drive provided access to the former oil and gas house (Building 

108) and then to a more recent fuel storage building (Building 117). 
ANALYSIS

151 

Existing Condition: The crescent drive surface area has been significantly 

widened since the historic period, most likely after the removal of Building 117, 

to accommodate several parking spaces (Figure 3.15). 

Evaluation: The original configuration of the u-drive contributes to the 

significance of the historic landscape. 

Employee parking areas 

Historic Condition: Since the historic period, several new parking areas were 

added within the historic district. In addition to the parking area along the udrive, employee parking areas developed by 1982 include a strip along the service 

drive, west of the original garage (Building 103), a couple of spaces west of 

original equipment storage building (Building 118), a strip along the main 

headquarters road, south of the original machine shop and garage (Building 102), 

and a rectangular area between the original warehouse (Building 101), original 

garage (Building 103), original rangers’ dorm (Building 21), and library and 

dispatch (Building 141) (Figures 3.16 to 3.19). 

Existing Condition: All of the parking areas have asphalt surfaces, except the area 

south of Building 102 (original machine shop and garage). 

Evaluation: The employee parking areas do not contribute to the significance of 

the historic landscape. 

Vegetation 

As noted in the CLI, Karsten selected the headquarters site for its scenic views 

and vistas of the surrounding landscape, “with a commanding view, drainage, 

water and sufficient room for expansion.” He culled the trees to enhance the 

appearance of the site, “ It is not my intention to absolutely clear the camp of 

every tree, but I want all the scrub trees removed and only those which will look 

attractive to the landscape to be left standing.” In 1926, the dog kennels were 

relocated to a site that provided a scenic background for visitors who came to see 

the dogs. In 1928, Karstens wrote of the need for a site engineer to properly place 

the buildings in the landscape and reserve spaces for future construction. NPS 

Chief Landscape Architect Thomas Vint visited the park in 1929 and 

subsequently developed a master plan with overall guidance for future 

development in accordance with the NPS rustic design principles. 

As also noted in the CLI, numerous monthly superintendent reports cite work 

projects for cleaning up fallen dead trees and cutting of trees to maintain the 

appearance of the headquarters area. However this work diminished in the late 

1900s. In comparing the aerial photographs of 1938 and 1994, the site had 

become heavily forested and the buildings heavily concealed by dense forest 

growth. In 2004 a fuel load reduction program resulted in extensive clearing 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

152 

through out the headquarters area, and partially restored the appearance of the 

early 1940s landscape. 

Within the headquarters area, vegetation can be grouped into three categories: 

natural, functional, and ornamental. Natural vegetation occurs primarily around 

the perimeter of the headquarters area, where native vegetation grows in its 

natural state, unaltered. Functional vegetation is native vegetation that has been 

altered (thinned, groomed, etc.) or planted within the headquarters area to 

obscure utilities or views between buildings. Ornamental vegetation includes 

both native and non-native shrubs, perennials, and groomed lawn areas around 

buildings. 

Natural Vegetation 

Historic Condition: The natural landscape prior to headquarters development in 

the mid-1920s included a cover of spruce, cottonwood, blueberry bushes, 

willows, and moss. 

Existing Condition: In 2004, many trees were removed from the headquarters as 

part of a fuel load reduction program, which also resulted in a partial restoration 

of the historic landscape. The area is still more heavily vegetated that it was 

during the historic period, restricting historic views. In general, the headquarters 

landscape is more wooded than it was in 1941. Where buildings were lost or 

removed either trees have been replanted or volunteer trees have grown. This is 

especially evident along the southern edge of the park road and along the main 

headquarters road. 

Evaluation: The areas with dispersed tree cover and distant views contribute to 

the character of the historic landscape. 

Functional Vegetation 

Historic Condition: Many native trees, shrubs, and grasses were retained to 

provide visual accents amidst the park structures, to screen utilities, and to create 

privacy screens between residences. 

Existing Condition: Mature spruce and willow are present throughout. Some 

have been purposefully planted or retained, such as in the traffic island near 

Building 106. 

Evaluation: “Attractive” native specimen trees, as described by Karstens, 

throughout the headquarters area and vegetation screens of utilities and between 

residential structures contribute to the character of the historic landscape. Dense 

screens of trees and shrubs that obscure historic views of the distant hillsides and 

mountains do not contribute to the character of the historic landscape. 
ANALYSIS

153 

Ornamental Vegetation 

Historic Condition: Early headquarters landscaping consisted of selectively 

retaining attractive trees during the land clearing process prior to building 

construction. In the 1930s, Superintendent Liek submitted funding requests to 

plant lawns, shrubs, and trees. The amount and location of such actions is 

unknown, except for spruce trees planted by the CCC in 1939 around the two 

new employee’s residences (Building 12 and Building 13) (Figures 3.20-3.21) Pre1942 photographs depict open landscapes in front of and around most 

headquarters buildings. In some images, the ground cover appears groomed, and 

in others taller (knee high) vegetation is depicted (Figures 3.22-3.23). 

Existing Condition: Within the historic district, groomed lawns are maintained 

around the administration building (Building 21, original rangers’ dorm), and 

employee’s residences (Building 23 and Building 251). 

Evaluation: Some small lawn areas, such as near the administration building 

(Building 21) and near employees residences contribute to the character of the 

historic landscape. Excessively manicured lawns, such as the sod-laid lawn 

around Building 23 are not in character with the historic landscape. 

Views 

View can be natural or designed. They are created by features that allow a range 

of vision that can be controlled. The absence and addition of buildings and 

vegetation since 1941 has changed views within the historic district. 

Views of the headquarters from the park road 

Historic Condition: Vegetation clearing and the construction of four log 

buildings along the park road allowed visitors to have a clear view of the park 

headquarters from their approach along the park road. The buildings originally 

included the superintendent’s office, and the cabin residences of the three most 

senior park staff: the superintendent, the clerk, and the chief ranger. By 1941, 

three of the original buildings remained (superintendent’s cabin replaced by 

Building 111, employee residence) although they may not have been in use. Also 

prominent in the view was the headquarters flagpole. 

Existing Condition: The loss of the four buildings and growth of vegetation has 

significantly changed views of headquarters from the park road. The open 

landscape south of the park road is occupied today by the bituminous visitor 

parking lot and mature trees (see Figures 3.1 to 3.6). The only feature that 

remains and is highly visible is the flagpole. 
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154 

Evaluation: The limited view of the headquarters from the park road does not 

contribute to the significance of the historic landscape. The view of the flagpole 

from the park road contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

View down the main headquarters road 

Historic Condition: In 1941, the landscape within the park headquarters area was 

open with a few individual trees and clusters. Buildings constructed along the 

main headquarters road dominated views north and south from the road. Ten 

buildings were located on both sides of the road, all with short set-backs. The 

distant hills could be seen as a backdrop to the south and west. 

Existing Condition: The loss of the buildings and growth of trees has changed 

views down the main headquarters road (see Figures 3.7 to 3.10). The road is 

now enclosed by stands of trees and overhanging branches. Recent cutting as 

part of the 2004 fuel load reduction program has enhanced the historic character 

of the area. 

Evaluation: The enclosed views down the main from the park road diminishes 

the views of the historic landscape and do not contribute to its character. 

Buildings and Structures 

Buildings and structures are three-dimensional constructs such as houses, 

outbuildings, retaining walls and bridges. Within the historic district they include 

administration buildings, employee residences, visitor facilities, and varying types 

of service buildings. 

Flagpole 

Historic Condition: A flagpole at the headquarters entrance was erected between 

June 1926 and June 1927, within the intersection of the park road and the main 

headquarters road (Figure 3.24). Historic photographs indicate that by 1931, the 

flagpole was relocated to the west of the superintendent’s office (Building 22) and 

in 1937 it stood to the east of the superintendent’s office (Figures 3.25 -3.26). 

Between 1931 and 1937, it appears the flagpole may have been relocated back to 

its 1920s location. A flagpole within the intersection of the park road and the 

main headquarters road is depicted on the 1936 and the 1937 master plan 

drawing for the headquarters area, and a note on the 1938 plan indicates it was to 

be removed. The absence of the flagpole within the intersection of the park road 

and the main headquarters road in a 1937 photograph (Figure 3.27) is in conflict 

with its identified location on the 1938 map. Perhaps the photograph is 

incorrectly dated or the change had occurred yet was not recorded on the 1938 

map. The flagpole is known to have stood east of Building 22 until at least 1946 

(Figure 3.28). By 1963, the flagpole was relocated back to its approximate 

original location, within a vegetative island at the intersection of the park road 
ANALYSIS

155 

and the main headquarters road (Figure 3.29). The pre-1963 relocation may have 

coincided with completion of the visitor parking area in 1959. 

Existing Condition: The flagpole remains in its 1963 location. The age of the 

flagpole is unknown (Figure 3.30). 

Evaluation: The flagpole contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Stone retaining wall and steps (Structure #111A) 

 Historic Condition: The CCC constructed the stone retaining wall and steps in 

back of the superintendent’s residence (Building 1) in 1939. 

Existing Condition: The stone retaining wall is covered with moss and is in fair 

condition. (Figure 3.31) 

Evaluation: The stone retaining wall and steps contribute to the significance of 

the historic landscape. 

Stone retaining wall and steps (behind Building 23) 

Historic Condition: The low stone retaining wall and steps behind Building 23 

(original employee’s residence) were built recently. 

Existing Condition: The stone work is still present and in good condition (Figure 

3.32). 

Evaluation: The stone retaining wall and steps do not contribute to the 

significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 12 and Building 13 – Employee’s residences 

Historic Condition: The CCC constructed the employee’s rough lumber sided 

residences in 1938. The two residences are the only buildings design by the NPS 

Branch of Plans and Designs during the period of significance with rough wood 

siding. Between 1953 and 1954, both of the two-story single family residences 

were converted into two-unit apartment building. 

Existing Condition: Buildings 12 and 13 retain their original rough lumber 

exterior appearance. 

Evaluation: Buildings 12 and 13 contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Building 21 – Rangers’ dorm 

Historic Condition: Between 1934 and 1935, crews construct the two-story log 

rangers’ dorm in the approximate on the site of the rangers’ quarters destroyed 

by fire the same year. In c. 1952-1954, the rangers’ dorm became the park’s 

administrative office. 
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156 

Existing Condition: Building 21 retains its original log exterior appearance 

(Figures 3.10-3.11). 

Evaluation: Building 21 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 22 – formerly the superintendent’s office 

Historic Condition: Park rangers constructed the log superintendent’s office 

between 1925 and 1926, using recycled logs and other building materials gathered 

from the first headquarters site and/or abandoned railroad camps. In 1940, the 

park moved the office out of Building 22 and into the employee’s quarters 

(Building 11). In 1943, the Building 22 became the park museum. In 1950, the 

museum closed after Building 22 was determined to be structurally unsafe. The 

same year, Building 22 was moved to the service area (west of the garage and 

repair shop, Building 102) were it was used as a construction office and then as 

the naturalist’s workshop and office. In 1950, the park moved Building 22 again, 

this time north of the park road, east of the administrative building (Building 111, 

original superintendent’s garage), were it remains today. After relocation in 1952, 

the building continued to serve as the naturalist’s office and workshop, with 

some displays. In 1954 the park naturalist’s office moved into the administration 

building (Building 111, original superintendent’s office – converted in 1954 into 

the park contact office) and Building 22 was renovated for use as an exhibit room. 

In 1960, Building 22 was converted into a seasonal employees’ residence. 

Existing Condition: Building 22 retains its original log exterior appearance 

(Figures 3.33-3.34). 

Evaluation: Building 22 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape, 

though it is not in the same location that it was during the historic period. 

Building 23 – Employee’s residence 

Historic Condition: Laborers began construction the log employee’s residence in 

1940. By the summer of 1943 the first floor was complete and occupied by the 

park superintendent. Building 23 was converted into a two-unit apartment 

building c. 1950-1952 (by 1966). 

Existing Condition: Building 23 retains its original log exterior appearance. Both 

the first and second floor apartments are used as guest housing. The basement of 

this building is used for park storage. 

Evaluation: Building 23 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 
ANALYSIS

157 

Building 101 – Warehouse 

Historic Condition: Contract laborers and park rangers constructed the log 

warehouse in 1928. In 1978 the warehouse was converted into the park 

naturalist’s office and extensive modifications were made at that time. 

Existing Condition: Building 101 retains its original log exterior appearance. In 

1982 park crews constructed a concrete foundation under Building 101 as a 

stabilization and preservation measure. In 2006, the building was completely 

rehabilitated, and a loading dock, simulating the appearance of the former 

loading dock was installed onto the building at its former location (Figure 3.35-

3.36). 

Evaluation: Building 101 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 102 – Machine shop and garage 

Historic Condition: CCC and park crews constructed the three-bay fire-proof 

machine shop and garage in 1939 to replace the former combination garage, 

workshop and blacksmith shop, which was built in 1927 and destroyed by fire in 

1938. Building 102 was the only building constructed of concrete during the 

period of significance (1926 to 1941). In 2000, Building 102 was converted into 

office space. 

Existing Condition: The original unpainted concrete exterior is painted dark 

brown. The overhead bay doors have been removed, and replaced with exterior 

window panels that accurately represent the configuration of the original doors 

(Figures 3.37-3.38). The building contains offices for the resource management 

division. 

Evaluation: Building 102 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 103 – Garage 

Historic Condition: Park rangers and two laborers constructed the exposed log 

over vertical plank garage in 1931. Between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s the 

four overhead doors were removed and were replaced with board and batten 

infill panels and two small windows. In 1963, Building 103 was converted to a 

heavy-duty equipment repair shop, and in 1978 it was converted into the West 

District Ranger Station. In 2005, extensive renovation of the building included 

reconfiguration of the exterior to reflect the original configuration of the three 

bay doors. 

Existing Condition: Building 103 retains its original exposed log and plank 

exterior appearance. 

Evaluation: Building 103 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

158 

Building 105 – Dog feed cache and cookhouse 

Historic Condition: Constructed in 1929 of exposed logs over vertical planks, the 

dog feed cache and cookhouse replaced a smaller dog feed cache and cookhouse 

built in 1926. In 1938, the CCC relocated the dog feed cache and cookhouse 

from the area now occupied by residential buildings to its current location 

southwest of the service area. The NPS renovated the building in 1974 and in 

1998. In 1976 a shed roof addition was constructed along the west wall. 

Existing Condition: Building 105 retains its original exposed log and plank 

exterior appearance. It is the only service building constructed during the 

historic period (1924-1941) that retains its original use. 

Evaluation: Building 105 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building(s) 105b – Dog kennels 

Historic Condition: Between late 1925 and early 1926, park rangers constructed 

twenty-two kennels (dog houses) in a corral. By May 1926, the kennels were 

relocated about 200 to 250 feet south of the first location, on newly cleared 

ground east of the headquarters access road. In 1927, park rangers constructed 

30 new kennels, each a miniature log cabin dog house, and in 1930 additional 

kennels were built. In 1938, the CCC relocated the kennels from the area now 

occupied by residential buildings to the current location west of the headquarters 

access road and southwest of the service area. For most of the 1940s, the kennels 

stood unoccupied, as the park no longer used sled dogs for winter patrols. The 

kennels were rehabilitated in 1950, when the use of sled dogs resumed. 

Additional rehabilitation work was accomplished in 1955. 

Existing Condition: In 1997 the row of pens east of the kennel cache building 

were moved to become a third row of kennels on the west side of Bldg. 105. At 

this time the grounds and the kennel pens were renovated. The pens are 

constructed of wood and wire fencing, and the dog houses are built of log 

(Figures 3.39-3.40). 

 Evaluation: The kennels, though extensively modified, survive from the period 

of significance and contribute to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 106 – Barn 

Historic Condition: The log barn was built by rangers and outside laborers in 

1928 on the site of the original wood frame barn, which was built in 1925. In 

1933, crews constructed a shed roof lean-to addition on the barn using wood 

salvaged during demolition of the clerk’s quarters, which was originally the 

superintendent’s cabin, built in 1925. In 1945, the barn was converted into a 

carpentry shop. In 1978, the interior of Building 106 was destroyed by fire, after 

which the building was converted into a paint shop. In 2000 the original log barn 

was renovated for use as a park office. 
ANALYSIS

159 

Existing Condition: Building 106 retains its original log exterior appearance. 

