Mount Greylock State Reservation presents an outstanding example of the values, design standards and aesthetics for conservation, rustic recreation, scenic enjoyment and forestry codified by National Park Service and expressed by the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the The reservation is historically significant for the construction and park improvements implemented by the CCC in the including a parkway system and associated features, trail network, and recreational facilities. The parkways exhibit many of the characteristics of the design criteria set forth by the National Park Service and carried out by the including integrating a graceful curvilinear alignment with the natural topography, incorporating scenic views and vistas, and using local materials and vegetation.
Other landscape components include drainage, guardrails, and signage constructed to blend in with the surrounding landscape. Mount Greylock is a prominent landmark and one of the most dramatic natural landscapes in Massachusetts. The rugged mountain topography, broad expanses of forested land, high elevations and panoramic views create a compelling natural setting (Figure 1). The landscape of Mount Greylock has attracted generations of visitors and has been a source of inspiration to a number of literary figures including William Cullen Bryant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau and Herman Melville. Thoreau was especially inspired by his ascent to the summit in the solitary rigors of his Greylock climb are echoed in Walden, published in the following year.
Description: Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts at an elevation of feet (Figure 2). The view from its summit extends almost one hundred miles MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 2 across the lower peaks of both the Berkshire Mountains and the Taconics. Greylock's distinctive profile is a familiar landmark from much of northwestern Massachusetts as well as surrounding states. The mountain remains a landmark after nightfall when the illuminated war memorial on the summit provides a beacon for the surrounding area. Greylock is part of an isolated range that stretches north south and lies between the Hoosac Range to the east, and the Taconic Range to the west.
A portion of the reservation known as the Hopper, a glacial cirque formed by the convergence of Mount Greylock, Mount Williams, Mount Prospect and Stoney Ledge, has been designated a National Natural Landmark and Restricted Natural Area in recognition of its old growth spruce stands and relatively undisturbed state. A tributary of the Hoosac River, Hopper Brook is a state-designated Natural Scenic River.
The Reservation landscape consists of the primarily natural landscape of the mountain slopes, historic parkways, trails, and the summit plateau, which is enclosed on three sides by Summit Road and includes the most prominent built features: the War Memorial Tower Bascom Lodge and Thunderbolt Ski Lodge The natural landscape below Summit Road has steep, rugged topography with exposed rock outcrops, second growth vegetation, primarily fir, mountain ash, yellow birch, shadbush, ferns, raspberries, blueberries and chokecherries. The hardier trees reach nearly full height in protected areas but are stunted on more exposed portions of the summit.
The dense vegetation on the slopes creates a wooded landscape with little evidence of human habitation other than the roads and trails running through it, as noted by the National Register. Circulation System The natural order of the Mount Greylock landscape shapes the sequential experience of the Parkway s miles of roads. Landforms, vegetation, water, light, shade, manmade features, etc. form the basis of this visual/temporal experience (Figure 3).
When the CCC arrived at Greylock in they widened existing carriage roads, improved grades, and installed and improved the drainage system, incorporating sound engineering practices with their distinctive aesthetic: reliance on native materials, integrated planning of architecture, landscape and engineering, and respect for natural features and topographical constraints (Figure 4). This design approach is especially evident in the quality of the driving experience on Mount Greylock s roads. Two approach roads, Notch Road (from the north) and Rockwell Road (from the south), bring visitors to 1/2 mile below the summit. Each intersects Summit Road, which circles the summit at an elevation of feet.
Rockwell and Notch Roads are scenic parkways that reinforce the drama of approaching the summit, heighten the anticipation of arrival and shape the visual experience through a controlled sequence of views (Figure 5). The steep grades, hairpin turns, and narrow roadways (16 in width on average) enforce attentive driving. Deliberate vista clearing and planting along the road reveal towering trees, mossy waterfalls, MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 3 rock ledges and stunning views (Figure 6). Sperry Road, a short interior spur off Rockwood Road, ends near the Sperry Road Campground.
