The Ash Mountain Entrance Sign at Sequoia National Park was constructed in 1935 by Civilian Conservation Corps craftsmen. Featuring a carved Native American face, the sign was made from blocks of sequoia wood and fastened with wrought iron brackets.[2]
Ash Mountain Entrance Sign | |
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   | |
| Nearest city | Three Rivers, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36°29′15″N 118°50′9″W / 36.48750°N 118.83583°W |
| Built | 1935 |
| Architect | George Muno, Harold Fowler, Merel S. Sager |
| Architectural style | Woodworking, wrought iron |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000367 |
| Added to NRHP | April 27, 1978[1] |
The design was first proposed by National Park Service architect Merel S. Sager in 1931, who designed a small log sign for the Ash Mountain entrance. In 1935 resident park landscape architect Harold G. Fowler created a much larger design. He recruited CCC worker George W. Muno, who had displayed a talent for woodworking, and they selected a piece of fallen sequoia wood from the Giant Forest. Fowler sketched the profile in blue chalk on the wood using an Indian Head nickel as a guide. Muno carved the wood over several months and the sign was assembled and erected over the winter of 1935–36. It was moved in 1964 to make room for a new park entrance station.[3]
The sign is supported by a four-foot-diameter (1.2 m) sequoia log rising from a two-tiered masonry platform. The sign panel is ten feet (3.0 m) feet wide by four feet (1.2 m) high and one foot (0.30 m) thick, carved into a profile reputed to signify Sequoyah, whose Cherokee tribe never inhabited California. The sign was originally unpainted but assumed its present appearance in the 1950s. As originally built, a matching log pylon stood on the opposite side of the road. The pylon was removed when the sign was relocated.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK Ash Mountain Entrance Sign (1936)". Parkitecture in the Western Parks. National Park Service. 2008-11-17.
- ^ a b William C. Tweed (April 7, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Entrance Sign" (pdf). National Park Service.
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External links
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Media related to Ash Mountain Entrance Sign at Wikimedia Commons- Parkitecture in the Western Parks: Gateways National Park Service