Evaluation: Building 106 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 107 – Boiler house 

Historic Condition: In 1932 park rangers constructed the log boiler house, using 

plans not approved by the Landscape Division. The building was located lower 

topographically than the buildings that it served in order so that the steam 

condensate would return by gravity to its point of origin. In 1970, Building 107 

the park converted its use to a plumbing shop and in 2000, to the park’s 

concessions office. 

Existing Condition: Building 107 retains its original log exterior appearance. 

Evaluation: Building 107 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 110 – Electric light shop 

Historic Condition: The electric light shop was built between 1930 and 1932. In 

1938, the CCC converted the electric light shop into a one-car garage. In 1953 

Building 110 was converted into a food cache, and in 1959 the building served as 

the naturalist’s office. By 1966, it was used as a storage building. In 1975 Building 

110 was converted into the East District Ranger’s office. 

Existing Condition: Building 110 retains its original log exterior appearance and 

currently serves as the cultural resource division office. 

Evaluation: Building 110 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 111 – Superintendent’s garage 

Historic Condition: The CCC constructed the superintendent’s garage in 1939. 

The same year, a fire damaged the garage and destroyed the superintendent’s 

residence (Building 1). In 1943, the park constructed a compatible addition on 

the west wall and renovated the garage to serve as the park administration 

building. In 1954, administration offices were relocated to the original ranger’s 

dorm (Building 21) and Building 111 became the park contact office. 

Existing Condition: In 1960, Building 111 was converted into seasonal 

employees’ residence, and in 1980 it was converted into a year-round employee’s 

residence. Building 111 retains its log and stone veneer exterior appearance and 

is currently used as an employees residence. 

Evaluation: Building 111 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

160 

Building 112 – Comfort station 

Historic Condition: The exposed log and plank comfort station was built in 

1932. In 1967 the comfort station was converted into a seasonal employees’ 

residence, and in 1980 it was converted into the concessions office. 

Existing Condition: Building 112 retains its historic exposed log and plank 

exterior appearance and is currently used as the chief ranger’s office. 

Evaluation: Building 112 contributes to the significance of the historic landscape. 

Building 118 – Equipment storage building 

Historic Condition: Building 118 did not exist on site in 1941 at the end of the 

historic period. Private contractors constructed the building for equipment 

storage 1955, adjacent to the west wall of the machine shop and garage (Building 

102). 

 Existing Condition: The building currently houses the resource management 

division offices. Two minor additions were built onto Building 118 in the 1980s, a 

paint and electric shop adjacent to south wall and an ambulance bay and office 

space adjacent to the west wall. These later additions were demolished in 2005 

due to substandard foundations. Adjacent ambulance parking was moved 

elsewhere to C-Camp. A new structure was added onto the west wall of Bldg. 

118, including two floors of offices and equipment storage for the Fire 

Management staff. 

Evaluation: Building 118 does not contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Building 123 – Carpentry and paint shop/administration building 

Historic Condition: Building 123 was originally an infirmary at the CCC camp c. 

1938-1939. In 1945, the building was moved to the headquarters and converted 

into a carpenter and paint shop. It stood along the service drive, west of the 

garage (Building 103). Two years later, Building 123 was renovated for use as 

temporary quarters for the park biologist, and then between 1948 and 1949 it was 

converted into a year-round residence. In 1963, park staff relocated Building 123 

from the service area to across the road from the administration building 

(Building 21, original rangers’ dorm) along the main headquarters road. At a later 

date the building was converted to administrative offices. 

Existing Condition: Building 123 currently contains some of the administrative 

division offices. 

Evaluation: Although built between 1938 and 1939, Building 123 does not 

contribute to the significance of the historic landscape because it was moved into 
ANALYSIS

161 

the headquarters area from the CCC camp in 1945, after the period of 

significance. 

Building 141 – Library/dispatch building 

Historic Condition: Building 141 was built in 1958 and its original use is 

unknown. In 1966 it was used as sign shop. Further investigation may reveal 

Building 141 was constructed around the original laborers’ quarters (Building 6). 

Existing Condition: Building 141 currently contains the park library, dispatch, 

and transient offices. 

Evaluation: Building 141 does not contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Building 217 – Garage 

Historic Condition: The three-stall residential garage was built by 1966, in the 

residential area, next to employees’ residence (Building 12). 

Existing Condition: Building 217 currently serves as a garage. 

Evaluation: Building 217 does not contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Building 251 – Employee’s residence 

Historic Condition: The employee’s residence was built in 1995. 

Existing Condition: The building still serves as an employee residence. 

Evaluation: Building 251 does not contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Visitor comfort station near sled dog demonstration area 

Historic Condition: The visitor comfort station was built in the 1990s. 

Existing Condition: The comfort station is used by visitors who come to see the 

sled dog demonstration. 

Evaluation: This comfort station does not contribute to the significance of the 

historic landscape. 

Small-Scale Features and Utilities 

Small-scale features are functional and aesthetic elements that add detail and 

diversity to a landscape. Within the historic district they include signs, benches, 

picnic tables, and trash receptacles. Utilities are equipment that provides public 

services such as light, power, water, sewer, and phone service. Within the 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

162 

historic district above ground utilities include light poles, satellite dishes, fire 

hose and hydrant boxes, propane tanks, and drainage ditches. 

Light Poles 

Historic Condition: Several light poles are present in the historic district. Their 

origin is unknown. 

Existing Condition: Several light poles are still present. 

Evaluation: To be determined. 

Drainage Ditches 

Historic Condition: In 1938 the CCC dug over seventeen hundred feet of open 

drainage ditches, primarily between the service area and the dog kennels. 

Existing Condition: The present condition of the drainage ditches is unknown. 

Evaluation: The drainage ditches contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Benches, signs, kennel fencing 

Historic Condition: None of these features were extant during the period of 

significance, 1926 to 1941. 

Existing Condition: Contemporary features of log, wood, and rope construction. 

Evaluation: The rustic small scale features do not contribute to the significance 

of the historic landscape. The features contribute to the character of the historic 

landscape. 

Metal signs 

Historic Condition: None of the metal signs were extant during the period of 

significance, 1926 to 1941. 

Existing Condition: The signs are present. 

Evaluation: The metal signs do not contribute to the significance of the historic 

landscape. 

Utility features 

Numerous features including utility boxes mounted on buildings and large free 

standing utility features are found throughout the historic district. Other 

practical site fixtures include, concrete parking stops, metal gates, propane 

safety bollards, above ground pipes, satellite dishes, garbage cans, recycling bins, 

building-mounted lighting, fire hose and hydrant boxes. 
ANALYSIS

163 

Historic Condition: None of these features were extant during the 1926-1941 

period of significance. 

Existing Condition: These features are practical fixtures made of metal, or metal 

and wood, and in some instances fiberglass construction. 

Evaluation: The miscellaneous utility features do not contribute to the 

significance of the historic landscape. 

Visitor Service Features 

Miscellaneous visitor service features are present in the district including a 

telephone booth, picnic tables, cigarette disposal containers, a faux stone speaker 

at the dog demonstration area, and a ranger stand. 

Historic Condition: None of these features were extant during the period of 

significance, 1926 to 1941. 

Existing Condition: Contemporary features of miscellaneous construction. 

Evaluation: The miscellaneous visitor service features do not contribute to the 

significance of the historic landscape. 

SUMMARY OF ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 

At Denali National Park and Preserve Headquarters there are many landscape 

characteristics that reflect the significance of the site, ranging from broad 

characteristics of the spatial organization, circulation, buildings and structures, 

vegetation, to small-scale features. Table 3.2 summarizes the characteristics and 

features found within in the headquarters area that contribute to the significance 

of the historic district, do not contribute, or are missing. The next part of the 

cultural landscape report, the treatment plan, addresses actions necessary to 

preserve, and to improve the character of these important landscape 

characteristics. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

164 

ENDNOTES: LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS 

1

 Note: Sections of this chapter are derived from the Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) prepared by M. Curran in June 2004. 

Tables were developed using information from the CLI and the existing conditions documentation accomplished by the project 

team in August 2005. 

2

 The National Register of Historic Places Program determines a historic property’s significance in American history 

through a process of identification and evaluation. Historic significance may be present in districts, sites, buildings, 

structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling or association 

and which meet at least one of the following National Register criteria: (A) That are associated with events that have 

made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history; or (B) That are associated with the lives of persons 

significant in our past; or (C) That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, 

or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and 

distinguishable entity who’s components may lack individual distinction; or (D) That has yielded or may be likely to 

yield information in prehistory or history. In addition, the National Register identifies several criteria considerations. 

Ordinarily properties that have achieved significance within the past fifty years are not considered eligible for the 

National Register. However, a consideration is made for properties “of exceptional importance.” National Register 

Bulletin, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 1997 edition. 3

 National Register Nomination Form (1987) and CLI (2004). 4

 CLI (2004). 

5

 Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the historic event occurred. Design is the combination of 

elements that create the form, plan, space, structure and style of a property. Setting is the physical environment of a historic 

property. Materials are the physical elements of a particular period, which include plant materials, paving and other landscape 

features. Workmanship includes the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular period. Feeling is a property’s expression of 

the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period. Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person 

and a historic property. 

6 The CLI (2004) indicates that there are two roads that are non-contributing, the graveled spur road and the service road. 7

 Contributing resources are considered, in National Register terms, as “independent cultural resources [that] contribute to the

significance of the landscape...or are independently eligible for National Register listing.” National Register criteria recognize a 

building, site, structure, or object as a contributing resource. If it “adds to the historic associations, historical architectural 

qualities, or archaeological values for which a property is significant.” 

NPS, “Landscape Lines: Landscape Characteristics,” 1998. 
ANALYSIS

165 

3.2 TABLE OF EXISTING LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES, FOLLOWED BY TABLE OF MISSING 

HISTORIC FEATURES 

EXISTING FEATURES 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

TOPOGRAPHY 

Headquarters sited on 

flat upland terrace with 

south aspect 

 a a a a

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION 

Grid pattern on terrace 

and curving roads on 

slopes 

 a a a a

Administration, 

residential, and utility 

areas divided by streets 

and topography 

 a a a a

LAND USE 

Park administration, 

maintenance, 

residences, visitor 

services

 a a a a

CLUSTER ARRANGEMENT 

Cluster of buildings 

along main headquarters 

road 

 a a a a

Cluster of buildings 

along park road 

 a a a a

Cluster of buildings in 

service area 

 a a a a

Cluster of buildings 

north of park road 

 a a a a

Cluster of buildings in 

dog kennel area 

 a a a a

Cluster of buildings in 

residential area 

 a a a a

CIRCULATION 

Park road a a a a built 1924 (within 

historic district) 

Main headquarters road a a a a surveyed 1925 

built 1927 

Road from barn 

(Building 106) to early 

dog kennels 

Portion of 

current road 

 a - a a built 1930 - 1935 as 

a trail or wagon 

road. Not present 

in current form in 

1941 

Road past comfort 

station (Building 112) to 

early dog kennels 

Portion of 

current road 

 a a a a built 1930 to 1935 

Service Court a a a a built by 1931 (to 

garage, Building 

103) 

extended 1939 

Trail from boiler house 

(Building 107) to main 

headquarters road 

 a a a a cleared for steam 

pipe installation 

1932, trail by 1935 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

166 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

Service road extension 

to park road 

 outside 

district 

no a no built late 1950s - 

early 1960s as part 

of Mission-66 

effort. 

Road(s) to current dog 

kennels 

Portion of 

trail from 

visitor center 

parking lot to 

dog kennels 

 a a a a built 1938 

(Probably includes 

both roads, one 

connects to main 

headquarters, the 

other to service 

road. 

Loop road outside 

district 

no a no built c. 1953 

sled dog demonstration 

trail 

 a no a no built 1997 

Rock Creek Trail outside 

district 

no a no built 1952 

Visitor parking area partially 

in district 

no a no built c. 1956-1959 

Trail from visitor center 

parking area to service 

drive 

Portion of 

trail from 

visitor center 

parking lot to 

dog kennels 

 outside 

district 

no a no built c. 1987-1989 

Parking area between 

garage (Building 103) 

and warehouse 

(Building 101) 

 a no a no built by 1975 

u-drive at oil and gas 

house (Building 108)

 a a a a built c. 1934 (by 

1947) 

VEGETATION 

Natural vegetation - 

dense forest 

 a No Partial No 

Functional vegetation - 

Selected specimen trees 

 a a a a

Ornamental vegetation a Undet

ermine

d 

Some Undet

ermine

d 

VIEWS 

View of flagpole from 

Park road 

 a a a a

View of headquarters 

buildings along park 

road from park road 

 a a no gone 

View down main 

headquarters road 

 a a Partial a

View of distant hills 

from kennel area 

 a a Partial a

BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES 

flag pole a a a a c. 1926-1927 

(original location) 

moved c. 1928 to 

1939. 

stone retaining wall and 

stairs (Structure 111A) 

 036505 a a a a built 1939 

stone retaining wall and 

stairs – behind Building 

23 

 a a 

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 12) 

apartments – 2 

unit (1953) 

Employee 

Residence – 

duplex 

(employee 

residence) 

Employee 

Residence - 

Apartments

, HQ 

(035001) 

a a a a built 1938 
ANALYSIS

167 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 13) 

apartments – 2 

unit (1954) 

Employee 

Residence – 

duplex 

(employee 

residence) 

Employee 

Residence - 

Apartments

, HQ 

(035002) 

a a a a built 1938 

Rangers’ dorm (Bldg 21) 1934-1954: 

rangers’ 

quarter 

rangers’ club 

administrative 

building 

(1954) 

Administration Building 

(park HQ, 

administration) 

Administrat

ion 

Building, 

HQ 

(005235) 

a a a a built 1934-1935 

Superintendent’s office 

(Bldg 22) 

administrative 

building (by 

1934) 

museum 

(1943) 

construction 

office (1950) 

naturalist’s 

office & 

workshop/mu

seum (by 

1952) 

museum 

(1954) 

seasonal 

employees’ 

quarters 

(1960) 

Employee 

Residence 

(employee 

residence) 

Residence/ 

Residence/ 

Old 

Museum, 

HQ 

Residence 

(005236) 

a a a a built 1925-1926 

moved 1950 (utility 

area) 

moved 1952 

(current location) 

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 23) 

superintenden

ts residence 

employee’s 

residence 

(again) 

quarters 23 

apartments 

(by 1966) 

Superintendent’s House 

(transient 

housing) 

 Residence 

Superinten

dent’s 

Residence, 

HQ 

(005237) 

a a a a built 1940-1943 

converted into 2 

apartments c. 1950-

1952 (by 1966) 

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 26) 

B-16 

residence 

(employee 

residence) 

outside 

district 

no a no built 1949-1950 

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 27) 

B-15 

residence 

(employee 

residence) 

outside 

district 

no a no built 1949-1950

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 28) 

B-47 

residence 

(employee 

residence) 

outside 

district 

no a no built c. 1950

Employee’s residence 

(Bldg 34) 

residence (employee 

residence) 

outside 

district 

no a no built 1951-1952 

Apartment building 

(Bldg 51) 

 outside 

district 

no a no built 1958-1959 

six-bay garage (Bldg 53) Information 

Technology 

empire (IT 

offices, 

storage, some 

garages) 

outside 

district 

no a no built 1958-1959 

boiler house (Bldg 54) (boiler, water 

quality 

testing) 

outside 

district 

no a no built 1960-1961 

original use unknown 

(Bldg 99) 

resource 

management 

office (by c. 