Over seventy miles of rustic trails crisscross the entire reservation, with designated uses for backpacking and mountain biking in the summer, and snowmobiling, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing in winter. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (established enters from the southwest, crosses the summit, and continues north into Vermont. The approach roads provide the only vehicle access into the park, and are restricted to foot traffic and snow vehicles from October to May. Camping is rustic, and campsites are accessible only on foot. Summit landscape The summit features breathtaking panoramic views as far as 100 miles in any direction, with portions of five states visible on a clear day.
In Timothy Dwight, president of Yale University and frequent visitor to the summit, wrote: The view was immense and of amazing grandeur ... You will easily suppose that we felt a total superiority to all the humble beings who were creeping on the footstool beneath us. The Village of Williamstown shrunk to the size of a farm; and its houses, church, and colleges appeared like the habituations of martins and wrens. (Most Excellent Majesty: 33; National Register The site design of the summit plateau acknowledges both the intense visitor activity planned for the area, and the surrounding natural contours. An archival image of a topographical model created of the summit suggests CCC planners' close study of the plateau for the optimal siting of buildings and circulation (Figure 7).
The resulting location and relationship of all of the major site elements -- tower, lodge, ski shelter and trail, drives, parking, and pedestrian pathways -- ensured a seamless, subtly directed visit around the summit, with a minimal impact on existing topography. Summit Tower The dramatic centerpiece of the summit is the granite Veterans Memorial Tower (Figure 8). Ninety-two feet in height, the tower curves inward from the circumference of its base, then flares out again to a lesser extent at the top. Built in and based on designs that were developed for a lighthouse in Boston Harbor, it was erected on the summit at the urging of Senator Theodore Plunkett of Adams.
The tower is accessible to visitors, who can climb its staircase to the observation deck, located just below the bronze beacon chamber. The monument, centered on the highest point of the site, is revealed from Summit Road through a screen of trees as one approaches the top. The road passes by Bascom Lodge, which sits well below the grade of the monument, and MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 4 crosses in front of the entrance path to the monument. The road then leads to a parking area that is screened by trees on the other side of the monument. Buildings and Parking Of the five contributing buildings at the summit, Bascom Lodge Thunderbolt Shelter (c.
and the Summit Garage were built by the The Lodge provides visitor services, dormitory style overnight accommodations and food service, and Thunderbolt serves as a warming house at the top of the Thunderbolt ski run. Both buildings were designed by Pittsfield architect Joseph MacArthur Vance and epitomize the principles of rustic park design that dominated the architecture of state and federal parks in the and Bascom Lodge is set into the southeast slope of the summit, adhering to topographic contours and enhanced by a long, low form that hugs the ground with a shallow plan and angled extensions (Figure 9).
Thunderbolt Shelter is set about eight feet below the level of the road at the summit, located on the north slope of the Mount Greylock summit just below the northwest comer of the main parking lot. Equipped with metal fireboxes and wooden benches, the shelter serves as a winter warming hut and is characterized by the same massive battered fieldstone walls that define Bascom Lodge. The Thunderbolt Trail was once classified as an expert trail, and was the site of the Massachusetts State Downhill Championships. Offering a thrilling ride, the trail was aptly named after a rollercoaster at Revere Beach, a popular Boston area seacoast resort and amusement park. The summit parking lot is one of the project's more distinctive landscape design features.
Archival drawings reveal an outstanding example of skillful design of a relatively mundane feature (Figure It is artfully sited to both contain and screen cars from the surrounding landscape, greatly enhancing visitor enjoyment of the rest of the summit with minimal intrusion of automobiles on the scene. A central travel lane is flanked on either side by parking lanes providing space for approximately 65 cars. The uphill edge is defined by rock edges with several sets of steps cut directly into the ledge to provide pedestrian access to the summit plateau. The northern or downhill edge is defined by a stone retaining wall running along the outer contour.
