National Historic Landmark

Mesa Verde Administrative District

Mesa Verde National Park, Montezuma County, Colorado
Listed
May 27, 1987
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
87001410

About this property

Mesa Verde Administrative District is a set of six National Park Service buildings within Mesa Verde National Park, constructed between 1921 and 1927 in the Pueblo Revival style. Located on Chapin Mesa, these were the structures built by the Park Service to use culturally relevant architectural traditions in park architecture. The buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1987. Mesa Verde National Park was founded in 1906 to preserve a series of spectacular Ancestral Puebloan ruins and archaeological sites in southwestern Colorado. The National Park Service was founded in 1916 to manage the nation's growing inventory of national parks. It did not begin significant oversight of Mesa Verde until 1921, when archaeologist Jesse Nussbaum took over its administration. During his tenure (which lasted until 1931), the buildings described below were built on Chapin Mesa to support the administration of the park. The buildings share a common architectural vocabulary, which includes the use of sandstone, some of which was taken from some of the park's prehistoric structures. The walls typically have a battered exterior, and are covered by a roof supported by vigas. Woodwork in the buildings is worked to appear as if it had been fashioned using pioneer tools, and the interior walls are plastered. Most of these buildings have undergone subsequent alteration and expansion, as the needs of the park administration have grown and changed. The buildings are clustered in a roughly 3-acre (1.2 ha) area on Chapin Mesa. Architecture in the Parks: A National Historic Landmark Theme Study: Mesa Verde Administrative District, by Laura Soullière Harrison, at National Park Service.

Location

Mesa Verde National Park, Montezuma County, Colorado
37.18309, -108.49130

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Mesa Verde National Park
Listed
7.5 mi
Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company Flume No. 6
Industrial
11.4 mi
Yucca House National Monument
Industrial
11.6 mi
Montezuma Valley National Bank and Store Building
Industrial
12.6 mi
Ertel Funeral Home
Industrial
12.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Mesa Verde Administrative District listed on the National Register?

Mesa Verde Administrative District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1987.

What type of historic resource is Mesa Verde Administrative District?

Mesa Verde Administrative District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Mesa Verde Administrative District a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Mesa Verde Administrative District has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Mesa Verde Administrative District?

The period of significance for Mesa Verde Administrative District is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Mesa Verde Administrative District?

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