1977) 

exercise room 

The 

Downunder 

(employee 

workout 

room) 

outside 

district 

no a no built 1962 

Warehouse (Bldg 101) naturalist’s 

office (1978) 

(museum/arch

ives) 

interpretative 

office (by 

1994) 

The 

Overthere 

(Interpretation Division 

offices) 

Interp/Mus

eum, HQ 

(005238) 

a a a a built 1928 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

168 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

Machine shop & garage 

(Bldg 102) 

1939 – 

present: 

machine shop 

machine shop 

and winter 

garage 

garage and 

machine shop 

fireproof 

machine shop 

garage and 

repair shop 

carpentry 

shop 

office 

Resource 

Management 

Offices 

(Resource 

Management 

Div. offices) 

Carpenter 

Shop, HQ 

(035000) 

a a a a built 1939 

Garage (Bldg 103) equipment 

storage shed 

heavy duty 

equipment 

repair shop 

road shop 

West Dist. 

Ranger 

Station 

rangers’ cache 

Ranger Cache 

(Ranger 

Division 

offices) 

Ranger 

Office/Hea

dquarters, 

HQ 

(005239) 

a a a a built 1931 

Dog feed cache and 

cookhouse(Bldg 105) 

dog feed, 

cache & sled 

storage 

dog feed 

cache 

Same Dog Feed 

Cache & 

Sled 

Storage, 

HQ 

(001075) 

a a a a built 1929 

moved 1938 

(current location) 

Dog kennels (Bldg 105b) corral 

dog houses 

 (036504) a a a a built c. 1925-1926 

(north of current 

residential area) 

moved 1926 

(current residential 

area) 

30 new kennels 

built 1927 

additional kennels 

built 1930 

relocated to 

current site in 1938 

rehabilitated in 

1950 

rehabilitated/rebuil

t in 1955 

rehabilitated c. 

1997 

Barn (Bldg 106) stable 

warehouse - 

CCC clothing 

etc. (1938-

1939) 

carpentry 

shop (1947) 

paint shop 

(1978) 

sign 

shop/storage 

(1979) 

office (2000) 

Dilbert-ville 

(staff offices) 

Old Sign 

Shop, HQ 

(005240) 

a a a a built 1929 

log lean-to addition 

– 1933 

gable roof 

addition– by 1950 
ANALYSIS

169 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

boiler house (Bldg 107) power -boiler 

house 

power & 

boiler house 

plumbing 

shop (1970) 

concession 

office (2000) 

Concession 

Office 

(Concession 

Division 

offices) 

Plumbing 

Shop, HQ 

(005241) 

a a a a built 1931-1932 

electric light shop (Bldg 

110) 

power house 

one-car 

garage (1938) 

food cache 

(1953) 

electrical shop 

(by 1957 refinclude in site 

history) 

naturalist’s 

office (1959) 

storage 

building (by 

1966) 

radio shop (c. 

1970s) 

East District 

Ranger 

Station (1975) 

Upfront 

(Cultural 

Resources 

Division 

office) 

Engineer 

Office, HQ 

(005242) 

a a a a built 1930-1931 

superintendent’s garage 

(Bldg 111) 

park office 

(1943) 

administrative 

building (by 

1951) 

park contact 

office (1954) 

seasonal 

employees’ 

residence 

(1960) 

employee’s 

residence 

(1980) 

Rock House 

(employee’s 

residence) 

Residence/

Old 

Superinten

dent’s 

Office 

(005243) 

a a a a built 1939 

damaged by fire in 

1939 

addition built in 

1943 

comfort station (Bldg 

112) 

Seasonal 

residence 

(1967) 

concessions 

office (1980) 

John House 

(Chief Ranger 

office) 

(005244) a a a a built 1932 

equipment storage 

building (Bldg 118) 

 Resource 

Management 

Office 

(Resource 

Management 

Division 

offices) 

a no a no built c. 1955 

1st addition built in 

1980 

2nd addition built in 

1981 

carpentry & paint shop 

(Bldg 123) 

employee’s 

residence 

(1947) 

quarters 24 

“mosquito 

manor” 

offices 

The 

Overworked 

(Administration Division 

offices) 

a At 

CCC 

camp 

a no c. 1938-1939 at CCamp (infirmary 

building) 

moved to HQ in 

1945 

moved to current 

location in 1963 

original use unknown 

(Bldg 141) 

chief 

naturalists 

office (1980s) 

library & 

dispatch 

Library & 

Dispatch 

(Dispatch 

office/ 

transient 

offices) 

a no a no built 1958 

(Footprint may 

include laborer’s 

cabin, Building 6) 

pump house (Bldg 127) Likely gone outside 

district 

no a no built 1953 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

170 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

panadobe house (Bldg 

169) 

 Panadobe 

House 

(transient 

resource 

management 

offices) 

outside 

district 

no a no on site 1983

panadobe house (Bldg 

170)

 Panadobe 

House 

(transient 

employee 

housing) 

outside 

district 

no a no on site 1983 

modular house (Bldg 

171) 

 Modular 

House 

(employee 

housing) 

outside 

district 

no a no on site 1985 

three-stall garage 

(Bldg 217)

 Employee 

garages 

 outside 

district 

no a no by 1966 

employee’s residence 

(Bldg 251) 

 Employee 

residence 

a no a no built 1994 

Duplex (Bldg 252 a & b) Duplex 

(employee 

residences) 

 outside 

district 

no a no built 1995 

comfort station by dog 

demo (no #) 

 a no a no 

Butler building (no #) outside 

district 

(c camp) 

no a no built c. 1996-1999 

pipe storage rack (no #) a no a no scheduled for 

removal 2007 

SMALL-SCALE FEATURES AND UTILITIES 

drainage ditches a a a a excavated by CCC 

in 1938-39 

Stephen Mather 

memorial plaque 

 a a a a park receives 

plaque in 1934 

near Building 21, 

pre 1951 

moved near 

Building 22 in 1951 

at Toklat Bridge, 

pre 1985-1986 

attached to front of 

Building 21, by 

2007 

Weather Station 

equipment 

 a no a no 

Log Kiosks a no a no contemporary 

Concrete parking stops inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary

Log benches (Dog 

demonstration area, 

visitor parking lot) 

 a no a no contemporary 

Log and rope fencing 

(Dog demonstration 

area – dog houses) 

 a no a no contemporary 

Metal Signs (no parking, 

speed limit, Stop, 

telephone/handicap, 

high voltage, danger 

propane) 

 inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Wooden Signs (HQ 

entrance, bldg 101, bus 

schedule/stop, HQ 

directional, trail) 

 inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Barbeque grill (Building 

123) 

 a no a no contemporary 
ANALYSIS

171 

Original Name (Bldg No.) Other Historic 

Names/Uses 

Current Name 

(Use) 

LCS Name 

(#) 

Historic 

District 

(a)

1941 

(a)

2006 

(a)

Contri

buting? 

(a)

Notes 

Fire hose and hydrant 

boxes 

 inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Utility boxes (large) inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Utility boxes (small 

mounted) 

 inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Ranger stand – dog 

demonstration area 

 a no a no contemporary 

Metal Gates inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Speaker (faux stone) – 

dog demonstration area 

 a no a no contemporary 

Propane Safety Poles inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Lights – attached to 

buildings 

 inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Pipes inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Satellite Dishes outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Cigarette disposal 

containers 

 a no a no contemporary 

Stone landscape borders 

(Bldg 111) 

 a no a no 

Picnic Tables 

(wooden/wood & metal) 

 a no a no contemporary 

Garbage cans inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Recycling bins inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Dumpsters inside & 

outside 

district 

no a no contemporary 

Telephone booth a no a no contemporary 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

172 

MISSING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES 

Original Name (Bldg 

No.) 

Building 

Material 

Other Historic Names/Uses Location 

(Referenced 

to extant 

buildings) 

Extant in 

1941 (a) 

Notes 

superintendent’s 

residence (Bldg 1) 

log historic 

district – 

north side of 

main 

headquarters 

road 

no built 1929 

burned 1939 

laborers’ quarters (Bldg 

6) 

log also known as: 

laborers’ cabin 

employee’s quarters 

employee’s residence 

sign shop (by 1966) 

historic 

district – back 

of Building 21 

a built by 1931 

possibly razed (May be 

included in footprint of extant 

library and dispatch, Building 

141) 

employee’s quarters 

(Bldg 11) 

log employee’s residence (by 

1937) 

clerk’s residence 

administration building 

(1940) 

employee’s residence (again, 

c. 1943-1944) 

Q-100 

historic 

district – 

north of 

Building 21 

a built 1934-1935 

burned 1950 

temporary one-car 

garage (Bldg 50) 

unknown power house (housed Buda 

generating plant, 1946) 

storage shed (1950) 

historic 

district - 

across from 

Building 21 

a built 1938 

moved 1943 (back of Building 

102) 

removed 1998 

oil and gas house (no #) unknown historic 

district – back 

of Building 

102 

unknown 

(see 

Building 

108) 

built 1931 (described as 10 x 12’ 

in master plan text) 

may have been moved across 

the road by 1941 (see Building 

108) 

oil and gas house (Bldg 

108) 

metal oil house (1951) 

fuel storage shed 

historic 

district - 

across from 

Building 102 

a may have been 1931 oil and gas 

house (see oil and gas house, 

above) 

if original 1931 oil and gas 

house – moved by 1941 

-if new oil and gas house– built 

by 1941 

razed c. 1970s 

pump house (Bldg 109) outside 

historic 

district – along 

Rock Creek 

a built 1937 

replaced 1953 

coal shed (no #) Frame 

(as described 

in master 

plan text) 

 historic 

district 

-across from 

Building 101 

unknown 

(see coal 

shed 

below) 

built c. 1930-1933 (16’ x 22’ 

master plan text) 

removed or moved c. 1939 (see 

coal shed below) 

coal shed (no #) unknown historic 

district 

-west of 

Building 103 

a may have been coal shed built 

in 1933 (see above) 

removed or moved from 

original location by 1939. 

located adjacent to Building 103 

by 1941 

does not appear on later maps. 

coal shed (Bldg 114) historic 

district 

- south of 

Building 107 

a built c. 1939-1941 (maps) 

(12’ x 16’ building records) 

removed c. 1958-1959 (maps) 

fuel storage building 

(Bldg 117) 

unknown historic 

district 

- replaced 

Building 108 

no built c. 1970s; removed c. 1980s 
ANALYSIS

173 

pump house (Bldg 127) outside 

historic 

district 

-along Rock 

Creek 

no built 1953 

possibly extant 

superintendent’s cabin 

(no #) 

 clerk’s cabin (1929) historic 

district 

-along park 

road 

no built 1925 

razed 1933 

clerk’s cabin (Bldg 3) log 1929-1943: 

laborers’ quarters 

employee’s quarters (by 1937) 

historic 

district 

-along park 

road 

a

built 1925 

addition built 1927 

razed 1943 

superintendent’s office, 

original (no #) 

tent historic 

district 

-along park 

road 

no erected 1925 

removed c. 1926 

rangers’ cabin (no #) log laborers’ cabin historic 

district 

-south of 

Building 101 

no built 1925 

burned 1931 

horse barn (no #) wood frame historic 

district 

-replaced by 

Building 106 

no built 1925 

razed c. 1929 (gone by 1941) 

Warehouse, first (no #) tent historic 

district 

–location 

unknown 

no erected (1st headquarters) 1922 

erected (2nd headquarters) 1925 

removed c. 1928 

Warehouse, second (no 

#) 

tent historic 

district 

-location 

unknown 

no 

temporary garage (no #) tent historic 

district 

-location 

unknown 

no erected 1925 

removed c. 1927 

workshop and harness 

room (no #) 

tent historic 

district 

-location 

unknown 

no built by 1926 

removed c. 1927 

chief ranger’s cabin (no 

#) 

log employee’s quarters (by 1937) historic 

district 

-along park 

road 

a built 1926 

razed 1943 

dog feed cookhouse 

and cache, original (no 

#) 

log outside 

historic 

district 

-area near 

Building 26 

a built 1926 

replaced 1929 

razed 1950 

combination garage, 

workshop and 

blacksmith shop (no #) 

wood frame machine shop (1931) historic 

district 

-current 

location of 

Building 102 

no built 1927 

garage converted into machine 

shop 1931 

burned 1938 

rangers’ quarters (no #) log historic 

district 

-current 

location of 

Building 21 

no built 1928 

burned 1934 

laborers’ quarters (no #) tents (2-3) historic 

district 

-current 

location of 

Building 141 

no erected c. 1928 

removed unknown date 

pump house, original 

(no #) 

tent 0utside 

historic 

district 

-along Rock 

Creek 

no erected 1929 

replaced in 1937 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

174 

meat house (no #) historic 

district 

-back of 

Building 21 

Unknown built by 1938 

fire cache (no #) historic 

district 

-adjacent to 

Building 107 

no built 1952 

employee housing (no 

#) 

house trailers historic 

district 

-site of 

Building 123 

(date) 

-adjacent to 

Buildings 26, 

27, and 28 

no delivered 1953 (4) 

delivered 1954 (2) 

Temporary information 

center and exhibit room 

(no #) 

Portion of 

old ARC 

building 

 historic 

district 

-adjacent to 

center parking 

lot 

no delivered 1959 

A-Frame (no #) location 

unknown 

no built 1972 

removed 1977 
175

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.1. View southwest from park road, mid-1920s, prior to construction of the fl agpole. Pictured from 

left to right is the superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22), original superintendent’s cabin, and original clerk’s 

cabin (DENA 4-2, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.2. Headquarters entrance with fl agpole, entrance sign and boulder in front of visitor parking lot, 

August 2005. All buildings have been moved or removed from the immediate vicinity of the headquarters 

entrance (NPS, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, hereafter, OCLP).
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Figure 3.4. View looking southeast east from park road, August 2005. Building 22 has been 

moved to the north side of the road. The fl agpole is barely visible through the trees (OCLP). 

Figure 3.3. View looking southeast from the park road, c. 1926. The superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22) and fl agpole are visible along 

the road. The superintendent’s cabin and clerk’s cabin are obscured by trees (DENA 3475, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum 

Collection).
177

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.6. View looking southeast east down park road showing the visitor parking area (OCLP, August 2005). 

Figure 3.5. View looking southeast from park road, 1937. Building 11 is in the center of the photograph. The 

superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22) is partially visible on the left and the clerk’s quarters is obscured by trees on the 

right (Wm. McCullough photo, DENA 3060, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection ).
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Figure 3.8. View north up main headquarters road, August 2005. The walkway to the current administration building 

(Building 21) is visible in the left foreground (OCLP).

Figure 3.7. View north main headquarters road, 1937. Building 11 is visible to the left. The walkway to the current 

administration building (Building 21) is visible in the left foreground. (Wm McCullough photo, DENA 3141, Denali 

National Park and Preserve Museum Collection ).
179

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.10. View south down main headquarters road, August 

2005. Only Building 106 is visible, all other buildings are concealed 

by the tree canopy (OCLP).

Figure 3.9. View south down main headquarters road, c. 1940-41. Visible on the east side of the road, left to right is Building 22, Building 

110, and a small building now gone. Visible on the west side of the road, left to right, is Building 102, Building 101, Building 21, and 

Building 11 (DENA 3-7.7, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
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Figure 3.12. View northeast down gravel road past comfort station (Building 112) to early dog kennels, now 

used as a walking path. An historic photograph of the road has not been located (OCLP, August 2005). 

Figure 3.11. View northeast down road from barn (Building 106) to early dog kennels, August 2005. 

Also depicted in the photograph is Building 107 (original boiler house) with cars in front, Building 251 

(employee’s residence) obscured by trees, and the loop road (center right, not in historic district). A historic 

photograph of the road has not been located (OCLP). 
181

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.13. View west up steep trail from back side of boiler house on left (Building 107) to 

main headquarters road, August 2005. Also depicted is Buildings 102/118 in the distance (OCLP).
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Figure 3.14. View northeast of the u-drive leading to the oil and gas house (Building 108), c. 1950. Note the narrow width 

of the drive (DENA 10483, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.15. View southeast of the u-drive, August 2005. The parking area occupies the location of the oil and gas house 

(Building 108) and oil cans adjacent to the building depicted in the fi gure above. The island of mature evergreens is the 

same group depicted (left) in the fi gure above. Building 106 (original barn) is seen to the right (OCLP)..
183

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.16. View, looking to the northeast, of the parking area west of Building 103 (original garage), August 2005. The 

parking lot was recently repaved to add a drainage swale that crosses the road (OCLP).

