Giant Forest Village-Camp Kaweah Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Giant Forest Village-Camp Kaweah Historic District is located in Sequoia National Park
. It is notable as one of two registered historic districts
in the park that were largely demolished as part of National Park Service
efforts to mitigate the impact of park visitor facilities on the park's giant sequoia groves. They were in a vernacular National Park Service Rustic
and American Craftsman
Bungalow
style.
Established in 1926 as a satellite facility for the main Giant Forest Lodge
development, Camp Kaweah and Giant Forest Village provided lodging, concessions and camping for visitors to the Giant Forest
grove.
As a consequence of the decision to remove the Giant Forest Lodge
development, itself a National Register district, the Camp Kaweah location was chosen to serve as a day-use-only visitor orientation facility. The Giant Forest Market, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood
, was rebuilt as the new Giant Forest Museum in 2001. The surrounding parking lots were built on the site of upper and lower Camp Kaweah. A bus shuttle now connects the museum with the Giant Forest.
The visitor accommodations were replaced by Wuksachi Village, about five miles to the north and well away from the sequoia grove.
The Giant Forest Village district also includes the 1931 Old Giant Forest District Ranger's Residence, designed by Park Service architect Merel Sager.
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...
. It is notable as one of two registered historic districts
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in the park that were largely demolished as part of National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
efforts to mitigate the impact of park visitor facilities on the park's giant sequoia groves. They were in a vernacular National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service rustic, also colloquially known as Parkitecture, is a style of architecture that arose in the United States National Park System to create buildings that harmonized with their natural environment. Since its founding, the National Park Service consistently has sought to provide...
and American Craftsman
American Craftsman
The American Craftsman Style, or the American Arts and Crafts Movement, is an American domestic architectural, interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts style and lifestyle philosophy that began in the last years of the 19th century. As a comprehensive design and art...
Bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
style.
Established in 1926 as a satellite facility for the main Giant Forest Lodge
Giant Forest Lodge Historic District
The Giant Forest Lodge Historic District in Sequoia National Park includes the remnants of what was once an extensive National Park Service Rustic style tourist development for park visitors. Also known as Camp Sierra, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1978...
development, Camp Kaweah and Giant Forest Village provided lodging, concessions and camping for visitors to the Giant Forest
Giant Forest
The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of...
grove.
As a consequence of the decision to remove the Giant Forest Lodge
Giant Forest Lodge Historic District
The Giant Forest Lodge Historic District in Sequoia National Park includes the remnants of what was once an extensive National Park Service Rustic style tourist development for park visitors. Also known as Camp Sierra, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1978...
development, itself a National Register district, the Camp Kaweah location was chosen to serve as a day-use-only visitor orientation facility. The Giant Forest Market, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood
Gilbert Stanley Underwood
Gilbert Stanley Underwood was an American architect best known for his National Park lodges. Born in 1890, Underwood received his B.A. from Yale in 1920 and a M.A. from Harvard in 1923. After opening an office in Los Angeles that year, he became associated with Daniel Ray Hull of the National...
, was rebuilt as the new Giant Forest Museum in 2001. The surrounding parking lots were built on the site of upper and lower Camp Kaweah. A bus shuttle now connects the museum with the Giant Forest.
The visitor accommodations were replaced by Wuksachi Village, about five miles to the north and well away from the sequoia grove.
The Giant Forest Village district also includes the 1931 Old Giant Forest District Ranger's Residence, designed by Park Service architect Merel Sager.
External links
- Giant Forest restoration at Sequoia National Park
- Camp Kaweah Historic District, Giant Forest Market, Giant Forest Village, Tulare County, CA: 8 photos, 2 data pages, 1 photo caption page, at Historic American Building Survey