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Inventory of the Dept. of Parks and Recreation Records
R191  
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Table of contents What's This?

Series Description

 

Records of the State Park Commission/State Park and Recreation Commission

R191.001 Box 1 folder 1-9

Series 1 Correspondence 1917-1950

Physical Description: 9 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

State Park Commissioners hired landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in 1927 and again in 1945 as a contractor to survey possible state park sites in California. Olmsted co-owned the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. Correspondence includes letters and telegrams received, copies of outgoing letters and telegrams, and company memoranda between the Olmsted Brothers offices in Brookline, Massachusetts and Palos Verdes Estates, California and architectural firms, landscape engineers, and various agencies and commissions. Topics primarily concern accounts and expenses incurred on state bond project reports and the final 1950 Olmsted report. Most information concerning the surveys is found in the subject files and reports, rather than correspondence.
R191.002 Box 1 folder 10-Box 3 folder 25

Series 2 Subject Files 1924-1979

Physical Description: 80 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged by general files chronologically, then by subject chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

General files were created by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and include data about state park projects presented before the Park Commission, including acreage, estimated cost, and state allocation; a classification list of State Park projects, a list of projects being investigated, a summary of land acquisition report by the director of Division of Parks Newton Drury, and a 1929 compilation of state bond reports. Individual site surveys include State Bond Projects, Redwood Highway, and Calaveras South Grove, and include correspondence, reports, photographs, maps, blueprints, publications, and newspaper clippings.
See Appendices A, B, and C for title and site lists.
R191.003 Box 4 folder 1-34

Series 3 Reports 1928-1989

Physical Description: 34 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Survey reports by the Olmsted Brothers office, including a copy of the original 1928 State Park Survey of California and survey reports for the 1946 state park bond. The State Park Survey included the criteria by which parks should be selected, a list of park sites, and served as a guideline for the establishment of future state parks. Additional reports by other forest engineers and landscape architectural firms working with the Olmsted Brothers include correspondence, maps, and photographs. The State Park Commission accepted most of Olmsted's recommendations in both surveys in determining new state park sites.
See Appendix D for title list.
R191.004 Box 4 folder 35-43

Series 4 Publications 1946-1961

Physical Description: 9 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Publications include State Park Commission annual reports, Senate and Assembly Interim Committee reports, Division of Beaches and Parks five-year program reports, and the 1946 National Conference on State Parks Yearbook on parks and recreation progress. Annual reports for the years 1948 to 1950 include information concerning the hierarchy of the Division, and provide data about individual park sites. The five-year program reports for the years 1953 to 1961 include long-range plans for the park system and a list of new areas in the process of acquisition by the Division.
See Appendix E for title list.
R191.005 Box 47-48

Series 5 Maps 1932-1950

Physical Description: 30 maps

Arrangement

Arranged by National Monument and National Park maps in one box, and other maps in a second box.

Scope and Content Note

Included are U.S. Dept. of the Interior National Park Service maps of California National Monuments and Sequoia, General Grant, and Yosemite National Parks. Other maps by Olmsted Brothers, Division of Beaches and Parks, Dept. of Public Works, and state counties concern population density, roads, highways, and parks. Includes two sketch maps by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and several maps with notations by Olmsted.
See Appendix F for title list.
 

Records of the Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Division of Beaches and Parks/Dept. of Parks and Recreation

 

Records of Acquisition and Development

R191.006 Box 5 folder 20-Box 16 folder 15

Series 1 Project Files 1929-1989

Physical Description: 212 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Scope and Content Note

Records include surveys concerning the feasibility of state resources for suitable parks and conservation. Files include correspondence, reports, maps, photographs, newspaper clippings, and articles. Projects include state power plants, Central Valley Project (CVP), rivers, lakes, dams and reservoirs, beaches, routes and scenic highways, and Golden Gate, Redwood, Toyon, and Yosemite National Parks.
See Appendix G for title list.
 