Figure 3.17. View northwest of parking area behind Building 102 (original machine shop and garage), August 2005. The 

dark pavement is a recently added drainage swale (OCLP).
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Figure 3.18. View north of rectangular area between the warehouse (Building 101, not depicted), garage (Building 103, 

not depicted), rangers’ dorm (Building 21, depicted), and the laborer’s quarters (Building 6, just visible behind trees, 

left). Although it is diffi cult to determine the use of the area closest to the service road (foreground), it is evident by the 

location of the log clothes line that parking would not have occurred between Building 6 and Building 21. Unnumbered 

photograph, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection)

Figure 3.19. View north of rectangular parking area between rectangular area between Building 101 (original warehouse, 

right foreground), Building 103 (original garage, left foreground), Building 21 (original rangers’ dorm, right background) 

and Building 141 (Library and Dispatch, location of original laborers’ cabin – Building 6, just visible behind trees left 

background), August 2005.
185

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.20. View west of vegetation surrounding Building 12 (right) and Building 13 (left), August 16, 1939. 

Note the mature spruce and poplars, the young spruce planted by the CCC in 1939. Also note the earthen 

driveway leading to Building 12 (Alaska Regional Offi ce, Regional Cultural Resources Files).

Figure 3.21. View west of vegetation surrounding Building 12 (right) and Building 13 (left), August 2006. 

Note the mature spruce trees (some probably young spruce planted by the CCC) and the earthen circle drive 

leading between the two residences (post-1941 circulation change). Also note the absence of the poplar 

trees.
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Figure 3.22. View southwest of the rangers’ dorm, now administration building (Building 21), c. 1940. Also 

note the warehouse (Building 101, left), earthen main headquarters road, clump of evergreens, the open 

landscape around the buildings, and the taller vegetation east of the road in the foreground (National 

Archives, Photographic Branch, College Park, MD).

Figure 3.23. View southwest of the administration building (Building 21, original rangers’ dorm), August 

2005. Note building changes including the replacement windows and roofi ng material. Also note Building 

101 (original warehouse, far left behind the grove of evergreen trees), the lawn around the building, and 

the asphalt main headquarters road at the left of the image (OCLP).
187

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.24. View southwest of the fl ag pole at the intersection of the park road and the main headquarters 

road, 1928 (Candace Waugaman Collection, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.25. View east of the fl ag pole standing to the west of the 

superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22), post-1930 (DENA-32, National Park 

Service, Harpers Ferry Center).
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Figure 3.26. View east of the fl ag pole standing east of the superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22), 1937 

(Wm McCullough photo, DENA 3135, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.27. View north of the intersection of the park road (distance) and the main Headquarters 

road (center), 1937. Note the absence of the fl ag pole in this view (Wm McCullough photo, DENA 

3161, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
189

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.28. View southwest of the fl ag pole east of Building 22 (original superintendent’s offi ce), June 1946 (DENA 5-2, 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).
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Figure 3.29. View southwest of the fl ag pole in the vegetative island with sign and boulder at the intersection of the 

park road and the main headquarters road, June 1963 , soon after the construction of the visitor parking lot (DENA 

52, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.30. View southwest of the fl ag pole in the vegetative island with sign and boulder at the intersection of the 

park road and the main headquarters road (August 2005, OCLP).
191

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.31. View northeast of stone retaining wall and steps (111A) built by the CCC in 1939 (August 2005, OCLP).

Figure 3.32. View west Bldg. 23 (original employee’s residence) of a recently constructed stone retaining wall and 

steps (August 2005, OCLP).
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Figure 3.33. View southwest of the superintendent’s offi ce (Building 22) at its original location along the park road, 

c. 1928-1930. Also note the earthen parking area in front of the building and the log retaining wall at left (Candace 

Waugaman Collection, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.34. View of southwest facade of Building 22 (original superintendent’s offi ce) in its current location north of 

the park road. This small building now serves as an employee residence. Note building changes including the front 

porch and stairs, and the painted peeled log exterior (OCLP, 2005).
193

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.35. View looking northwest of the warehouse (Building 101), c. 1931. Also note the garage (Building 103, 

left) and the earthen service road foreground and main headquarters road (right) (DENA 3-37, Denali National Park 

and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.36. View looking northwest of Building 101 (original warehouse), August 2005. Note building changes 

including the in fi lled double doors, roof surface, concrete foundation, and absence of the loading dock. Also note 

the garage (Building 103) at left and the asphalt service road foreground and main headquarters road at right 

(OCLP).
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Figure 3.37. View looking southwest toward the garage and repair shop (Building 102), August 14, 1939. Also note the 

earthen ramp leading up to the garage doors, service drive (right foreground) and main headquarters road (left) (DENA 3 

2, Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.38. View looking southwest toward Building 102 (original garage and repair shop), August 2006. Note building 

changes including the painted concrete exterior and the roof surface. Also note the asphalt pavement leading to faux 

garage doors (parking spaces), service court at right, and the north-south headquarters road at left in the foreground 

(OCLP).
195

ANALYSIS

Figure 3.39. View west of the sled dog kennels at park headquarters in 1939 (DENA 11-13.5, Denali National Park and 

Preserve Museum Collection).

Figure 3.40. View looking west to the sled dog kennels, August 2005. Note confi guration changes including the double 

row of dog houses surrounded by wood post and rope fencing at right (OCLP).
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196
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

197 

Flagpole at park headquarters on the south side of the park road (OCLP, August 2006). 

LANDSCAPE TREATMENT 

TREATMENT

LANDSCAPE TREATMENT SUMMARY 

REVIEW OF TREATMENT APPROACHES 

TREATMENT PRINCIPLES 

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER GUIDELINES FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS 

TREATMENT TASKS 
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198 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

199 

LANDSCAPE TREATMENT 

LANDSCAPE TREATMENT SUMMARY 

Choosing among the four possible historic preservation treatments outlined in 

the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, 

this report recommends Rehabilitation as the primary treatment for the historic 

park headquarters district based on rehabilitation's philosophical consistency 

with park planning documents. The following recommendations which define 

the nature of the proposed rehabilitation are not intended to serve as 

construction documents and specifications, but rather to establish the goals and 

overall direction so that future management choices are informed by historic 

preservation values. The following approach and the accompanying subordinate 

treatment tasks have been developed collaboratively following two on-site 

meeting between Olmsted Center and Denali National Park & Preserve staff 

members. Proposed treatment measures have been further refined through 

communication with Alaska Region staff preparing the Denali Park Headquarters 

Master Plan Environmental Assessment. 

The following chapter defines site-specific rehabilitation tasks, and articulates a 

strategy for perpetuating the historic character of the headquarters district where 

the National Register period of significance encompasses the years between 1926 

and 1941. Among the treatment measures that follow, the elimination of parking 

and through-traffic from the center of the historic district is the most 

fundamental element within the larger program of proposed rehabilitation 

measures. Eliminating parking and through-traffic from the center of the district 

will facilitate the removal of excessive post World War II bituminous pavements, 

and also make possible the creation of a central pedestrian zone, facilitating 

expanded front-country interpretive opportunities as recommended in park 

plans (Figure 4.1). Another important recommendation is the identification of an 

appropriate building site for a new administration building, so that the historic 

headquarters district may continue to function as a valuable element of the park's 

infrastructure. This report will also recommend a palette of appropriate nonhistoric site furnishings and fixtures for use within the headquarters district. The 

proposed site furnishings are adapted from the timber-themed non-historic 

furnishings developed for use at the park's new visitor center, that have been 

modified to match the smaller scale of the ensemble of buildings found within the 

historic headquarters district. 

According to National Park Service (NPS) policy, a cultural landscape report 

serves as the primary supporting document guiding the treatment of a cultural 

landscape, and is required before any major intervention. For the Denali 

Headquarters Historic District, a consistent approach toward preservation 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

200 

treatment is needed to effectively address preservation issues relating to locating 

new buildings providing additional office space and continued administrative 

use, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, universal accessibility, vehicular 

parking, and designs for appropriate small-scale features. The following chapter 

begins with an overview of related planning documents, discusses the complete 

range of treatment alternatives and implications, and outlines general treatment 

principles. The second half of the section identifies specific issues and provides 

alternatives and recommendations for treatment. The overall goal of the 

treatment recommendations is to reinforce the National Park Service’s tradition 

and philosophical basis for the sound stewardship of cultural landscapes as 

outlined in the National Park Service Cultural Resource Management Guideline

(1997) and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic 

Properties (1996). 

RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING DENALI PLANNING DOCUMENTS 

Established in 1917, the park was “set apart as a public park for the benefit and 

enjoyment of the people...for recreation purposes by the public and for the 

preservation of animals, birds, and fish and for the preservation of natural 

curiosities and scenic beauties thereof...said park shall be, and hereby 

established as a game refuge.”1 In 1980 Congress passed the Alaska National 

Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), enlarging the park and broadening 

its management objectives to include protection of historic and archeological 

sites. The Headquarters District is one of some 180 known cultural sites and 

complexes within the Denali National Park and Preserve, ranging from 

Athabascan Indian archeological sites to mining sites such as the Kantishna 

Historic District. 

A series of master plans and planning documents have guided the management of 

the park since its early establishment. As detailed in the first part of the CLR, Site 

History, Superintendent Harry Karstens prepared an initial plan for the 

relocation of the headquarters from Riley Creek in 1925. NPS Chief Landscape 

Architect Thomas Vint prepared a master plan in 1929, which was updated in 

1937. These plans guided the construction of the park headquarters area and set 

forth design guidelines. Continued expansion of the park, highway access, 

increased population of the region, and growing visitation has necessitated an 

evolving vision for the park. Subsequent master plans were prepared in 1965 and 

1973, and the park’s General Management Plan was completed in 1986. Since this 

time a number of Development Concept Plans have guided park development. 

Most recently, the Final Entrance Area and Road Corridor Development Concept 

Plan completed in December 1996 describes the proposed plan for providing 

visitor use and resource protection and related facility development in the 

entrance area and road corridor or “front country” of the park and preserve. The 

Headquarters Historic District is one of several sites highlighted in the 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

201 

Development Concept Plan (DCP). The following general vision is articulated in 

the DCP and the proposed Alternative D: Emphasize Traditional NPS Programs, 

is identified as the preferred alternative with several modifications. 

The general vision for the front country of Denali National Park and Preserve is 

for an area that, 15-20 years from now, still offers the nation’s premier 

opportunities to observe large wildlife species and the highest peak in North 

America in a primitive, natural setting. The front country area services and 

facilities would allow as many visitors as possible to view and experience these 

resources without degrading the resources or the premier visitor experience. 

The park’s main entrance area would offer greater opportunities for more diverse 

visitor activities than at present. Visitors of all ages would have access to Denali 

and feel at the end of their stay that they truly experienced one of the finest 

national parks in the world. Transportation in the park would be provided on 

safe, comfortable vehicles that provide efficient movement through the area, and 

outstanding interpretive experience, and convenient connections to nearby 

service facilities. Existing temporary and substandard facilities would be 

eliminated and, in their place, well-designed, permanent facilities would enhance 

the visitor experience and help protect park resources. Visitors would depart 

after their visit with a greater understanding of the cultural resource values of 

Denali.2

Because the Denali Headquarters Historic District includes both visitor and 

administrative facilities, many of the broad management objectives listed in the 

DCP are directly relevant to the district: 

 Provide a range of opportunities for park visitors consistent with park 

purposes. 

 Determine whether visitor use in the entrance area and along the park 

road can be increased while improving resource protection and the 

quality of the visitor experience. 

 Provide visitor and administrative facilities that are necessary and 

appropriate for user enjoyment and effective park management. 

 Provide public environmental education opportunities with facilities 

that are aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sustainable. 

 Provide a comprehensive transportation system management program 

considering the necessary modes of transportation within the park and 

coordinating with external transportation systems. 

 Provide a variety in length and type of bus tour opportunities. 

 Undertake maintenance and safety improvements that maintain the park 

road and its future reliability. 

 Provide adequate maintenance support facilities, administrative offices, 

and housing.3
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202 

Specific objectives identified in the DCP relating to the Headquarters Historic 

District will be detailed in a subsequent discussion of specific treatment issues 

and recommendations. 

REVIEW OF TREATMENT APPROACHES 

As a federally owned property listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 

decisions regarding the treatment of the Headquarters Historic District must be 

consistent with the 1996 Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of 

Historic Properties. These standards specify four distinct, but interrelated, 

approaches to the treatment of historic properties. Application of these 

treatments to historic landscapes is further defined in the Secretary’s 1996

Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes. The treatment option 

discussed in the 1996 DCP is "Rehabilitation," effectively accommodating the 

park's evolving need for administrative and operational infrastructure. The 

earlier 1986 General Management Plan does not discuss a treatment option, 

because at that time the headquarters district had been evaluated but not yet 

listed on the National Register. A more in-depth review of the four alternative 

treatments are described below and in Table 4.1. Considerations include 

feasibility, maintenance requirements, interpretation, public access and safety, 

environmental sustainability, cost, and park operations. 

Preservation 

Preservation focuses on the maintenance and repair of existing historic materials 

and retention of a property’s form as it has evolved over time. This approach 

prescribes the maintenance and repair of the site as it currently exists, and allows 

existing features to be replaced in-kind, yet does not permit the addition of new 

features. Because of the evolving use and needs, Preservation has never been 

considered a viable option for the headquarters area. In the 1950s, numerous 

buildings were altered to accommodate the need for additional office and 

housing space. The park removed several structures in the 1940s and 50s and 

added Building 118 in 1955 to meet the need for expanded park operations, and 

subsequently added Buildings 123, and 217 within the district. Most recently, in 

1994, the park added Building 251 to the historic district in order to provide 

additional employee housing. Preservation focuses on the maintenance and 

repair of existing historic materials, and involves the least intervention and 

perpetuates current management practices. 

Rehabilitation 

Rehabilitation acknowledges the need to meet continuing or changing uses 

through alterations or new additions while retaining the historic character of the 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

203 

property. It allows for repairs and alterations of the cultural landscape, and for 

improving the utility and function of landscape features. It is used to make an 

efficient, compatible use while preserving those portions or features of the 

property that contribute to its historical significance. For the Headquarters 

District, changes have been necessary to accommodate visitor use, such as the 

addition of parking and visitor facilities and the modification of circulation 

surfaces to withstand high use and meet national accessibility standards. 

A rehabilitation strategy allows for the replacement of missing features, as they 

existed historically based on documentary evidence, or replacement with 

compatible features. At Denali, accommodation of park operations and visitor 

services has resulted in some rehabilitation. Most recently the National Park 

Service has increased the amount of paved surfaces within the headquarters 

district. Under the rehabilitation approach, however, one must constantly assess 

the impacts of minor changes to the property’s overall historic integrity. The 

cumulative effect of many modifications to facilitate park operations can 

compromise the historical setting, design, materials, workmanship, and feeling of 

the site. 

Restoration 

Restoration is undertaken to depict a property at a particular time in its history, 

while removing evidence of other periods for fundamentally educational 

purposes. A Restoration approach would require the accurate depiction of the 

site at a certain date or period of time. The period of significance of 1921 to 1941 

implies restoration of the site to its circa 1941 appearance. A restoration 

approach would require reversing the many modifications to the property over 

the past 65 years, with one major exception. Under the Secretary of the Interior’s 

Standards for restoration, provisions are made to allow accessible parking, 

circulation, and facilities to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

guidelines. Existing accessibility features such as parking spaces, ramps, facilities, 

and hard surfaced walkways would be retained. Restoration would be the most 

costly alternative and require the highest level of intervention. A restoration 

strategy would suggest the removal of five buildings, Nos. 118, 123, 217, and 251. 

Clearly, restoration is not a desirable option for a site that continues to serve the 

day-to-day needs of park managers. 

