Landscape Architect Articles

National Historic Landmarks 08-06-15 | News

National Historic Landmarks
Four Additions

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia was built in the 1920s by the contributions of more than two million American Freemasons.

On Aug. 4, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis announced four new national historic landmarks.

• George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria, Va.
• First Peoples Buffalo Jump, Cascade County, Mont.
• Lafayette Park, Detroit, Mich.
• Red Rocks Park and Mount Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps Camp, Jefferson County, Colo.

A prominent feature of the Washington, D.C. area skyline, the George Washington Masonic National Memorial is among the most architecturally significant projects to honor the father of our country and first president. The Masonic Grand Lodges, which govern the lodges of Freemasons, joined forces to build this national memorial. This eclectic building combines neoclassical architecture common to American memorials and civic buildings with a modern skyscraper design.

The First Peoples Buffalo Jump in Cascade County, Montana is one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved hunting locations in North America. Such sites held paramount importance for the Indians of the Northern Plains.

Lafayette Park in Detroit is one of the earliest urban renewal projects of the mid-twentieth century. It succeeded in creating an ethnically-diverse community and is regarded as one of the best and most successful examples of a residential urban renewal development in the nation. It was a collaborative design endeavor between architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, developer Herbert Greenwald, planner Ludwig Hilberseimer, and landscape architect Alfred Caldwell.

Lafayette Park in Detroit was a collaborative design effort of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, developer Herbert Greenwald, planner Ludwig Hilberseimer and landscape architect Alfred Caldwell.

The outstanding architecture and landscape architecture of Red Rocks Park and Mount Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps Camp in Jefferson County, Colo., illustrates the principles and practices of New Deal-era park design and master planning, and the use of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor to develop such a park. Mount Morrison CCC Camp is one of the few surviving camps in the nation that retains a high concentration of original resources. The amphitheater in the park is one of America's best-known performing arts venues, famous for its natural acoustics, design and setting.

Red Rocks Park and Mount Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps Camp in Jefferson County, Colorado illustrates the principles and practices of New Deal-era park design and master planning.

The National Historic Landmarks Program www.nps.gov/nhl/ was established in 1935, and is administered by the National Park Service. The agency works with preservation officials, private property owners and other partners interested in nominating properties for National Historic Landmark designation. Completed nominations are reviewed by the National Park System Advisory Board, which makes recommendations for designation to the Secretary of the Interior. If designated, property ownership remains the same, but each site receives a plaque and is eligible for technical preservation advice.