NP3 Form 10-900 USDIINPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SKYLINE DRIVE HISTORIC DISTRICT Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY /U-C)G Historic Name: SKYLIJYE DRIVE HISTORIC DISTRICT Other NameISite Number: N/A 2.- LOCATION Street & Number: Shenandoah National Park (SHEN) Not for publication: City/Town: Luray Vicinity:~ State: VA County: Code: Zip Code: 22835 Albemarle Augusta Greene Madison Page Rappahannock Rockingham Warren 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: - Building(s): - Public-Local: - District: -X Public-State: - Site: - Public-Federal: X Structure: - Object: - Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 8 0 73buildings 23 2 sites 87 -10 structures 2 9 -0 objects mTotal 85 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register:= Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: Historic Park Landscapes in National and State Parks MPS NPS Porn 10-900 USDlMPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SKYLINE DRIVE, Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Rcgutcr of Hirtaie Pluxa Regismtion Form 4. STATENEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION I As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register Criteria. I Signature of Certifying Official Date - - - - - State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this property is: - Entered in the National Register - Determined eligible for the National Register - Determined not eligible for the National Register , - Removed from the National Register - Other (explain): Signature of Keeper Date of Action NPS Form 10-900 USDIINPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 10244018 SKYLINE DRIVE HISTORIC DISTRICT Page 3 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic bRegistration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE , Historic: , Landscape Sub: Park Transportation Road-related (vehicular) Recreation and Culture Outdoor Recreation Landscape Conservation Area Landscape Natural Feature Domestic camp Domestic Hotel Commerce Restaurant Government Government Office Current : Landscape Sub: Park Landscape Natural Feature Landscape Conservation Area Transportation Road-related (vehicular) Recreation and Culture Outdoor Recreation Domestic camp Domestic Hotel Commerce Restaurant Government Government Office 7 7. DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Other: National Park Service naturalistic landscape design Other: National Park Service rustic architecture MATERIALS: Foundation: earth, granite, limestone, concrete Walls: granite, limestone, weatherboard, log Roof: asphalt, concrete, shake Other: earth, granite, limestone, asphalt, log, glass NPS Form 10-900 USDlMPS NRHP Regisbation Fonn (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SKYLINE DRIVE Page 4 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Regismtion Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearallce. Summary Skyline Drive, with its adjoining overlooks, waysides, picnic areas, campgrounds, and development areas, ' is nationally significant under NHL Criterion 1 & 4. Because of the pivotal role that the Skyline Drive NHL District played in the history of the national park system and the evolution of park road design, federal policies in conservation and recreation, and the employment relief measures of the New Deal, Skyline Drive is nationally significant under the NHL theme Transforming the Environment. For its exemplary expression of the principles and practices of National Park Service road design, landscape naturalization, and rustic architectural design and as a showcase of the landscape conservation work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the park road and its associated features are also nationally important under the theme Expressing Cultural Values (Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Architecture). Skyline Drive is primarily significant for its leading role in the movement to conserve and enhance the Nation's natural resources in the eastern United States for enjoyment and outdoor recreation by the American public that gained momentum in the mid-1 920s and continued through the 1930s. It represents efforts by the United States Government with the cooperation of the Commonwealth of Virginia to conserve the characteristic scenic and natural resources of the Central Appalachians and Blue Ridge in the form of Shenandoah National Park. Designed and constructed between 1930 and 1942, it played an important role in the efforts of the federal government to provide economic relief in the form of employment for both skilled and unskilled labor during the Great Depression. These programs included drought relief funding beginning in 1931 and the varied make- work and relief programs of the New Deal era (1 933 to 1942) including the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Public Works Administration (PWA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA). These programs not only promoted economic stability but moreover reflected the social-humanitarian purposes of the New Deal, advanced the conservation of natural areas, and expanded the recreational resources of the nation. Designed as the backbone of Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive also illustrates the principles of naturalistic landscape design promoted by the National Park Service for work in state and national parks and parkways in the early 20th century. Designed and constructed in the 1930s, the drive represents an important stage in the adaptation of the principles and practices of naturalistic and rustic design that had been developed for Western park roads to the gentler topography of the Appalachians and the emerging East Coast ideas for parkway development. Distinguishing design characteristics include the graceful curvilinear alignment; the rounding, flattening, and planting of cut and fill slopes in native species to blend naturalistically into the surrounding topography; the picturesque parking overlooks at frequent internals to provide scenic valley and ridgetop vistas and to link motorists with the Appalachian Trail and other trails leading to waterfalls, outcroppings, springs, scenic views, and virgin stands of trees. Recreational areas for picnicking, camping, dining and overnight accommodations were developed according to the park's master plan at regular intervals along the drive, including Dickey Ridge, Elkwallow, Pinnacles, Skyland, Big Meadows, Lewis Mountain, and South River. The CCC played a major role in the development of these areas, as did the Virginia Sky-line Company, which as the park's concessionaire built village-like clusters with lodges and overnight cabins and waysides with shops, lunchrooms, and gasoline stations. Several of these buildings-Big Meadows Lodge, Dickey Ridge Lodge, Lewis Mountain Lodge, Skyland Community Building- are outstanding examples of l~heSkyline Drive Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places at the national leCel of significance on 28 April 1997; two boundary increases were accepted on 19 September 1997 and 5 December 2003. These listings recognized the importance of the drive and its associated resources under National Register criteria A and C in the areas of Landscape Architecture, Architecture, Community Planning and Development (park), Conservation, Engineering, EntertainmentIRecreation, Politics/Government, and Social History. NPS Form 10-900 USDIINPS NRH~Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SKYLINE DRIVE Page 5 United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form National Park Service rustic architecture applied to the eastern deciduous forests and geological character of the Blue Ridge. Among the historic resources associated with the construction of Skyline Drive are the Skyland development area, which illustrates the recreational history of the northern Blue Ridge from the 1880s when it began as a private resort, through the 1920s when it played an important role in the creation of Shenandoah National Park. During the CCC era, the site of CCC camp NP-I was located nearby, and the area was redeveloped according to national park standards and became one of the overnight areas operated by the park concessionaire. The district . also includes the ranger station at Simmons Gap which was shaped by the CCC in the 1930s, a remnant CCC camp building at Piney River that figured prominently in the CCC's forestry program, the open meadow which was the site of the former Big Meadows CCC camp (NP-2) and the focal point of the Big Meadows development area, and the Rapidan Road, which was built to connect the drive (at Big Meadows) with President Herbert Hoover's fishing retreat under the first allocation of funds in 1931. The Skyline Drive NHL District meets the registration requirements at the national level of significance