historic american landscapes survey (hals) boyce thompson

Arizona Historic Preservation Conference June 2012

Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS)

Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum

Helen Erickson, MLA and Heritage Conservation Certificate Candidate (UA) and Gina Chorover, MLA, MS

Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects

Introduction to the Team

Gina Chorover, MLA, MS, City of Tucson Helen Erickson, MLA and Heritage Conservation Certificate Candidate, University of Arizona Rebeca Field, RLA, MLA, Kimley-Horn Allison Kennedy, MLA, Drachman Institute, University of Arizona Sylvia Lee, Volunteer Historian, Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum

Special thanks to Mark Siegwarth, Executive Director,


Historic American Landscapes Survey: Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Historic / Cultural Landscapes: A Heritage Resource

A cultural landscape is a

geographic area, including

both cultural and natural

resources and the wildlife or

domestic animals therein,

associated with a historic

event, activity, or person or

exhibiting other cultural or

aesthetic values. Walkway along Queen Creek at the Arboretum Photograph by Helen Erickson


Historic / Cultural Landscapes

•  Reveal the interaction of man and nature

•  Create a sense of community and place

•  Support national, regional and local identity

•  Sustain human/nature relationships

Greenhouse at the Arboretum Photograph by Helen Erickson


Boojum Tree at the Arboretum Photograph by Allison Kennedy

What is the Historic American Landscapes Survey?

•  A program established by the National

Park Service in 2000 to document

landscapes that serve as tangible

evidence of our nation’s heritage and

development

•  A companion program to the Historic

American Building Survey (HABS) and

Historic American Engineering Record

(HAER), which have been administered

by the Park Service and funded by

Congress over many decades

•  To record historic landscapes in the United States and its territories through

measured drawings and interpretive drawings, written histories, and large-

format, black and white photographs and color photographs

Mission of HALS

HALS does not limit development, affect property

rights, or involve the purchase of land. It simply

provides a lasting record of these treasured

landscapes for future generations to enjoy

•  To make information about surveyed sites available

through the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the

Library of Congress

Appropriate landscapes are:

v  significant at the national, state, or local level.

v  can vary in size from small gardens to several thousand-acre national parks.

v  range from designed to vernacular, from rural to urban, and from agricultural to industrial landscapes.


Which sites are good candidates for HALS documentation?

Eucalyptus Allée at the Arboretum Photograph by Helen Erickson

Historic landscapes that:

v  are threatened

v  are easy to access v  stimulate your interest

v  already have some existing written history

v  you have already worked on professionally and/or

v  represent America's cultural diversity

HALS National Priorities: Most threatened landscapes

The American Ranch Revolutionary and Civil War Battlefields

Urban Parks and Plazas

Canoa Ranch; www.pima.gov

Harper’s Ferry; www..nps.gov

Eckbo-designed Landscape at Tucson Convention Center; Photo by Emily Yetman


What is the relationship between HALS documentation and a National Register Nomination?


v A listing on the National Register does not mean that a site has been sufficiently documented. Sites that are on the National Register can be documented through the HALS process.

v Goal of HALS documentation is to create a comprehensive record of individually distinguished or exceptional representative examples of particular landscape types.

v  HALS documentation does not provide protection or financial benefits.

v  HALS documentation is never required unless for mitigation purposes.

v  HALS written histories, large-format photography, and measured drawings are all available through the Library

of Congress, online & copyright free.

v  The 50-year eligibility rule does not apply to HALS projects.

What role does the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) play in the HALS program?


v  ASLA has an agreement with the National Park Service and the

Library of Congress to implement and achieve the goals of the

Historic American Landscapes Survey.

v  ASLA established and maintains the HALS Liaison Network which

includes representation from each ASLA state chapter.

v  The HALS Liaisons Coordinator works with local volunteers to

create a database of potential sites for documentation and

coordinates documentation projects.


•  To provide recognition for Arizona’s historic and cultural landscapes through documentation

•  To provide support and guidance to those who volunteer to complete surveys of Arizona landscapes

•  Identify sites that should be surveyed

•  Develop an accessible database of sites for future surveys

•  Offer support to volunteers who survey identified sites

•  Provide information through our website at azhals.org

Picket Post House at the Arboretum Photograph by Allison Kennedy

Arizona ASLA’s HALS Goals

Arizona ASLA: Recent HALS Efforts Landscape architects statewide were contacted to develop a list of possible HALS projects. Three priority sites identified and state Fact Sheet created.