Reconstruction 

Reconstruction recreates vanished or non-surviving portions of a property for 

historic purposes. This approach would only be appropriate if historic 

characteristics of the site were destroyed. This treatment option is rarely selected 

and is not considered an appropriate or necessary option for the headquarters 

area. 
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204 

 TABLE 4.1: IMPLICATIONS FOR TREATMENT ALTERNATIVES 

Treatment Preservation Rehabilitation Restoration 

Spatial 

organization 

& natural 

features 

• Preserve existing 

headquarters roads and 

building clusters. 

• Preserve natural features 

including undeveloped 

hillsides and wetland areas. 

• Preserve existing 

headquarters roads while 

accommodating new 

circulation features for bus 

traffic and increased vehicular 

use and parking. 

• Preserve natural features 

including undeveloped 

hillsides and wetland areas 

while allowing for 

modifications to improve 

circulation and parking. 

• Restore accurate 1941 road 

layout and building cluster 

configuration. 

• Restore appearance of 

surrounding hillsides and 

wetland areas. 

Land use and 

cultural 

traditions 

• Preserve existing visitor 

services, administrative and 

residential uses. 

• Preserve dog sled 

demonstrations. 

• Preserve existing visitor 

services, administrative and 

residential uses but allow 

changes in use as needed to 

meet current management 

needs. 

• Preserve dog sled 

demonstrations, but 

reconfigure track layout to 

improve visitor circulation. 

• Restore buildings accurately to 

their original 1941 

configuration. 

• Restore accurate 1941 

configuration of dog kennels. 

Vegetation 

and Views • Preserve landscape composed 

of open areas dotted with 

young spruce. 

• Replace in-kind features that 

decay or decline. 

• Prevent further growth by 

selective cutting and thinning. 

• Preserve existing views by 

removing or thinning 

vegetation. 

• Thin vegetation around 

structures to mitigate fire risk 

and improve views. 

• Remove mature spruces that 

are obscuring views to distant 

hills and mountains. 

• Prevent further growth by 

selective cutting and thinning.

• Restore vegetation to its 

accurate 1941 appearance. 

• Restore historic views by 

removing most vegetation 

Circulation • Preserve existing circulation 

system of roads and paths 

• Preserve existing circulation 

system of roads and paths 

and maintain hardened ADA 

accessible network of parking 

areas, ramps and paths. 

• Restore historic surface 

treatments and maintain 

hardened ADA accessible 

network of parking areas, 

ramps and paths. 

Buildings, 

Structures, 

and cluster 

arrangements 

• Preserve existing buildings 

and uses 

• Reuse buildings to 

accommodate visitor services, 

administration, and 

residential uses. 

• Retain as much historic fabric 

and use as possible. 

• Restore buildings to historic 

uses, remove buildings that 

postdate 1941. 

Small-scale 

Features • Preserve existing small-scale 

features 

• Restore some small-scale 

features that are missing and 

add new features compatible 

with the historic fabric. 

• Restore small-scale features that 

are missing from the 1941 

period. 

Archeology • Protect archeological sites • Protect archeological sites • Protect archeological sites 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

205 

PREFERRED TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE 

Based on the changes in the buildings in the core of the historic district and the 

direction set forth in the 1986 DCP, the recommended treatment is 

Rehabilitation. This approach will permit the park to focus on the continued 

maintenance and repair of landscape features remaining from the period of 

significance, which ends in 1941. When feasible, historic features will be replaced 

in kind. However, as has been the case since the National Park Service relocated 

administrative operations to the current site, rehabilitation will take place to 

facilitate the continued use of the headquarters district as an important element 

of park infrastructure. 

REHABILITATION PRINCIPLES 

Below is bulleted summary of rehabilitation principles that apply to the Denali 

headquarters district. Other sections of this report contain descriptions of the 

defining historic landscape characteristics and associated recommendations. 

 Development proposals that relate to cultural resources will reflect a 

sensitivity to the preservation of the cultural scene through compatible 

and complementary design, as stated in the 1986 GMP.4

 Preservation Treatment of the historic headquarters district is to be 

balanced with current management needs through the "Rehabilitation" 

approach to treatment, making possible an opportunity to make possible 

an efficient contemporary use through alterations and additions,” as 

stated in the rehabilitation guidelines.5

 Changes made to facilitate the contemporary use of the historic 

headquarters district will embody the pre-WWII design values of the 

National Park Service. In 1938 Albert Good describes national park 

entrance structures and administration buildings as "the seat of order 

and authority, signs as an instrument of control, equipment and 

maintenance buildings functioning to give continuity to desirable 

physical conditions attained, and structures for housing those persons 

charged with administering and maintaining the park preserve.” Good 

also encouraged park managers to build only structures that are 

undeniably essential so as not to "mar Nature's better canvases."6

 Perpetuate the intent of headquarters with respect to management of the 

park. Preserving the physical character of the place as a National 

Register district should not hamper administrative abilities to the point 

of requiring relocation, as stated at the CLR Charrette, September 2005.7

 Rehabilitation of the Denali headquarters district will support the 

planning goals of the park as found in its most current planning 

documents. 

 Rehabilitation of the Denali headquarters district will perpetuate and 

enhance the pre-World War II National Park Service Rustic design 

character of the historic district as a pioneer village. 
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206 

 Rehabilitation of the headquarters district will minimize vehicular traffic 

and parking by relocating parking areas at the perimeter of the historic 

district, using multiple small parking lots, discouraging through traffic of 

buses and by defining limits to paving. 

 Rehabilitation of the headquarters district will support the park's visitor 

service program, and will identify and provide schematic designs for 

accessible routes to points of interest, support walking tour 

opportunities and make possible links with hiking trails and biking 

routes. 

 Treatment recommendations for the headquarters district will develop a 

strategy for managing vegetation that supports the preservation of 

historic landscape character, enhancing the pre-WWII pioneer 

landscape setting surrounding the buildings. 

 Treatment recommendations for the headquarters district will define the 

scale and massing parameters for infill buildings and a palette of 

appropriate small-scale features and fixtures compatible with the 

principles of pre-WWII National Park Service design. 

Recommendations will not require new buildings to imitate the historic 

buildings, but will recommend that the historic massing, volumes and 

design geometries serve as the source of inspiration for new facility 

design making use of contemporary energy-efficient and sustainable 

building materials and methods. 

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER GUIDELINES FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS 

Envisioned by Superintendent Harry Karstens and NPS Chief Landscape 

Architect Thomas Vint, the headquarters area was laid out in the format of a 

frontier village, serving as the “seat of order and authority” for the new park 

amidst a vast wilderness.8 The buildings are located along a central road that 

served much like the Main Street for a small rural village. As shown on the 1941 

Period Plan, visitor contact buildings were initially located closest to the Denali 

Park Road with service-oriented buildings placed further down the road and 

separated from dwelling places, following the rudimentary logic of town planning 

concepts popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (See 

Figure 1.47). At Denali, as has been the case in towns and villages everywhere, 

the explosive post-World War II growth in the number of automobiles lay at the 

heart of many issues facing public infrastructure and facilities. Accommodating 

the automobile has prompted the widening and paving of roads and has required 

conversion of the rustic and natural landscape setting surrounding many 

buildings into parking lots. Taken individually, each decision appears 

insignificant, yet considered cumulatively, over a period of decades, each minor 

action accretes into a fundamental difference in character between the landscape 

of the early 1940s and that of the present. 

Key issues to address related to spatial organization include the overall 

organization of the headquarters area, defining elements, areas within the district, 

the main entry road and views, and the areas adjacent to the Historic District. 

Many aspects related to spatial organization are addressed under the heading of 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

207 

treatment issues and recommendation. Below are guidelines for areas within the 

headquarters district. 

Preserving Headquarters Entrance Area Character 

The entry area includes the Headquarters sign, flagpole, visitor parking area, 

Buildings 110 and east side of Building 21, and the view down the entry road. A 

significant element of the headquarters entrance area is the historic Denali Park 

Road itself, which bisects the headquarters historic district into a northern 

quadrant and a southern quadrant. The flagpole, sign, boulder, and surrounding 

vegetation found at the entrance to the headquarters district provide an visually 

appealing rustic landmark along the Denali Park Road, and serve as an effective 

and appropriate threshold into the Headquarters district (Figure 4.2). From the 

vantage point of the headquarters district entrance, the headquarters buildings 

are less visible that they once were during the historic period due to the 

subsequent relocation of Building 22 and the loss of Building 11 to fire in the 

1950s. Tucked in the edge of a grove of spruce, Building 110 is the first visible 

structure as one enters the historic district from the park road. The vegetation 

around this and other structures was recently thinned as part of the 2004 Hazard 

Vegetative Fuels project; allowing Building 110 and other park structures to be 

more visible from the road as well as more exposed to sunlight. Light thinning of 

vegetation on the north side of Buildings 110 and 21 would make these buildings 

more visible, though its is not necessary that they be completely cleared around—

just a greater presence upon entering the historic district. 

Preserving Headquarters Core Area Character 

The Headquarters core area includes the cluster of buildings around the 

Administration Building, including Buildings 21, 101, 103, 141, 123, and 102/118. 

Most of the park’s administrative staff is housed in these six buildings. Located at 

the perimeter of the historic core are Building 112, the “John House,” Building 

106, formerly a barn, and 107, formerly the plumbers shop/boiler house, which 

also currently provides office space for administrative staff. The core area of the 

park headquarters is characterized by an orthogonal arrangement of buildings 

arranged along the headquarters roads. Historically connected by paths, most of 

the area has been paved for parking. By removing some of the pavement, the 

central core of the headquarters district may be rehabilitated to reflect the light 

imprint of human settlement more consistent with its wilderness surroundings 

(Figure 4.3). Paved vehicular parking, which has proliferated following the end 

of World War II, and has especially burgeoned during the past twenty years, 

should be reoriented out of the center and into the perimeter of the district. The 

reclaimed center of the historic district, with pavement reclaimed by native 

plantings, would well reflect pre-WWII landscape conditions and provide 

comfortable places for employees to sit outside during fair weather, take their 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

208 

lunch break and walk between buildings. Walking surfaces within this central 

pedestrian zone are recommended to be of bituminous concrete, topped with a 

final chip-seal to better facilitate snow removal and accessibility during bad 

weather. Bollards, gates, or otherwise movable barriers to vehicular throughtraffic are to be easily opened or quickly removed to provide access by 

emergency vehicles. 

Preserving Service Areas Character 

Historically, the headquarters area had several buildings and garages devoted to 

operations and maintenance. Some were located in the historic core described 

above, while others were slightly removed and set further down the hill. Most of 

these operations were subsequently moved to the nearby CCC Camp and the 

buildings have been converted to office space. Some of the utilitarian aspects of 

these buildings have been preserved—the garage doors, loading dock, and 

relatively simple/utilitarian appearance of the landscape (Figure 4.4). These 

features should be retained and any landscape improvements should be simple, 

relying on native ground-story vegetation, clusters of naturalized plantings, and 

simple rustic edges. 

Preserving Residential Area Character 

Historically, many residences were located in close proximity to the entrance 

area. Most of these have been removed or moved outside of the core of the 

district. Extant historic residences include Buildings 12, 13, and 23, which are 

located on the eastern slope below the historic core. Each structure is set within 

the slope and features its own driveway, so as to be individually tucked into a 

woodland setting. Driveway features should be retained with gravel or chipsealed surfaces, with trees cleared around dwellings but retaining trees screening 

between individual dwellings. Edges that meet roads should be natural 

herbaceous plants rather than manicured lawn (Figure 4.5). Buildings 217 and 

251 have been added to this residential area and are non-contributing structures. 

No further residences should be added inside the National Register boundary, as 

doing so would crowd the existing structures, diminishing the character of the 

dwellings placed in a woodland setting. 

Rehabilitating Landscape Character East of the Historic District 

Eleven residential structures, many built after WWII and after the end of the 

historic period are located to the east and further downhill from the Park 

Headquarters Historic District. Most were built on a natural bench with a gentle 

south-facing slope. The landscape vegetation is a mix of birch and poplars with 

broader open areas of lawn surroundings the structures. To better harmonize 

with the woodland and frontier setting, an eight-foot wide buffer strip of natural 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

209 

vegetation should be encouraged along the edges of the roads and driveways. 

This buffer strip may be mowed once-per growing season to prevent its gradual 

transition into forest species. Where new structures are planned here, outside of 

the historic district, these should be located with a similar spacing between 

existing structures, set parallel to the natural slope of the land, set back from the 

main road with driveways, and surrounded by a screen of vegetation to enhance 

the feeling of the structure surrounded by woodland. If garages are to be 

constructed, these should be oriented so that the overhead garage doors are at 

right angles to the adjacent roadway, and that the overhead door is not on the 

façade opening onto the roadway. Ideally the structures would not extend 

beyond two stories or otherwise be over 50 feet in length when viewed from the 

road.

Enhancing Historic Character of District North of Park Road 

Located in the northern part of the Historic District, opposite the Denali Park 

Road which bisects the historic district, buildings 111 and 22 are two of the oldest 

buildings in the headquarters area. These two buildings are currently used for 

employee housing. This isolated quadrant of the historic district requires the 

same level of preservation care as the rest of the historic district (Figure 4.6). 

Building 22, being a survivor of the early Harry Karstens period of park 

management, is perhaps the most historic building within the district, despite its 

having been moved several times. This early building, once the Superintendent's 

Office, has also served as the park's first visitor contact station, and the park's 

first museum. Building 22 survives as an artifact of Denali National Park and 

Preserve's origins and interesting early history, and warrants careful preservation. 

Rehabilitating Sled Dog Demonstration Area 

A popular sled dog demonstration within the historic park headquarters district 

has long been a highlight of the visitor experience of Denali National Park. 

Visitors to the sled dog demonstration typically arrive via busses, which 

disembark passengers onto the steep and uneven shoulder of the east-west 

service road that bisects the historic district (Figure 4.7). Improving universal 

access for those with mobility issues, as well as providing a means for busses to 

return to the Denali Park Road without traversing the center of the historic 

district requires constructing a driveway loop just beyond the western boundary 

of the historic district. The proposed driveway loop will allow passengers to 

disembark on more predictable footing, at a location somewhat closer to the 

attraction. The proposed loop will also eliminate through traffic and make 

possible more generous pedestrian use of the central core of the headquarters 

district for walking tours, expanding frontcountry interpretive opportunities as 

specified in the park's planning documents. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

210 

Enhancing Historic Character of Headquarters Road Terminus 

Historically, the headquarters entry road terminated at its southern end with a 

tree-filled wagon-turn providing access to the headquarters area dump. This area 

is within the Historic District. Extending east, outside of the district is a small 

unpaved road leading to a large level area about 70 by 80 feet in size that is 

currently used for materials storage of bulk materials. The park may choose to 

develop the materials storage site in the future to meet new requirements. 

Perched on the southeastern corner of the headquarters area, this natural bench 

or terrace would be an excellent site for a structure, parking area, or campsite. 

The area is currently used for storage of wood and composting. Just to the west 

of this area is the boundary for the Historic District. The abandoned wagon-turn 

overlooking the former headquarters area dump is an important design terminus 

of the headquarters entry drive or “Main Street.” Although the area has long 

been used for materials storage, this area should be considered as an important 

node in a walking tour of the Headquarters Historic District, and although the 

area was historically used as a dumping ground, some housekeeping and clean-up 

appears to be well-justified. Any development of the site at the Southeast corner 

of the headquarters area should be visually compatible with this terminus of the 

Headquarters Road (Figure 4.8). 

TREATMENT TASKS 

The goals and actions/tasks listed below support the general concept approved as 

part of the 1986 DCP calling for rehabilitation of buildings and landscape within 

the historic Denali Headquarters District. The scope of the proposed 

rehabilitation may be organized under five primary objectives, requiring several 

subordinate actions or tasks. For a graphic overview of the treatment tasks 

described below the following headings and subheadings, see Drawing 4.1. 

Circulation and Parking 

1. Eliminate Parking and Through-Traffic from Center of Historic District 

(Drawing 4.2) 

Reestablish pre-WWII landscape character of the historic Headquarters District 

and expand front country interpretive opportunities by eliminating paved 

parking spaces and through-traffic from the center of the district. 