While aspects of a few of the original CCC constructions, such the workers camp, have slowly degraded over time, the site in general retains a high degree of integrity. The original surface of the roads, pulverized schist created from the blasting of ledge, has been replaced by asphalt. The landscape along Rockwell Road, with the Visitor Center at its base, is the primary entry point of the Park, and is extremely well maintained, exhibiting the great variety of plantings, tree canopy, openings and changes in mood that characterized the original MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 5 design intent. Notch Road, traditionally the more forested road, had less variety in it vegetation, and some invasives are becoming evident.
History: Native Americans were present in the Greylock area from the Archaic Period (approximately BC) to the arrival of the Europeans. The rugged topography and remote location, combined with the unstable situation created by the French and Indian Wars, made this northwestern corner of Massachusetts one of the last portions of the state to be settled by Europeans. Greylock was settled for agricultural purposes by the mid-eighteenth century, and by the mid nineteenth century, logging for industrial use and private enterprise altered the appearance of the pristine mountainside and controlled access to the summit. Initially, roads were rudimentary wagon paths, but as interest in conservation and recreation grew, the roads improved.
Students from nearby Williams College ascended to the summit in and constructed the first crude tower, described as an observatory about 25 feet square at the base and 12 feet tall. By the mid-nineteenth century, the summit had become an increasingly popular destination. Notch Road was initially constructed around with further improvements in and again in Early Conservation Efforts The first organized protection effort came in when the Greylock Park Association (GPA), composed primarily of local businessmen, purchased 400 acres at the summit to preserve it from commercial exploitation. They erected a new observation tower of iron forty feet high and made Notch Road a toll road.
The Association built a caretaker's house at the summit and followed the practice of mountain houses elsewhere by selling refreshments. By there was a growing precedent for state preservation of areas of dramatic natural scenery. Abraham Lincoln had set aside the Yosemite Valley for public benefit in followed by the creation of the first state park Yellowstone in and Niagara Falls State Reservation in In June at the urging of Berkshire County representatives, the Massachusetts legislature authorized the creation of Mount Greylock State Reservation.
Key provisions were that the Greylock Park Association land be deeded to the state without charge, that the state acquire additional holdings of up to acres, that the county provide operating expenses, and that a commission of three members be appointed to administer the reservation. The Mount Greylock Reservation Commission was established in June and promptly began implementing the provisions of the legislation, acquiring nearly acres by and making substantial improvements to the two roads leading to the summit. MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 6 Transition Road improvements and land acquisition were the major focus of the Mount Greylock Reservation Commission for the first third of the century.
During that period, the summit remained a hardscrabble destination with little attention given to landscape design or the provision of visitor facilities like the summit houses found atop other major New England peaks. This situation changed in when the Massachusetts legislature was finally persuaded to appropriate funds to replace the observation tower. Unlike earlier towers on the site, the new tower had a commemorative as well as a recreational function. Its primary purpose was to recognize the sacrifice of Massachusetts men and women who had died in the service of their country, and to represent the hope of a lasting peace.
Work on the granite memorial tower was completed in and it was dedicated in June before a crowd of It is designed in the severe and minimalist architectural vocabulary of Starved Classicism, a style that reflected both its solemn function and its budgetary realities. The monument's classical origins appealed to those who favored a lofty and democratic iconography, while its spareness and severity appealed to those who favored economy in public building. Construction of the tower focused attention on Greylock and reinforced the need for further improvements to accommodate the growing number of visitors to the summit, setting the stage for the more extensive improvements carried out by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Civilian Conservation Corps Improvements Mount Greylock s great potential as a fully functioning public landscape was realized between and The CCC worked at Greylock under special agreement between the Greylock State Reservation Commission and the National Park Service. Aided with extensive technical and design assistance from the the efforts of the CCC transformed Mount Greylock from a relatively local, and largely scenic, reserve into a regionally significant recreational destination that welcomed nature enthusiasts, active sportspersons, and touring sight-seers alike.
