Mesa Verde National Park - Mesa Verde CO

City:: Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Site Type:: Parks and Recreation
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Started:: 1933
Completed:: 1942

Description

Mesa Verde National Park was signed into existence by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. Its goal is “to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world.” Occupying roughly 80 square miles in southwestern Colorado, the park features “numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the Ancient Pueblo peoples, sometimes called the Anasazi. There are over 4,000 archaeological sites and over 600 cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people at the site.” (Wikipedia)

During the New Deal period, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive work throughout the park.

“The contributions of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to the Historic Landmark were also significant, as the CCC built and remodeled many of the buildings in the Administrative District [of Mesa Verde] during the CCC era of 1933 to 1942… The CCC alterations replicate the workmanship and materials of the original properties. The stone used in the building construction and remodeling was quarried by the CCC enrollees.” (https://www.nationalparktravel.com)

The main Visitor Center for Mesa Verda includes a very large three-dimensional topographical map of the entire park. Various WPA and CCC sites will light up when buttons are pressed to show the location of former Camps, Museum Diorama’s and Exhibits, Buildings, Roads and Trails.

The Headquarters and Museum buildings are designed in the Modified Pueblo Revival architecture style.

“In 1920, park visitors were greeted by an array of rundown structures in this area. One of the first challenges for new Park Superintendent Jesse Nusbaum and his wife, Aileen, was to construct new facilities. Inspiration came from noted Southwest architects John Gaw Meem, Mary J. Colter, and Issac Hamilton Rapp. The style they perfected was based on original Pueblo buildings. It included smooth sandstone and mortar walls, decorative wooden vigas (beams), and adze-worked wood features on the exterior and interior of the buildings. Each detail was designed to create structures that were in harmony with the nearby cliff dwellings and surrounding landscape.” (Taken from Park description in the Visitor Center)