The cultural landscape report project has been tasked in part to inform the 2007 

Park Headquarters Master Plan effort. The layout, buildings, vegetation, and 

views in the headquarters area offer opportunities to expand the visitor 

experience and interpretation. Featuring among the oldest buildings within the 

park, the Denali park headquarters district is an excellent place to relate the story 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

211 

of the establishment and early development of the park and the cultural history of 

the region. The dog kennel and sled dog demonstration provide further insights 

into the challenges of living in this rugged subarctic landscape. The mix of plant 

species allows for interpretation of the plants found in the post-glacial boreal 

forest. The relatively small developed area allows for unobstructed views to the 

surrounding undeveloped hills and mountains. The Roadside Trail, connecting 

to the Rock Creek trail, allows for further exploration of the surrounding natural 

landscape, providing the route for a pleasant short hike between the modern park 

Visitor Center and the historic Park Headquarters. For a graphic overview of the 

treatment tasks relating to circulation and parking, please see Drawing 4.2. 

Circulation and Parking Actions/Tasks: 

A. Remove bituminous pavement proliferating at the center of the district after 

WWII, and replace formerly paved surfaces with native vegetation (Figures 4.9 

and 4.10). 

B. Install bituminous chip-seal over the paved surface inside the limits of the 

historic central Service Court, as well as on newly defined bituminous paved 

pathways between historic headquarters buildings. Doing so will more clearly 

differentiate the walking surfaces of the pedestrian zone, as well as to enhance the 

pre-WWII character of the landscape. Newly constructed pathways will comply 

with applicable codes and guidelines relating to universal accessibility. 

C. Install traffic control measures, optionally consisting of removable bollards, 

or rustic boulder/chain gates, or rustic timber cross-buck stanchion, in order to 

eliminate all but emergency vehicles from the center of the historic headquarters 

district. Installing these barriers as recommended will render the center of the 

historic district as a pedestrian zone, making it practical for visitors to visit and 

tour this cluster of historic rustic buildings on foot, and minimize requirements 

for snowplowing and sanding which have contributed to the degradation to 

roadside vegetation (Figures 4.11 through 4.16). 

D. Construct a new bus parking loop and service road improvements permitting 

busses to return to Denali Park Road without traveling through the center of the 

Headquarters historic district. This task also requires the relocation and redesign 

of the intersection of the east-west Headquarters Service Road with the main 

Denali Park Road. This recommendation offers several enhancements to 

universal accessibility for those visitors coping with mobility issues. Bus 

passengers, a disproportionate number of whom are elderly, currently disembark 

the buses on the steep grade and uneven footing of the Service Road shoulder. 

The bus parking loop is proposed to extend south of the Service Road, offering 

space to grade the topography for a more even and predictable footing, while at 

the same time disembarking passengers somewhat closer to their destination. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

212 

E. Construct three new parking lots at the perimeter of the historic district 

accommodating parking displaced from the center of the historic district. These 

new lots are proposed to be located 1.) immediately south of Bldg. 118; 2.) west 

of the current visitor's lot, and; 3.) east of the current terminus of the northsouth Headquarters Road, as shown on Drawing 4.2. 

2. Enhance and Protect Roadside Vegetation and Character Throughout Historic 

District (Drawing 4.3) 

Enhance pre-WWII historic character of the roadsides throughout the Denali 

headquarters district. For a graphic overview of the treatment tasks relating to 

roadside vegetation and character, please see Drawing 4.3. 

Roadside Character and Vegetation Actions/Tasks: 

A. Remove windrows of sand found at road shoulders throughout the Denali 

headquarters area that have accumulated due to winter snow-plowing operations 

(Figure 4.17 and 4.18). Removing accumulated sand will improve drainage of 

storm and melt-water away from the road surface, and encourage the growth of 

low-growing native annual and perennial herbaceous plants along the road 

shoulder, consistent with the historic character of the landscape (Refer to 

Drawing 4.3 for approximate scope of proposed sand recovery work). This low 

growing vegetation may be cut back once at the end of each growing season with 

nylon string line trimmers to discourage the growth of forest trees on the 

immediate road shoulder. 

B. Protect roadside trees and vegetation by installing limited numbers of nonhistoric boulder barriers. These barriers will serve to protect vulnerable roadside 

vegetation from damage associated with informal parking along the road 

shoulder which has in many instances has caused soil compaction and 

mechanical damage to trees and other roadside vegetation (Figure 4.19 and 4.20). 

Installation of non-historic boulder barriers should be judiciously undertaken, 

using the minimum number of stones to accomplish the intended purpose 

(Figure 4.21). 

C. Redefine edge of road surface, removing excess pavement where it has 

incrementally expanded in the area adjacent to buildings B102 and B106 (Refer to 

Drawing 4.3 for graphic showing scope of pavement removal and revegetation 

work). 

D. Resurface the drainage swale at the west façade of Bldg. 106 (The Barn) to 

replacing bituminous pavement in the swale with stone rubble pavement (Figures 

4.22 and 4.23). 

E. Remove and relocate materials storage sheds and racks away from the visually 

prominent southern terminus of the north-south main headquarters road (Refer 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

213 

to Drawing 4.2; See also Figure 4.8). These storage facilities may be shifted 

modestly to the west, eliminating them from view down the central axis of the 

north-south Headquarters Road. Once the materials storage sheds and racks 

have been removed from their current placement, the terminus of the central 

Headquarters Road should be revegetated and equipped with roadside boulder 

barriers to discourage future informal materials storage in this prominent area. 

F. Establish an eight-foot wide buffer of native annual and herbaceous plants 

between the edges of headquarters roads and areas of managed turfgrass, or 

lawn. These less manicured buffer strips will enhance the pre-WWII rustic 

landscape character of the Denali headquarters, and may be economically 

established by limiting mowing or string-trimming to once per growing season 

(Figure 4.24 and 4.25). 

3. Improve Sight-Distances at Intersection of Park Road and Headquarters Road. 

(Drawing 4.4) 

Denali National Park's primary visitor facility is the main Denali Park Road, 

which bisects the historic district. The park is seeking to improve sight-distance 

at the entrance to historic headquarters district at the intersection with the Denali 

Park Road out of concern for visitor and employee safety. The existing flagstaff 

placed at the northern terminus of the north-south Headquarters Road is of 

historical importance and great meaning and must be preserved in situ, despite 

proposed changes to the adjacent Denali Park Road. For an graphic overview of 

the treatment tasks relating to sight-distances on the main Denali Park Road, 

please see Drawing 4.4. 

Park Road Sight-Distance Actions/Tasks: 

A. Preserve the effective existing axial arrangement of the existing flagstaff, park 

sign and boulder at the current entrance to the headquarters district as 

appropriate examples of pre-WWII symbols of the "seat of order and authority... 

and as instruments of control," required and expected of remote administrative 

facilities of the national government (Figure 4.26). 

B. Clear brush, understory and trees from the inside of the adjacent curve west 

of the district entrance (beyond National Register district boundaries), in order 

to promote improved vehicular sight-distances at the intersection at the entrance 

to the historic district (Figures 4.27 and 4.28) 

C. Minimize changes to the Denali Park Road within the National Register 

District. When the bridge carrying the Denali Park Road over Rock Creek is 

eventually rebuilt in order to address engineering performance in a seismic 

environment, care must be taken to limit realignments and widening of the park 

road within the Denali Park Headquarters National Register District. Of special 

concern is the steep roadside embankment immediately north of the park road. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

214 

This embankment was oversteepend in the late 1950s when the current Rock 

Creek Bridge and the current visitor parking lot were constructed. Further 

widening of the road at this important intersection with the Headquarters Road 

will further cut into this embankment and compromise the historic character of 

the Headquarters landscape. Directing any required park road realignments to 

the area north-east of the National Register District, will accommodate seismic 

improvements to the bridge, and displace changes away from the important 

entrance to the headquarters area. 

Buildings and Structures 

1. Specify Appropriate Locations and Characteristics for Adjacent New Buildings 

(Drawing 4.5). 

Facilitate continued productive use of historic park infrastructure by defining 

where and how additional office space may be sensitively developed within, or 

adjacent to, the headquarters district without adverse effects to the 

characteristics making the property eligible for the National Register of Historic 

Places. For a graphic overview of the treatment tasks relating to buildings and 

structures, please see Drawing 4.5. 

Buildings and Structures Actions/Tasks: 

A. Specify a location for new office facilities that is consistent and practical with 

the context of the surviving historic buildings (Figure 4.29). The most 

appropriate location identified for the new office building is immediately west of 

Building 21, oriented to enclose a rough quadrangle of outdoor space. Locating 

the building in close proximity to existing buildings make more economical and 

efficient use of park utility systems, and avoids spreading environmental impacts 

across a wider area of landscape. 

B. Design and construct a new front-country composting toilet (SST). This 

proposed small building is consistent with goals found in park planning 

documents, and is outside of the defined boundary of the historic district. 

Nevertheless, the new comfort station building should not detract from the 

character of the historic entrance to the district, especially at the district's 

vulnerable threshold on the Denali Park Road. With the construction of this new 

building in the south-west corner of the existing visitor parking lot, there are 

opportunities to reduce existing clutter at the entrance by relocating the 

informational kiosk, and the public telephone, onto one of the exterior walls of 

the small building (Figure 4.29). 

C. Specify the mass and volume of the proposed new office facilities sympathetic 

to the design geometry of the existing buildings, while encouraging the use of 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

215 

contemporary green building technologies and avoiding mimicking the details of 

the historic buildings (Figure 4.30). Building 141 is in extremely poor condition, 

is identified as a non-contributing building within the central core of log 

buildings, and yet is outside of the current National Register boundary. The park 

plans to remove Building 141 and construct a larger structure that will serve as a 

community center and library. 

While the proposed new building need not mimic the materials and finishes of 

the adjacent historic buildings, the new building replacing Building 141 should be 

similar in scale and massing to the surviving ensemble of buildings, reflecting and 

complementing the façade geometries of adjacent buildings. 

Regarding pioneer log construction for new structures, Albert Good, editor of 

the Depression-Era National Park Service design manual wrote in 1938, "Where 

wood is the material indicated for use, some of the more important structures 

may well reproduce faithfully pioneer log construction to create, and so preserve 

for study, the fast disappearing construction methods of the frontier.” On the 

other hand, minor and oft-repeated units, such as cabins, do well to utilize more 

economical, even less picturesque and durable, materials and methods."9

While set free of mimicking the historic construction techniques of adjacent 

buildings, the proposed new administration buildings should respect its context, 

and be oriented so that its gable ridge is oriented east and west in deference to 

existing buildings. Similarly, the height of the new roofline should not exceed 

approximately 32 feet and the width of the building should not extend beyond 48 

feet, with the exception of porches. The closest historic building is the 

Administration Building (Building 21). This nearby 2-story structure has a 

footprint of 34 by 34 feet. The log frame building has a reinforced concrete 

basement, a wood frame second story, and gable roof with dormers. The east and 

west sides have shed roofed porches supported by 12-foot columns. 

D. Design a new system of pathways serving the buildings at the center of the 

historic district. This new system of pedestrian pathways within the area that is 

currently paved and used as parking, will help provide universal accessibility to 

historic buildings as well as to facilities planned for the future. These accessible 

pathways should be surfaced with a chip-seal over a bituminous surface, 

consistent with the treatment of the adjacent service court, in order to provide 

year-round accessibility (Figure 4.31). 

E. Build limited numbers of small garages to serve headquarters residences as 

indicated by park planning documents. However to minimize the intrusion of 

these new non-historic buildings both within the historic district boundaries and 

beyond the district boundaries, these new garages should be sited so that the 

overhead garage doors to not open onto the adjacent road or street. Doing so 

will help to mitigate the visual clutter of outdoor equipment typically associated 

with garages (Figure 4.32). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

216 

Small-Scale Features 

1. Develop and Install a Palette of Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures in the 

Historic Character of the Headquarters District (Drawing 4.6). 

Identify a palette of compatible non-historic park fixtures, such as signs, safety 

and vehicular barriers, free-standing lighting, interpretive displays, and benches 

where needed for continued park use. For a graphic overview of the treatment 

tasks described below, relating to small-scale features, see Drawing 4.6. 

However, note that the placement of every possible sign, bench, wayside, or 

bollard is not indicated on Drawing 4.6. This report cannot anticipate the need 

for every sign, bench, or wayside exhibit that will be deemed necessary in the 

coming years. The schematic details offered below as accompanying figures are 

intended to guide park managers in choosing fixtures and site furnishings that are 

consistent with the historic character of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic 

District. 

Small-Scale Features Actions/Tasks: 

A. Adapt the palette of site details developed as part of the 2003 Denali Front 

country Visitor Facilities project (DSC/TIC: 184/80,202) for use at the historic 

headquarters district by reducing the massive scale of timber elements to match 

the smaller scale of the historic buildings present within the historic 

headquarters district (Figures 4.33 through 4.41). 

B. Replace non-historic steel bollards and other visually prominent safety 

barriers used to protect above ground elements of utility systems with alternative 

non-historic boulder barriers that are more sympathetic with the rustic 

wilderness values of the historic headquarters landscape. Rustic boulder 

barriers, while not in widespread use historically within the park headquarters 

district, nevertheless represent an improvement to historic character over the 

safety barriers currently in use. Factory finishes present on utility cabinets, fuel 

tanks, satellite dishes that are highly reflective or otherwise bright in color, 

should be painted a medium to dark flat brown in order to recede from view 

(Figures 4.42 through 4.45). 

C. Limit outdoor lighting to building-mounted light fixtures; design and install 

free-standing light fixtures in areas of pedestrian traffic where building mounted 

lighting is not practical. New lighting should comply with NPS requirements 

intending to limit light pollution and promote a dark night sky incorporating 

motion detectors, timers, and other technologies wherever appropriate (Figure 

4.46). The assortment of building mounted light fixtures should be replaced for 

consistency, choosing a fixture featuring a green enamel hood which has recently 

been specified by the park architect. 
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

217 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

218 

ENDNOTES - TREATMENT 

1

 39 Stat. 938. 

2

 DCP, December 1996, 14. 

3

 DCP, December 1996, 14-15. 

4

 GMP, November 1986, 64. 

5 Secretary of Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes, 

p. 50. 

6

 Albert Good, Park and Recreation Structures, Part 1: Administration and Basic Service Facilities, 1938, p. 4-5. 7

 Power Point Presentation and Trip Report, DENA/OCLP Workshop, August 2005. 8

 Albert Good, Park and Recreation Structures, 1938, 5. 9

 Good, 1938, 4. 
141

Construct new combination warming 

hut/composting toilet building; (600 

sf ); info-kiosk, telephone, and trash 

receptacle moved to this location.

Remove existing materials storage from 

terminus of north/south Headquarters Road;

Replace with new kennels storage building;

 approx. 800 sf and located 20 feet west 

of the existing building/racks

Remove and relocate existing dispatch 

and library facilities; 

Replace current building with new

administrative facility occupying a 

1,500 sf footprint. 

Reconfigure kennel bleachers for 

improved pedestrian circulation

Renovate the 

existing 6-Plex 

apartment building 

Construct three

garages for the

6-plex apartment 

residences

Construct garage 

units, 2 vehicles

per building

Construct new garage for use

by B111 and B22 residents

National Register Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonstration

Track

Existing

Buffer

Zone

Rostrum

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek

Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

171

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

51

V isitor Park ing

Loop Road

Sled

D og

Trails

General Notes: Buildings and Structures

Align all new buildings south of main Park Road and 

west of Headquarters Road to conform with the preestablished grid geometries of existing buildings as 

shown. 

Orient new garages proposed elsewhere on site so 

that the facade containing overhead garage door(s) 

do not face directly onto the road or street. 

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

& Preserve

Drawing 4.5

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale

0

100

200

300

N

Existing Building

Proposed Building

National Register Boundary

Treatment Plan: 

Buildings and Structures

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Treatment Plan:

Buildings and Structures

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Drawing 4.5

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Approximate Scale

Existing Building

Proposed Building

National Register Boundary

141

Re-align road to increase line of sight and 

accomodate a proposed new bridge; centerline of this segment of Park Road to shift 

primarily outside of the boundary of the 

National Register of Historic Places district.