The ambitious and wide-ranging scope of their work included site preparation and building construction, road and parking facility construction, storm water engineering and management, ski trail design and construction, reforestation efforts, and insect control, all united under the guiding principles of a comprehensive master plan. The result was a memorable, newly-resilient landscape that combined proven architectural, engineering and forestry techniques with a sensitive understanding of the visual and spatial impact of careful landscape planning (Figures 11, 12 and Administrative and Organizational Management The CCC s effort at Greylock was further enhanced by a clear and comprehensible management structure that assigned rank and responsibilities to all members of the project team.
A hand drawn organizational chart MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 7 demonstrates the careful attention paid to the distribution and administration of human resources for the Greylock project, from the role of the regional supervisor, through the duties of landscape architects, technical staff, and on-site foremen (Figure Both landscape architects listed on the organizational chart, as well as those whose names appeared on site plans and construction drawings, were designers of note. Thomas Desmond a landscape architect from Simsbury, Connecticut prepared preliminary sketches for the layout of the summit. Desmond, trained in agriculture at Cornell, and developed a consulting practice focused on updating municipal master plans.
After working in a succession of Boston landscape architectural firms, Wayne Stiles opened his own office in He was an accomplished amateur golfer, and his keen interest in the game led to a series of early projects to design golf courses around New England. By the mid he and his partner, John Van Kleek, headed one of the premier golf course design firms in the country, and they maintained offices in Boston, New York and St. Petersburg. The Depression had a huge impact on the fortunes of the practice, and Stiles may have found CCC work as a way to supplement or even replace his private commissions. Egbert Hans (b. trained in the office of landscape architect Warren Manning.
In Commissioner Samuel York, under the auspices of the Department of Conservation, published a handbook written by Hans ( The Landscape Architect in the State Reservations of Massachusetts ) which outlines the principles and policies of land use planning established by the National Park Service, and which provided the framework for CCC work in Massachusetts state forests. Based on the goal of providing the maximum amount of recreation consistent with the forest area , and published under the title Land Use Planning in the State Forests of Massachusetts: An Outline of Planning Principles, the document underscores the importance of the landscape architect and the master plan in carrying out forest conservation principles.
Hans' handbook sets out planning and design guidelines that establish approaches to recreational use of the forests while supporting timber protection, water conservation and aesthetic character. The Master Plan The success of the CCC efforts at Mount Greylock can be attributed to a large extent to the creation of a specific master plan for the site, generated by the Boston office of the National Park Service in (Figure Adapted from tested planning, conservation and civil engineering principals and protocols generated by the NPS under the supervision of its long time director, Thomas Vint, the Greylock project was represented by a meticulously drawn plan drafted at 1" = with a vertical contour interval of 100 '. Two inserts are also MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO.
MA-2 PAGE 8 included in the master plan drawing: a context map, drawn at approximately 1" = (Figure illustrating the relationship of the Greylock Reservation to its surrounding communities, and an enlarged site plan of the summit, drawn at approximately 1" = (see Figure NPS designers recognized the graphic challenges posed by the extensive size of the site and its steeply folded terrain, and their use of large horizontal and vertical scales enabled both CCC staff and crews to understand the inclusive and integrated nature of their effort.
In one elegant gesture, the master plan clearly illustrated existing and proposed roads, trails, campsites, parking areas, picnic groves, shelters, and scenic lookouts as a comprehensive network of improvements that structured an overall, newly conceived vision for the site. Extensive infrastructural improvements, such as underground water, power and telephone lines were also noted, and further emphasized the planners interest in providing Mount Greylock with reliable utility, sanitary and communication systems. This intensive exercise in large scale spatial planning and organization culminated in the building and landscape program proposed for the summit of the site.
