Mary Jane Colter Buildings | |
Location | Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona |
---|---|
Coordinates | 36°3′29″N 112°8′13″W / 36.05806°N 112.13694°W |
Area | about 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
Built | 1904 |
Architect | Mary Colter |
NRHP reference No. | 87001436 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | May 28, 1987[1] |
Designated NHLD | May 28, 1987[2] |
The Mary Jane Colter Buildings are four structures at Grand Canyon National Park designed by Mary Colter. Built between 1905 and 1932, the four buildings (Hermits Rest (1914), Desert View Watchtower (1932), Lookout Studio (1914), and Hopi House (1905)) are among the best examples of Colter's work, and were influential in the development of an aesthetic for architecture to be used in America's National Park System. As a set, they were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.[2][3]
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Transcription
The Colorado River had a hand in carving out the beauty of the canyon that we see today. Mary Colter designed very beautiful unique structures they can be seen both above and below the rim. I'm Ranger Huggins and this is a Ranger minute. Mary Colter was an architect and artist who was inspired by this landscape and the Southwest to create six very unique structures here at Grand Canyon National Park. She was first hired by the Fred Harvey Company in 1901 and she went on to define what southwestern architecture is. The Fred Harvey, Mary Colter partnership resulted in six designs here at Grand Canyon National Park. Herrmits Rest, the Lookout Studio, the Bright Angel Lodge, the Hopi House, Phantom Ranch, which is located bottom of the canyon, and number six, the Desert View Watchtower, that you can see behind me. Built in the 1930s the Watchtower, like many of Colter's designs, was intended to be organic, or as if the structure itself was rising up out of the earth. Mary Colter refered to this as, "a re-creation of an old Indian watchtower." She was known as, "a bit of a perfectionists," and she meticulously hand-picked many of the individual stones that make up this 70 foot tall structure. The National Park Service is not only protecting the obvious natural history of Grand Canyon National Park, but also the cultural and human history of the park as well. Mary Colter's architecture, designs and legacy will forever be preserved at Grand Canyon for future generations to enjoy. I'm Ranger Huggins and this has been a Ranger minute�
Description and significance
Hopi House and the Lookout Studio are located in the Grand Canyon Village, a National Historic Landmark district comprising the core of the densest development in the park.[4] Hermit's Rest is located at the end of the paved road a few miles to the west of Grand Canyon Village.[3] The Desert View Watchtower is the center of the Desert View visitor services area, about 12 miles (19 km) to the east of Grand Canyon Village, and is itself encompassed by the Desert View Watchtower Historic District.[3] All four buildings were originally built by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and were managed by the railroad's concessionaire, the Fred Harvey Company.[3]
Mary Colter's designs were influenced in part by the many ancient ruins of the American Southwest, as exemplified in Hopi House and the Desert View Watchtower, both of which resulted from her study of existing structures and ruins. Hopi House is a modern take on a dwelling of the Hopi people, while the tower borrows architecturally from a variety of ruins. The tower's interior also includes reproductions of rock art from a site that has since been destroyed. The Hermit's Rest and Lookout Studio, in contrast, were designed to fit organically into their surrounding landscape, a technique which would be adopted by other architects working on projects for the National Park Service.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Mary Jane Colter Buildings". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 25, 2007. Archived from the original on February 25, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Laura Soullière Harrison (1985). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mary Jane Colter Buildings (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 85 NPS photos by Laura Soullière Harrison, exterior and interior, from 1985. 20 are of Hermit's Rest; 36 of Hopi House; 26 of Desert View Watchtower; 3 of Lookout Studio (16.7 MB)
- ^ Scott, Michael P.; Chappell, Gordon; Jackson, Robbyn; Donahoe, Jamie; Begley, Susan; Carr, Ethan (September 13, 1996). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Grand Canyon Village". National Park Service. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
External links
- National Park Service.gov: Architecture in the Parks, A National Historic Landmark Theme Study: M.E.J. Colter Buildings; by Laura Soullière Harrison, 1986.
- Official Grand Canyon National Park website