National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Blackwoods
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National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory 2006 L Blackwoods Campground / Acadia National Park 20D~( C)J Ce Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park I i L Cultural Landscape Inventory (9/13/2006 Draft) Page 2 of 49 Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park Table of Contents Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan ................................................................................................................... Page 5 Concurrence Status ............................................................................................................................................... Page 9 Geographic Information & Location Map ........................................................................................................... Page 10 Management Information .................................................................................................................................... Page 12 National Register Information ................................................................................. ;............................................ Page 13 Chronology & Physical History .......................................................................................................................... Page 17 Analysis and Evaluation of Integrity ................................................................................................................... Page 32 Condition ............................................................................................................................................................. Page 44 Treatment ............................................................................................................................................................ Page 46 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................ Page 47 , I I; I \.. __ !, r 1 I J• [I i I [J [-] Cultural Landscape Inventory (9/13/2006 Draft) Page 3 of 49 Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park Cultural Landscape Inventory (9/13/2006 Draft) Page 4 of 49 Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park Inventory Unit Summary & Site Plan Inventory Unit Landscape/Component Landscape Description Blackwoods is one of two campgrounds located in Acadia National Park, a 47,000-acre preserve of coastal mountains and rugged forests located on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County. The campground is located on 160 acres, just west of the Village of Otter Creek, along the eastern coast of the island. Blackwoods was an early automobile campground, built off a motor road system constructed according to the concepts developed in eollaboration with John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. in 1929. Blackwoods was built according to the principles and practices of rustic park landscape design used by the National Park Service (NPS) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCe) between the years of 1933 and 1948, involving the subordination of manmade development to natural topography and landscape features, using natural and native materials. Today, Blackwoods consists of two camping loops (Loop A and Loop B) organized around a central Camp Court, an oval one-way drive that acts as a hub between the camping loops. A % mile Campground Entrance Road leads to the Visitor Comfort Station and on to the Camp Court from which Campsite Loop A exits to the south, and Loop B exits to the west. Loop A includes a typical one-way loop perimeter road, the Campground Loop Road, from which a series of lateral roads lead to a number of campsites with parking spurs and links. The first 35 campsites at Loop A were link-type trailer sites constructed in a central cluster. After WWII, a number of additional campsites with parking spurs were constructed. Loop A currently features 160 campsites, reduced from 192 in 1971. Many of the prototypical steel fireplace rings, used historically at Blackwoods, are extant, along with much of the native I vegetation, the five original comfort stations constructed in 1948 (#97, 98, 99100 and 101) and water taps. l. Only a few of the other historic site furnishings such as signs, gates, and stone and log barriers remain, but those r few, along with replacements in kind, contribute to the rustic character of the site. Most traffic is directed along L the same routes allocated to automobile usage, but several social trails have evolved along heavily traveled ) routes. The Ocean Path, constructed in 1938, links Loop A to the cliffs overlooking Otter Cove. L Loop B and its associated features were funded by the MISSION 66 program and constructed 1956-1961. Loop iLJ 1 B is constructed with simple "spur" campsites and is organized similar to Loop A, with a series of roughly parallel lateral roads crossing the outer perimeter Loop Road. An Amphitheater was built in 1950, and sited between the two loops with paths extending from both. :rlans for the third loop were abandoned. History Overview The development of Blackwoods Campground related in part to the construction of the Otter Cove causeway and nearby segments of the Acadia motor road. At the same time design and construction was in process at Cultural Landscape Inventory (9/13/2006 Draft) Page 5 of 49 Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park Seawall Campground, John D. Rockefeller gave his approval for construction of a campground at Blackwoods on land he was preparing to donate to the park. The chosen location provided critical proximity to the spectacular scenery of Acadia National Park, both the mountains and coast. The layout was based on the non destructive system proposed in A Camp Ground Policy by E. P. Meinecke in 1932, with construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) beginning in 1936. By 1941, the lateral and spur roads for 35 campsites in Loop A were completed along with the perimeter and three of its four comfort stations. Link-type trailer campsites were created following the same rustic design principles and building prototype already in place at Seawall. By the time the CCC was disbanded in early 1942, a fourth comfort station in Loop A was completed. Loop B and its associated features were constructed between 1956 and 1961and included the creation of five large group campsites. Significance Summary Blackwoods Campground derives significance under Criterion A, for its association with the New Deal programs, especially the CCC, which provided the labor force and federal funding that made construction of facilities possible in Acadia in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition, Blackwoods is significant under Criterion Cas a fme example ofNPS Rustic Design constructed during the New Deal era. The National Register documentation for Blackwoods Campground lists the areas of significance as Landscape Architecture, Conservation, and Entertainment/Recreation. The period of significance, 1935-1948, encompasses the first pre war phase of construction by the CCC, as well as the park's successful efforts to expand automobile camping facilities in response to rapidly growing visitation post-war and the availability of New Deal funding and labor. It ends with the construction of the last rustic structure at Blackwoods in 1948. Due to the later construction of Loop B and other changes made in the last 50 years, the historical significance of Blackwoods Campground is I IL , less obvious than Seawall Campground. However, a substantial portion of the Blackwoods site and its Road System, including Loop A and its five historic comfort stations, the Campground Entrance Road, Campground Loop Roads, parking spurs and links, and the Camp Court, retains the overall character of the original CCC design. Condition Summary [ Overall, the condition of Blackwoods Campground is good. The 1996 Cultural Landscape Report for I t Blackwoods and Seawall Campgrounds identified several impacts to the landscape of the campgrounds, including the lack of vehicular barriers along both camp roads and parking spurs, which has led to degradation r of soil conditions, mechanical damage of vegetation and a loss of well-defined campsites. Understory species L along the camp roads and at the edges of campsites are most affected due to compaction by pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The deterioration of screening vegetation along roadsides and between campsites threatens the rustic character of the campsite. Cultural Landscape Inventory (9/13/2006 Draft) Page 6of49 Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park The historic spatial layout and the majority of the built features designed and constructed at Blackwoods during the historic period are retained, most notably five historic comfort stations. The individual campsites contain examples of parking spurs and links characteristic of the period, as well as a few small scale features such as fireplace rings and barrier stones. Native vegetation, including spruce, fir, and a shrub under story, lines the roads and provides screening between the individual campsites consistent with the original design. Since the completion of the Cultural Landscape Report (CLR), the park has taken extensive measures to rehabilitate the campgrounds. A $4.5 million rehabilitation project was recently completed at Blackwoods Campground. This project included rehabilitation of the site, utilities, roads and buildings. Landscape rehabilitation efforts are ongoing to combat the deterioration of the landscape as a result of heavy use of campsites and associated features. A $280,000 site re-vegetation project is planned and