Records of Grants and Statewide Studies

R191.007 Box 17 folder 1-16

Series 1 Historical Resources Study Files 1952-1954

Physical Description: 16 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Preliminary study to gather information on state historical resources includes incoming letters from California historical societies, state legislators, and interested private individuals concerning the 1961 legislation that approved the study, ACR 25. Also includes copies of outgoing letters from the Division of Beaches and Parks. Reports include the Proposal for the Historical Resources Study. The County Historical Data and Information Resource Files contain correspondence, inventory questionnaires, reports, photographs, publications, and maps. Pilot studies for Lassen, Mariposa, San Diego, and Siskiyou counties include agendas, reference material, and forms. The Division executed the pilot studies as test cases for a future comprehensive historical resources inventory, but the program stalled for the next ten years until the implementation of the California History Plan, included in the next series. Reports do not include a final report.
R191.008 Box 17 folder 17-Box 18 folder 7

Series 2 California History Plan Volume I Files 1953-1976

Physical Description: 6 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged by correspondence chronologically, then by reports chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence includes incoming and copies of outgoing letters concerning the findings and recommendations for the California History Plan Volume I, the first stage of a comprehensive preservation program for the state. Volume I recommended methods of improving preservation efforts, summarized the history of California, and described the status of historic preservation in the state. Reports include copies of drafts and the final copy of the Preliminary California History Plan, an early draft of County Historic Sites, and other reports on architecture, historic preservation, and California history.
R191.009 Box 18 folder 8-Box 24 folder 16

Series 3 California History Plan Volume II Files 1904-1980

Physical Description: 157 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged by correspondence chronologically, reports chronologically, then by county chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence includes incoming letters and copies of outgoing letters pertaining to the inventory of historic features for the California History Plan Volume II, the second stage of the comprehensive preservation program for the state. Includes reports, publications, and historical research of each county requested by the Division of Beaches and Parks for use in developing and compiling a comprehensive inventory of the state's historic resources. Files also include procedural guides, journals, newsletters, brochures, maps, articles, and newspaper clippings.
See Appendix H for inventory list.
R191.010 Box 24 folder 17-20

Series 4 California History Plan Volume III Files 1970-1977

Physical Description: 4 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged by correspondence chronologically, then by reports chronologically.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence includes incoming letters and copies of outgoing letters concerning the creation of the California History Plan Vol. III, the third stage of the comprehensive preservation program for the state, which reported the status of the California History Preservation Program, long-range preservation goals, and immediate plans and preservation activities. Records include the DPR identification numbers beginning with 348.0 to designate correspondence, 348.1 for reports, or 348.2, which corresponds with the alphabetical listing of counties. Reports include copies of the Preliminary California History Plan Vol. III and final copies of California Comprehensive History Plan: Vol. III Annual History Preservation Program. The program ended with the creation of the Office of Historic Preservation in 1975.
 

Records of Executive-Office of Historic Preservation

R191.011 Box 25 folder 1-Box 45 folder 59

Series 1 National Register Applications 1963-2003

Physical Description: 894 file folders

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by county and then alphabetically by site.

Scope and Content Note

Denied, removed, or withdrawn applications submitted to the OHP for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Files include applications, correspondence, photographs, maps, reports, publications, newspaper clippings, and articles. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 mandated states to implement a comprehensive state historic preservation plan, which included submitting nominated properties to the National Register of Historic Places. The OHP reviews the applications and determines if the property qualifies for the National Register and forwards qualified nominations to the Keeper of the Register in Washington D.C. Reports are filed by DPR identification number beginning with 537.4, which corresponds with the alphabetical listing of counties. The denial of an application could result from insufficient evidence of the property's physical integrity, architectural style, historical or archaeological significance or connection to a significant person or place. Withdrawn or removed applications resulted from properties destroyed before the nomination process was complete. An incomplete corresponding card file index to the sites is described in series R191.012.
See Appendix I for application list.
R191.012 Box 46

Series 2 National Register Sites Index 1963-2003

Physical Description: 1 index card box

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by county and then alphabetically by site.

Scope and Content Note

OHP-compiled card index of denied, removed, or withdrawn applications submitted for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Index accompanies the applications in the previous series. Includes the site name, DPR identification number beginning with 537.4, and the status of the nomination. Card index is not complete; it contains cards that do not have files and is missing several cards that do have files.