CRATER LAKE
National Park Cultural Landscape Recommendations:
Park Headquarters at Munson Valley     NPS arrowhead logo

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

SMALL-SCALE ELEMENTS

SIGNS

A rustic sign program directed by Francis Lange using CCC labor, began in 1936 replacing many standardized metal signs in the park. A directional sign placed in the ellipse of the headquarters plaza near the road entrance was supported by cut, unpeeled cedar logs. Most probably, the sign was a large four-foot diameter circular slab of oil-impregnated pine with yellow-orange painted raised lettering on a brown background for increased visibility. Signs were designed to be dismantled and stored over winter to prevent cracking of the enamel lettering through wood expansion. Extant rustic wood signs on site are at the Lady of the Woods and the Warehouse. Rustic signs at Munson Valley gave way to routed wood signs painted brown with creme white lettering, as of Mission 66 (1956-1966) improvement programs. Today, few Mission 66 signs are extant with the exception of building and identification signs. Standard metal reflecting signs for traffic are common on site. Other sign types found on site include interpretive, identification of natural features, trails, directional and boundary.