Here the master plan shifted focus and directed its attention to the ensemble of roads, buildings, parking areas and pathways that characterized a more immediate visitor experience. Although the inset drawing of the summit program is indicated only at a schematic level of development, its ideas suggest the master plan's reliance on the effective manipulation of views, space and movement. Regardless of scale, the Mount Greylock master plan provided the CCC with a blueprint to transform an underutilized tract of state owned property into a fully habitable landscape that evoked the character and rituals of a long vanished past. A more telling reminder of the many accomplishments achieved at Mount Greylock was detailed in a survey of CCC work in western Massachusetts.
The survey identified the site as among the most important recreational projects in the state, built under extremely difficult physical and climatic conditions and fully embodying the open, pragmatic spirit of CCC planning, design and construction. Post Changes The summit district retains a very high degree of integrity to its appearance at the end of the period of significance Contributing features have generally survived with minimal alteration, and remarkably few recent structures have intruded on historic character. The few losses of any importance include all the spruce guardrails, portions of the retaining wall along Summit Road and some of the fittings from Thunderbolt Shelter.
Major non-contributing resources located within the district include communication towers and satellite dishes located at the summit since the as well as temporary fiberglass restrooms to MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 9 accommodate increased need for toilet facilities. There have also been minor modifications to accommodate modern automobiles and increased traffic. In the former Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the former Metropolitan District Commission worked with a statewide Steering Committee and consultants to develop an approach to the management of parkways that would protect their recreational function and historic character, an effort known as the Historic Parkways Initiative.
Under the Parkway initiative, the roads in Mount Greylock State Reservation became classified as Parkways. Historic parkways in Massachusetts differ from ordinary roadways because they are generally understood to be within a park or park-like setting; and are distinguished by their scenic and landscape qualities or by their access to such qualities. Now under DCR stewardship, the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston is recognized as the nation s first regional park system a system connected by a series of integrated parkways. By placing the Boston parkways and parkways like Greylock s under DCR s Historic Parkways Preservation Treatment Guidelines, the Commonwealth also has the first comprehensive planning and management guide for such a system.
In the Commonwealth partnered with various state agencies as well as the Berkshire Regional Planning Committee and the Mount Greylock Advisory Council to support the Mount Greylock Historic Parkway Rehabilitation Project, selected as a demonstration project to highlight the initiative s goals of promoting the recognition of historic roads and parkways important historical resources, supporting the protection and management of roads in ways that are historically appropriate, and improving safety in a historically sensitive and appropriate way. Features that are in the process of being preserved and/or restored include drainage systems, retaining walls, steel backed timber guide rails, scenic overlooks, vistas and vegetation.
In the same year DCR commissioned Stantec, The Cecil Group and the Louis Berger Group to conduct a historic parkway assessment, which resulted in detailed guidelines for rehabilitation for all aspects of the parkways, in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The DCR implemented the recommendations of the report during the Mount Greylock Historic Parkway Rehabilitation Project in This major capital project invested over $20 million in the preservation of Mount Greylock State Reservation as a valuable cultural resource, representing the best of the Civilian Conservation Corps contribution to the Commonwealth.
A federal grant funded the creation of new interpretive panels along the historic parkways and at the summit, along with a major new exhibit at the Mount Greylock Visitor Center featuring a section on the life and work of the Their installation in marked the final stage of the Commonwealth s MOUNT GREYLOCK STATE RESERVATION HALS NO. MA-2 PAGE 10 rehabilitation of the iconic parkways of Mount Greylock. Summary At a time when the nation was at a virtual economic standstill, the CCC was instrumental in developing a system of accessible public landscapes that were specifically designed and built to relieve the physical hardship and psychological strain caused by massive unemployment and social uncertainty.
At Mount Greylock, this vision was taken to one of the agency s most successful outcomes: by marshaling the expertise and management strategies of several federal, state and local governmental entities, along with the input and insight of several professional landscape architectural and engineering consultants, the CCC was able to create a setting that still stands as a virtually intact symbol of an era in which the demands of environmental integrity, recreational value, and scenic quality were reconciled and integrated (Figure
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