Arizona ASLA: Recent HALS Efforts


Tovrea Castle/Carraro Cactus Garden

NAU campus core

Yuma River Crossing/Prison, Yuma

La Posada Hotel grounds, Winslow

Vulture Gold Mine, Wickenburg

Ruby, ghost town near Arivaca

Picacho Battlefield

Canoa Ranch near Tubac

Potential sites for documentation

Completed state’s first HALS documentation project – Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum

Arizona ASLA: Recent HALS Efforts

Will submit a HALS documentation project for the yearly national challenge, “Documenting the American Latino Landscape” (July deadline)

El Tiradito Shrine, Tucson Photo by Barry Price Steinbrecher

HALS Documentation - Two Choices


A long historical narrative and descriptive report prepared using the standard HALS outline format, but must otherwise be prepared as an original document. Includes measured drawings and large format black and white photographs. Five sections: 1) Identification Information, 2) Historical Information, 3) Descriptive Information, 4) Sources of Information, and 5) Project Information.

Standard Format

Devised for situations in which detailed information is unnecessary, unavailable, or when time or funding is limited. Prepared as an original document. Written history section of the short format is generally a one to five page distillation of the standard outline format. The short form also may include supporting graphics with captions. May use digital photos.

Short Format



Greenhouse at the Arboretum Photograph by Helen Erickson

HALS NO. AZ-7


Botanical Gardens: Origin and History

•  Medicinal Gardens (in contrast to pleasure or civic gardens)

•  Eighteenth and nineteenth century garden collections

•  Bartram’s Garden 1730 (Philadelphia)

Bartram’s Garden, Philadephia, Pennsylvania

John Bartram was

a friend of Franklin,

Jefferson and

Washington


Early Botanical Gardens in the United States

•  Missouri Botanic Garden – St. Louis 1859

•  Arnold Arboretum – Boston 1872

•  New York Botanical Garden – Bronx 1891

•  Desert Laboratory (Carnegie Institute) – Tucson 1903

•  Huntington Botanical Gardens – San Marino, California 1906

•  Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum – Superior 1924

•  United States National Arboretum – Washington, D.C. 1927

The Ladies Border The New York Botanical Garden


The Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum

In his report to the Board of

Directors of the Boyce Thompson

Southwestern Arboretum at their

meeting on April 17, 1930, Director

Franklin J. Crider stated that “The

Arboretum was started in the

spring of 1924, as the first

institution of its kind having as its

aim the study, conservation, and

utilization of dry climate plants.” Stand of Eucalyptus at the Arboretum Photograph by Helen Erickson


The Founder: Colonel William Boyce Thompson

“Too little has been done to bring

together and study the plants of

desert countries and make the

results available to the public.

That is what I want here. It will be

a big job.”

“Find one plant that will add to the

welfare, comfort and happiness of

the arid regions, and we will have

done a great service.”

Photograph by Harris & Ewing, Courtesy of Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum Archives Quoted from The Magnate by Hermann Hagedorn


Dedication of the Arboretum: 1930

Map of the Arboretum, ca. 1928 Courtesy of Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum Archives


Photo Gallery

Courtesy of Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum Archives

Cactus House 1926 Cactus House 2012 Photograph by Gina Chorover


Photo Gallery


Cactus Garden 1933 Cactus Garden 2012 Photograph by Gina Chorover


Photo Gallery


Reservoir1925 Reservoir 2012 Photograph by Helen Erickson


Photo Gallery


Clevenger House, mid 1920s Clevenger House 2012 Photograph by Helen Erickson


Change of Plan

•  1964 – University of Arizona becomes co-administrator

•  1974 – Arizona State Parks joins the group to create a Tripartite

Advisory Committee

In line with contemporary ecological thinking in the 1980s, spatial

organization of the Arboretum changed from emphasis on utility

groupings to geographic areas of origin.

At the same time, the Arboretum encouraged greater involvement

of the general public.


Change of Plan

"The Mission of Boyce Thompson

Arboretum is to instill in people

an appreciation of plants

through the fostering of

educational, recreational,

research, and conservation

opportunities associated with

arid-land plants.”

http://ag.arizona.edu/bta/about_us.html

Demonstration Garden Photograph by Allison Kennedy


Change of Plan


Demonstration Garden 1984

Photographs by Allison Kennedy

Warren Jones Demonstration Garden


Picnic Area

Photograph by Helen Erickson


Questions?

Photograph by Helen Erickson Palm Grove


azhals.org

Thank You!

Photograph by Helen Erickson Greenhouse

is located at 37615 U.S. Highway 60, Superior, Arizona http://ag.arizona.edu/bta/ This presentation will be made available in digital format on the Arizona Historic American Landscapes Survey website @

The Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum

historic american landscapes survey (hals) boyce thompson

Documents