Clear trees and brush on 

inside of curve to 

improve sight distance

Preserve existing features at 

intersection and headquarters

entrance

National Register Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonstration

Track

Existing

Buffer

Rostrum Zone

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek

Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

171

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

51 

V isitor Park ing

Loop Road

Sled

D og

Trails

M aterial Storage Sheds Leach Field

M aterial Storage Yard

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

& Preserve

Drawing 4.4

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale

0

100

200

300

N

National Register Boundary

Limits: Park Road Realignment

Limits: Vegetation Clearance

Treatment Plan: 

Park Road Sight-Distance

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Treatment Plan:

Park Road Sight-Distance

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Drawing 4.4

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Approximate Scale

National Register Boundary

Limits: Park Road Realignment

Limits: Vegetation Clearance

141

Establish an eight-foot wide 

roadside buffer of native 

vegetation between the 

roadside and areas of managed 

lawn or turfgrass

Replace yellow steel protective bollards 

with boulder barriers, half buried in the soil 

to effect a naturalistic appearance

Protect revegetated roadside areas 

through limited placement of boulder 

barriers to discourage parking on road 

shoulder and damage to roadside 

vegetation 

National

Register

Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonstration

Track

Existing Buffer

Rostrum

Zone

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice

Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

51

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

52

V isitor Park ing

Loop

Road

Recover roadside sand 

accumulated from winter 

operations; Regrade road 

shoulder to promote positive 

drainage of storm and 

meltwater

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

& Preserve

Drawing 4.3

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp OLMSTED

forLANDSCAPEPRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale 0

100

200

300 N

Proposed Native Revegetation

Proposed Sand Recovery Site

Proposed Native Vegetation Buffer

Treatment Plan: 

Roadside Vegetation and Character

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Treatment Plan:

Roadside Vegetation

and Character

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Drawing 4.3

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30 OLMSTED for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATIO

N

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Approximate Scale

Proposed Native Revegetation

Proposed Sand Recovery Site

Proposed Native Vegetation Buffer

141

Relocate existing 

intersection for 

improved safety

Relocate parking to 

outside of historic core

Revegetate non-historic 

parking areas within 

historic core

Construct new accessible 

walkways 

Construct new tour bus 

return loop to eliminate 

through traffic from 

historic core

Redefine edge of road and 

parking by removing 

excessive paving in the 

historic core

Reestablish wagon-turn 

at terminus of 

Headquarters Road - 

relocate materials storage 

elsewhere

Relocate parking to

outside of historic core

Realign existing route and 

define edges for efficiency 

of kennel and tour 

operations

Revegetate shoulders of 

existing gravel road

Realign existing path for 

winter safety

Configure new driveways 

for proposed garages so 

that overhead doors to not 

front onto road or street. 

Regrade non-historic 

Service Road to 

improve storm 

drainage

Apply chip-seal to existing 

pavement - Exclude

vehicular thru-traffic with 

rustic boulder and chain 

gate. 

National Register Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonstration

Track

Existing

Buffer

Rostrum Zone

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek

Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

51

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

52

V isitor Park ing

Loop Road

General Notes: Parking and Circulation

Reestablish the rustic pre-WWII character of the 

Denali Headquarters Historic District by removing 

parking and through-traffic from its center. Expand

frontcountry interpretive opportunities through 

encouraging walking tours within defined 

Headquarters pedestrian zone 

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

&Preserve

Drawing 4.2

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale

0

100

200

300

N

Existing Surface

Proposed Surface

Proposed Chip Seal

Proposed Native Revegetation

Treatment Plan: 

Parking and Circulation

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Treatment Plan:

Parking and Circulation

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Drawing 4.2

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Approximate Scale

Existing Surface

Proposed Surface

Proposed Chip Seal

Proposed Native Revegetation

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

National Register Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonstration

Track

Existing

Buffer

Rostrum Zone

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek

Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

171

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

51

V isitor Park ing

Loop Road

Sled

D og

Trails

Pedestrian Zone

Proposed

Existing Flagpole and Sign

Proposed S er vice Road Intersec tion

Proposed Bus Loop

Proposed Park ing

Proposed Park ing

Proposed Park ing

Rehabilitate the historic park headquarters landscape to reinforce the preWWII rustic frontier character of the landscape. This will be accomplished by 

moving non-historic parking and through-traffic from of the center of the 

historic district and relocating parking to the perimeter; constructing a new 

tour bus loop to eliminate bus through-traffic; and revegetating formerly 

paved surfaces with native vegetation. 

Preserve the landscape characteristics and features that contribute to the 

historical significance of the headquarters district. 

General Notes: 

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

&Preserve

Drawing 4.1

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale

0

100

200

300

N

Existing Building

Proposed Building

Native Revegetated Surface

Limits: Park Road Realignment

Limits: Vegetation Clearance

Proposed Sand Recovery Site

Proposed Native Vegetation Buffer

Proposed Surface

Proposed Boulder Barrier(s)

Treatment Plan:

Composite Drawing

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Treatment Plan:

Composite Drawing

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Drawing 4.1

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

Approximate Scale

Existing Building

Proposed Building

Limits: Park Road Realignment

Native Revegetated Surface

Limits: Vegetation Clearance

Proposed Sand Recovery Site

Proposed Native Vegetation Buffer

Proposed Surface

Proposed Boulder Barrier(s)

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

Pr

National

Register

Boundar y

Bridge

Park

Road

Sled D og Kennels

Sled D og

D emonstration

Track

Existing Buffer

Rostrum

Zone

Toilet Bldg.

S er vice

Road

Headquar ters

Road

Creek Rock

21

103

118 102

106

123

101

110

111

22

217

12

13

23

27

26

28

171

34

53

99

54

252a

252b

169 170 107

251

112

105

51

V isitor Park ing

Loop

Road

Sled

D og

Trails

Pedestrian Zone

Proposed

Existing Flagpole and Sign

Proposed S er vice Road Intersec tion

Proposed Bus Loop

Proposed Park ing

Proposed Park ing

Proposed Park ing

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

LL

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

L

LL

L

L

L

L

L

Cultural Landscape 

Report

for Park Headquarters

Denali National Park 

& Preserve

Drawing 4.6

Legend:

SOURCES

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center, April 

2005

DRAWN: JS 2006/11/27

REVISED: HEF 2008/6/30

AutoCAD 2002 and Abobe Illustrator 10

National Park Service - Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation www.nps.gov/oclp OLMSTED

forLANDSCAPEPRESERVATION

CENTER

Approximate Scale 0

100

200

300 N

National Register Boundary

Existing building-mounted light

Proposed free-standing light

Proposed boulder-barriers

Existing free-standing light

Treatment Plan:

Small-Scale Features

Cultural Landscape Report

Denali Borough of Alaska

Treatment Plan:

Small-Scale Features

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

SOURCES

DRAWN BY

LEGEND

Drawing 4.6

Joel Smith, AutoCAD 2002 and Illustrator 10,

2006/11/27

Revised: H. Eliot Foulds 2008/06/30 OLMSTED for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATIO

N

CENTER

www.nps.gov/oclp

0’ 37.5’ 75’ 150’ 300’

Denali National Park

and Preserve

Park Headquarters

1. CAD File name HQtopo-master plan

2. Field Survey completed by Olmsted Center,

 April 2005

Approximate Scale

National Register Boundary

Proposed free-standing light

Proposed boulder-barriers

Existing free-standing light

Existing building-mounted light

231

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Bldg. Bldg

Bldg Bldg

Bldg.

Bldg.

Bldg.

Bldg

Parking

Parking

Parking

Figure 4.2. Preserving Headquarters Entrance Area Character - The preservation of this historic 

entrance to park headquarters is critical to the successful rehabilitation of the landscape. 

Designed in the 1920s to mark the park headquarters as the symbolic “seat of order and 

authority... and as an “instrument of control” in a remote wilderness, the entrance is the site 

of component features including a vegetated traffi c island, fl agpole, park sign, and boulder 

that are consistent with the scale and rustic character of the Denali Park Headquarters National 

Historic District (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.1. This diagram illustrates the reorientation of parking from the center of the Denali 

Headquarters historic district to the perimeter. The removal of parking and through-traffi c 

from the center of the historic district is fundamental to rehabilitating the historic character of 

the district (OCLP, 2006).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

232

Figure 4.3. Preserving Headquarters Core Area Character - Relocating parking out of the center, 

toward the perimeter of the historic district is fundemental to the overall rehabilitation of the 

historic landscape. Following the end of World War II, the landscape at the center of the cluster 

of rustic buildings in the park headquarters was paved with bituminous concrete in order to 

provide additional parking (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.4. Preserving Service Area Character - Vehicular access to the historic service court will 

be limited by the installation of removable barriers, in order to eliminate through-traffi c from 

the center of the historic district. This paved area will also be given a chip-seal surface treatment 

to better simulate the rustic gravel surface present during the pre-WWII period of signifi cance 

(OCLP, 2006).
233

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.5. Preserving Residential Area Character - A narrow buffer strip of native vegetation 

is recommended where the lawns of residences in the headquarters district meet the adjacent 

roadway. This strip of native vegetation may be encouraged by mowing or cutting the 

vegetation within the strip only at the end of each growing season (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.6. Preserving Residential Area Character North of Park Road - Although isolated from 

the larger portion of the Headquarters district by the Denali Park Road, the portion of the 

district north of the park road should be treated consistently with the larger area south of 

the park road. Building 22, pictured above, is perhaps the most historic building within the 

headquarters district, built by the park’s fi rst superintendent, the building once served as the 

park’s fi rst visitor contact station and the park’s fi rst museum (OCLP, 2006).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

234

Figure 4.8. Enhancing Historic Character of Headquarters Road Terminus - Although the 

terminus of the central Headquarters Road has long been used for materials storage. Clean-up 

and improvement of storage facilities in this area appears well justifi ed (OCLP, 2006). 

Figure 4.7. Rehabilitating Sled Dog Demonstration Area - A new bus loop improving service 

to those with mobility issues, is proposed for the sled dog demonstration area. This measure 

will also facilitate the elimination of shuttle bus through traffi c from the center of the historic 

district. Bus passengers, a disproportinate number of whom are elderly, currently disembark 

for the popular sled dog demonstration on the steep and uneven footing of the gravel road 

shoulder (OCLP, 2006).
235

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.9. Circulation and Parking - Elimnate central parking and through-traffi c - Treatment 

Tasks 1.A and 1.C - Remove bituminous pavement proliferating at the center of the district 

after WWII. Existing conditions shown above detract greatly from the historic character of the 

property (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.10. Circulation and Parking - Eliminate centeral parking and through-traffi c - Treatment 

Tasks 1.A and 1.C - This photo simulation illustrates the effect of removing the excess bituminous 

pavement and reestablishing native ground cover species. A boulder-barrier rustic chain gate 

is also depicted in this simulation, but other alternatives such as bollards, or timber cross-buck 

stanchions would also be appropriate choices for eliminating all but emergency through-traffi c 

(OCLP, 2007). 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

236

Figure 4.11. Circulation and Parking - Eliminate central parking and through-traffi c. Treatment 

Task 1.C - Install traffi c control measures to elimiate through traffi c from center of district. 

This detail of a boulder-barrier chain gate is one of the appropriate options that may be used 

to control vehicular access into the core of the Denali Park Headquarters historic district. 

Drawing not to scale (OCLP, 2007).

Figure 4.12. Similar boulder gates are used elsewhere in the 

national park system to control vehicular access, while avoiding 

introducing contemporary designed elements (ACAD, 1997).
237

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.13. Circulation and Parking - Eliminate central parking and through-traffi c - Treatment Task 1.C - Install traffi c 

control measures to elimiate through traffi c from center of district. As a less permanent alternative to a boulder and 

chain gate, the cross-buck timber barriers shown above may be arranged to control vehicular access into the pedestrian 

zone planned for the core of the Denali Park Headquarters historic district. Drawing not to scale (OCLP, 2007).

Figure 4.14. Similar barriers are found in use elsewhere in the national park 

system to control access and to organize otherwise informal parking on gravel 

lots that require winter-time snow removal. The barriers may be turned 90 

degrees to the direction of travel for use as a moveable bollard (OCLP, 2006).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

238

Figure 4.16. Circulation and Parking - Eliminate central parking and through-traffi c. Treatment 

Tasks 1.A and 1.C - Traffi c control measures such as removable bollards, or otherwise bouderchain gates, or alternately, an arrangement of Timber Cross-buck stanchions would establish 

a pedestrian zone at the center of the Denali Park Headquarters District. A conventional gate 

is discouraged at this location, because the long span required would involve a large heavy 

gate, introducing a visually prominent non-historic feature that would detract from the historic 

character of the property (OCLP, 2007).

Figure 4.15. Circulation and Parking - Eliminate central parking and through-traffi c. Treatment 

Tasks 1.A and 1.C - Eliminate parking and through-traffi c from the center of the historic district; 

install traffi c control measures. Existing conditions shown above include an abundance of 

bituminous concrete installed after 1945 to facilitate staff parking. These conditions detract 

greatly from the historic character of the property (OCLP, 2006).
239

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.17. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside 

Character and Vegetation - Treatment Task 2.A - Remove 

windrows of sand found developing at road shoulders. 

Accumulations of sand develop into windrows at the shoulder of 

Denali Park Headquarters roadways impeding the fl ow of surface 

drainage from the roadway, and destroys roadside vegetation 

(OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.18. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment 

Task 2.A - Remove windrows of sand found developing at road shoulders. Over time, 

accumulation of roadside sand, has the visual effect of widening the roadway, promoting 

roadside parking that further damages vegetation (OCLP, 2007).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

240

Figure 4.19. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment 

Task 2B - Protect roadside trees and vegetation by installing limited numbers of non-historic 

boulder barriers. Unrestricted roadside parking within the Denali Park Headquarters District is 

the cause of soil compaction and mechanical damage to roadside vegetation (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.20. Circulation and Parking - Roadside Character and Vegetation - Enhance Roadside 

Character and Vegetation - Treatment Task 2.B - The careful and limited use of roadside boulder 

barriers, while not employed historically, would serve as an appropriate response to the 

pressures and impacts of unrestricted roadside parking. Stone boulders from the region, would 

remain consistent with rustic frontier character of the cultural landscape (OCLP, 2007).
241

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.21. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment Task 2.B - Boulder-Barrier detail, adapted 

from Denali Visitor Center construction documents, (DENA-184-80202 [id285966]. While not used historically within the Denali Park 

Headquarters district, limited use of roadside boulder-barriers represents an appropriate choice of material and technique, consistent 

with the historic character of the property, for controlling and direction vehicles, and protecting sensitive roadside vegetation. While 

the smaller of the three ranges of boulders are recommended for use in the Headquarters district, two larger boulders may be used for 

creating a Boulder Chain Gate to limit access into the core area of the district (OCLP, 2007).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

242

Figure 4.22. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment 

Tasks 2.B, 2.C and 2.D - The piecemeal widening of roadways and paved surfaces as illustrated 

by this photograph, have encroached on the setting of historic log buildings and compromises 

the historic character of the Denali Park Headquarters District (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.23. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment 

Tasks 2.B, 2.C and 2.D - This photo simulation depicts the effects of removing excess post WWII 

pavement (2.B), the protection of road shoulders with carefully placed boulder barriers (2.C), and 

resurfacing the bituminous drainage swale at the front door to Building 106 with stone rubble 

(OCLP, 2007).
243

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.24. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment 

Task 2.F - Establish an eight-foot-wide buffer of native vegetation between the edges of 

headquarters roads and areas of managed turf. Maintained turf, such as this lawn surrounding 

the historic Superintendent’s residence, is widely enjoyed by Headquarters residents for social 

events and for play during the brief summer season (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.25. Circulation and Parking - Enhance Roadside Character and Vegetation - Treatment 

Task 2.F - Establish an eight-foot-wide buffer of native vegetation between the edges of 

headquarters roads and areas of managed turf. By establishing an eight foot wide buffer of 

native annual and herbaceous plants where areas of lawn meet the Headquarters roadways, 

popular areas of turf grass may be retained while enhancing the historic character of the 

property. These narrow buffers may be economically established over time by simply limiting 

mowing to once per year, timed to coincide with the end of each growing season (OCLP, 2007).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

244

Figure 4.26. Circulation and Parking - Improve Sight-Distances at Park Road - Preserve Existing 

Entrance Features - Treatment Task 3.A - Preserve the effective existing axial arrangement of the 

fl agstaff, park sign and boulder and traffi c island at the current entrance to the headquarters 

district (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.27. Circulation and Parking - Improve Sight-Distances at Park Road - Treatment Task 3.B 

- As seen in this photograph of existing condiions, the clearance of brush, understory and trees 

from the inside of the adjacent curve on the Denali Park Road would greatly improve sightdistances at the Headquarters entrance without impacting the historic landscape (OCLP, 2006).
245

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.28. Circulation and Parking - Improve Sight-Distances at Park Road - Clear trees and 

brush from adjacent curve - Treatment Task 3.B - As seen in this photo-simulation, immediate 

improvements to sight-distances on the park road may be economically obtained (OCLP, 2007).

Figure 4.29. Buildings and Structures - Specify appropriate location for new offi ce building in 

consistent and practial with the context of surviving historic buildings. Treatment Task 1.A - The 

new administration building replacing the failing Building 141 should be oriented so that it 

enhances the quadrangle of outdoor space defi ned by the historic headquarters buildings. The 

size of the building footprint should be consistent with the scale of neighboring buildings (OCLP, 

2007).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

246

Figure 4.30. Buildings and Structures - Specify the mass and volume of the proposed new offi ce 

facilities sympathetic to the design geometry of the existing historic buildings. Treatment Task 

1.C - The proposed new building may avoid mimicking the materials of the historic buildings, 

and may employ energy-saving green technologies as care taken with building siting and mass 

and volume relationships will help the new building to fi t appropriately into the context of the 

historic headquarters district (OCLP, 2006).

Figure 4.31. Buildings and Structures - Design and install a new system of pathways serving the 

historic buildings at the center of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District - Treatment Task 

1.D - The arrangement shown above, is similar to simplicity of the historic layout and enhances 

universal accessibility (OCLP, 2007).
247

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.32. Buildings and Structures - Orient new non-historic garages so that overhead 

garage doors to not open directly onto the adjacent road or street - Treatment Task 1.E - 

This recommendation, proposed for non-historic garages both with the historic district and 

beyond the historic district will help to reduce visual clutter due to the accessory vehicles and 

equipment that are often parked nearby a garage. The arrangement shown above with the 

new building highlighted in orange is across the road from the historic park superintendent’s 

residence (Building 23), siting the new building outside of the historic district boundary, and 

providing an opportunity for a vegetative buffer to minimally screen domestic clutter (OCLP, 

2007).
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

248

Figure 4.33. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 1.A - 

Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic character 

of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently developed 

as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic park headquarters if 

they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight reductions in the diameter 

of timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible when constructed and installed on 

site (OCLP, 2007).
249

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.34. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park FixturesTreatment Task 1.A - 

Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic character 

of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently developed 

as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic park headquarters if 

they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight reductions in the diameter of 

timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible when constructed and installed on site 

(OCLP, 2007).
250

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

Figure 4.35. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 

1.A - Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic 

character of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings 

recently developed as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the 

historic park headquarters if they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, 

slight reductions in the diameter of timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more 

tangible when constructed and installed on site (OCLP, 2007).
251

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.36. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 

1.A - Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic 

character of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently 

developed as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic 

park headquarters if they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight 

reductions in the diameter of timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible when 

constructed and installed on site (OCLP, 2007).
252

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

Figure 4.37. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 1.A - 

Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic character of 

the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently developed as part 

of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic park headquarters if they are 

reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight reductions in the diameter of timber 

elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible when constructed and installed on site (OCLP, 

2007).
253

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.38. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 1.A - 

Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic character 

of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently developed 

as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic park headquarters if 

they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight reductions in the diameter 

of timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible when constructed and installed on 

site (OCLP, 2007).
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254

Figure 4.39. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 

1.A - Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic 

character of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently 

developed as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic 

park headquarters if they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight 

reductions in the diameter of timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible 

when constructed and installed on site (OCLP, 2007).
255

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.40. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 1.A - 

Develop and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic character 

of the Denali Park Headquarters Historic District. The palette of site furnishings recently developed 

as part of the Denali Visitor Center project may be adapted for use at the historic park headquarters if 

they are reduced to a more modest scale. With timber construction, slight reductions in the diameter of 

timber elements appear subtle on paper, yet are more tangible when constructed and installed on site 

(OCLP, 2007).
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256

Figure 4.41. Small-Scale Features - Install Appropriate Non-Historic Park Fixtures - Treatment Task 1.A - Develop 

and install a palette of non-historic park fi xtures that are appropriate to the historic character of the Denali Park 

Headquarters Historic District. In the case of parking lot wheelstops, the park has chosen a smaller wheelstop 

made of recycled plastic over the wheelstops specifi ed for the Denali Visitor Center project. These smaller scale 

wheelstops will not detract from the historic character of the landscape (OCLP, 2007).
257

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.42. Small-Scale Features - Replace prominent safety bollards with appropriate rustic 

measures - Treatment Task 1.B - Replace non-historic steel bollards and otherwise visually 

prominent safety barriers with non-historic alternatives that are consistent with the historic 

character of the landscape. In this view of existing conditions, the visual prominence of both 

the barriers and the utility features detract from the rustic character of the landscape (OCLP, 

2006).

Figure 4.43. Small-Scale Features - Replace prominent safety bollards with appropriate rustic 

measures - Treatment Task 1.B - Replace non-historic steel bollards and otherwise visually 

prominent safety barriers with non-historic alternatives that are consistent with the historic 

character of the landscape. In this photo simulation, the visual prominence of both the barriers 

and the utility features is shown subordinated to the rustic character of the landscape. Refer to 

Figure 4.20 for specifi cations relating to size and installation (OCLP, 2006).
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258

Figure 4.44. Small-Scale Features - Replace prominent safety bollards with appropriate rustic 

measures - Treatment Task 1.B - Replace non-historic steel bollards and otherwise visually 

prominent safety barriers with non-historic alternatives that are consistent with the historic 

character of the landscape. In this view of existing conditions, the visual prominence of both 

the barriers and the utility features detract from the rustic character of the landscape (OCLP, 

2006).

Figure 4.45. Small-Scale Features - Replace prominent safety bollards with appropriate rustic 

measures - Treatment Task 1.B - Replace non-historic steel bollards and otherwise visually 

prominent safety barriers with non-historic alternatives that are consistent with the historic 

character of the landscape. In this photo simulation, the visual prominence of both the barriers 

and the utility features are shown subordinated to the rustic character of the landscape. Refer 

to Figure 4.20 for specifi cations relating to size and installation (OCLP, 2007).
259

TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Figure 4.46. Small-Scale Features - Install limited numbers of free-standing light fi xtures where 

building-mounted lighting is impractical - Treatment Task 1.C - Limit outdoor lighting to buildingmounted light fi xtures and to areas of high pedestrian traffi c where building mounted lighting 

is not practical. This schematic design for a free-standing timber light standard is consistent 

with the timber materials proposed for other site furnishings throughout the historic district. 

While outdoor lighting was not widely used during the historic period, the limited use of 

fi xtures of an approximate design will not detract from the rustic character of the landscape. 

The full cut-off performance characteristics of the metal hood shown above, in combination with 

motion sensors, timers and other technologies, will promote NPS night sky requirements (OCLP, 

2007).
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260
BIBLIOGRAPHY

261 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

PRIMARY SOURCES 

Documents 

“Building Development, Part of the Master Plan, Mount McKinley National Park” NP 

MCK 2013-A Page 11, January 1, 1966. (DENA Museum Collection, located in the flat 

file drawer marked “blueprint”) 

Building records – Mt McKinley National Park, 1938 to 1953 (NARA San Francisco, 

RG 79, Box 80, File 620) 

Davidson, Earnest A. “Report to the Chief Architect and to the Superintendent of Mt. 

McKinley National Park.” September 1935. 

“Denali National Park and Preserve, Headquarters Historic District, Cultural 

Landscape Rehabilitation Plan, Vegetative Evaluation for Coordination with the Park 

Fire Management Strategy.” U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 

Division of Cultural Resources, Alaska Regional Office, April 2001. 

Justifications for construction projects - Fiscal Year 1930. (NARA II, College Park, 

RG 79, Box 372 E7, folder 302 Part 1) 

Karstens, Harry P. “Statement covering activities at Mount McKinley National” 

submitted to the Governor of Alaska, 1924 (NARA II, College Park, RG 79, Box 111, 

Folder – reports, superintendent-annual) 

Karstens, Harry P. “Estimate and Justification, 1929,” written c. 1927 (NARA II, 

College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 302, Part 1) 

Karstens, Harry P. An untitled report submitted to NPS director describing 

development of the new park headquarters. Included with the report is a transmittal 

letter dated December 29, 1925 and two maps, one identifying the headquarters 

location and the other depicting completed and proposed site development. (NARA 

II, College Park, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 2001-006 Part 1) 

Karstens, Harry P. “Justification for Estimate, Mt. McKinley National Park, 1929.” A 

transmittal letter to Director (NPS), dated May 2, 1927 accompanies the report. 

(NARA II, College Park, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 301 Part 1) 

Liek, Harry J. “Mount McKinley National Park, Preliminary Estimate for Physical 

Improvements, 1931.” A transmittal letter to Director (NPS) dated December 14, 

1928 accompanies the report. (NARA II, College Park, RG 79, Box 372 E7, Folder 302 

Part 1) 

Liek, Harry J. An untitled report submitted to W. B. Acker, Chief Clerk, Department 

of the Interior listing estimated expenditures for fiscal years 1930 and 1931. 

Liek, Harry J. An untitled report submitted to Director (NPS) listing proposed 

physical improvement projects. Included with the report is a transmittal letter dated 

January 17, 1935. (NARA II, College Park, RG 79, Box 1412, Folder 616-1) 

“The Master Plan for Mount McKinley National Park,” (text) c. 1936. (NARA II, 

College Park, Cartographic and Architectural Records, RG 79 330/14/195-4) 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

262 

“Mission 66 for Mount McKinley National Park.” U.S. Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service, c. 1956. 

“Mount McKinley National Park.” The undated and unsigned manuscript appearing 

to have been written by Harry P. Karstens, 1924. It appears to have been an draft 

article written for publication and may have been submitted to the Governor of 

Alaska. (NARA II, College Park, RG 79, Box 111, Folder – reports, superintendentannual) 

“Superintendent’s Annual Reports,” Fiscal Year 1933, 1940-1944 (NARA II, College 

Park, RG 79, Box 1405 Folders 207-001, 207-01.4, and 207-02.2) 

“Superintendent’s Monthly Reports,” 1921 to 2004, as compiled by NPS Historian 

Frank Norris, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Division of 

Cultural Resources, Alaska Regional Office. 

Vint, Thomas C, “Report on Mt. McKinley National Park.” National Park Service, 

Field Headquarters, San Francisco, December 26, 1929. 

Maps and Plans 

“Headquarters and Administration Buildings, 1925 (plan) 

“Two Car Garage & Storage Shed,” July 12, 1938 (plan) 

“Administration Area Utilities Layout,” January 1, 1937 

“Administration Area Utilities Layout,” January 1, 1938 

“Administration Area Utilities Layout,” January 1, 1939 

“Headquarters Area Fluid Systems,” Part of the Master Plan for Mt. McKinley 

National Park, January 1942, McK-5316 (DENA Museum Collection) 

SECONDARY SOURCES 

Brown, William E. A History of Denali, Mount McKinley Region, Alaska, U.S. 

Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Southwest Regional Office, Santa 

Fe, New Mexico, 1991. 

Curran, Michele, Ph.D. “Cultural Landscape Inventory, Park Headquarters Historic 

District, Denali National Park and Preserve,” U.S. Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service, Division of Cultural Resources, Alaska Regional Office, 2004. 

Denali National Park and Preserve Final Entrance Area and Road Corridor 

Development Concept Plan, Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement. U.S. 

Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1996. 

Denali National Park and Preserve General Management Plan, Land Protection Plan, & 

Wilderness Suitability Review. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 

Denver Service Center, 1986. 

“National Register of Historic Places, Inventory – Nomination Form,” 1987. 

Norris, Frank. Crown Jewel of the North: An Administrative History of Denali 

National Park and Preserve, vol. 1 (Anchorage, NPS), 2006. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY

263 

Pearson, Grant H. "A History of Mount McKinley National Park Alaska." 

Typescript. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 

1953. Denver Service Center, Technical Information Center, DENA 184-D314. 

Snow, David, et al. “Historic Structure Report, Mt. McKinley Park Headquarters 

Historic District & Wonder Lake, Vol. 1.” U.S. Department of the Interior, National 

Park Service, Division of Cultural Resources, Alaska Regional Office, January 1, 1987. 

CORRESPONDENCE 

National Archives II, College Park, Maryland: 

Karstens to Director (NPS), February 15, 1924 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 111, Folder – 

quarters) 

Karstens to Director, November 5, 1925 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 2001-006 

Part 1) 

Karstens to Director (NPS), February 26, 1926 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 

2001-006 Part 1) 

Karstens to Director (NPS), June 3, 1927 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 2001-006 

Part 1). 

Karstens to unknown party (excerpt), June 2, 1927 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 

2001-006 Part 1) 

Karstens to Director (NPS), March 29, 1928 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 

620) 

Karstens to Director (NPS), August 9, 1928 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 303 

Part 1 

Bill Meyers to Harry M. Meyers, October 15, 1928 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 372, Folder 

2001-006 Part I) 

Superintendent to Regional Director, January 15, 1940 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 1412, 

Folder 620-01) 

Frank T. Been to Regional Director, July 2, 1941 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 1413, Folder 

660-04) 

Ike P. Taylor, Chief Engineer (Alaska Road Commission) to Director (NPS), 

December 13, 1940 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 1413, Folder 640) 

Supervisor of Recreation and Land Planning (NPS) to Harry J. Liek, February 15, 

1939 (NARA II, College Park, NARA II, RG 79, Box 1404, Folder 201-06) 

Paul H. Gallager, Field Auditor (NPS) to Director (NPS), August 10, 1938 (NARA II, 

RG 79, Box 1404, Folder 204) 

Harry J. Liek to Horace Albright, December 13, 1928 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 373 E7, 

Folder 302 Part 1) 

Arno B. Cammerer, Acting Director to Karstens, March 21, 1924 (NARA II, RG 79, 

Box 111, Folder – quarters) 

Arno B. Cammerer, Assistant Director to Chief Landscape Engineer (Thomas C. 
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR PARK HEADQUARTERS

264 

Vint), April 14, 1928 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 620) 

Arno B. Cammerer, Acting Director (NPS) to Harry J. Liek, December 20, 1928 

(NARA II, RG 79, Box 6 E17) 

Vint to Director, March 10, 1928 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 1412 E7, Folder 620) 

Director to Vint, August 18, 1931 (NARA II, RG 79, Box 373 E7, Folder 204-020 

Albright Part 1) 

National Archives, San Francisco 

Thomas C. Vint to H.A. Bauer, August 26, 1940 (NARA San Francisco, RG 79, 

Box 80, File 620) 

REPOSITORIES CONSULTED 

Alaska Regional Office, Anchorage, AK 

Harpers Ferry, National Park Service Photographic Collection, WV 

Harpers Ferry Library, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV 

Denali National Park and Preserve Museum Collection, AK 

National Archives and Records Administration II, College Park, MD 

National Archives and Records Administration, San Bruno, CA (documents copied 

as part of previous research at San Bruno NARA facility) 

National Park Service, Technical Information Center, Denver, CO 
APPENDICES

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Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

National Park Service

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C

Boston, MA 02129

web: www.nps.gov/oclp/