Mission 66 History

After World War II, the NPS began an effort to revitalize and draw people into the national parks by tying into the American automobile culture and the freedom of the open road to see the country. The Mission 66 program was the NPS hallmark of this effort to increase visitation to the nation’s parks and create park infrastructure reflecting the modern era. The goal of Mission 66 was to maximize enjoyment of the parks without impairing the scenic, scientific, wilderness, or historical value of the parks. Mission 66 was meant to modernize and standardize park facilities including roads, trails, utilities, camp and picnic grounds, and park buildings for both the public and administrative use. It was an effort to improve national parks across the nation in a 10-year period to be launched in 1955 and to be completed by the National Park Service's 50th anniversary in 1966, hence the name Mission 66.

 

National Park Service Mission 66 Background and History

 

The Visitor Center at Chaco: August 8, 1958

NPS

Mission 66 in Chaco

After Chaco Culture National Monument was designated in 1907, the NPS slowly developed modest infrastructure centered around Pueblo Bonito to accommodate staff and visitors at the remote park. With increased visitation after World War II and initiation of the Mission 66 concept, Chaco was selected early on as a location for construction of two of the first architectural prototypes that would become the Mission 66 style. The program in Chaco Culture began in 1949 when master planning efforts and proposals were first initiated and ended with a final utility improvement project in 1972. Over the course of the Mission 66 era in Chaco, resources constructed or improved in the park were developed within and along distinct character areas, included a new housing area, visitor center, maintenance yard, interpretive loop road with trails, eastern loop road, a new campground, and a utility area.

In 1951-52, the first master plan for Mission 66 style houses was created with initial construction focused on roads within the monument, including the interpretive loop road that is still used today for visitors to drive from the Visitor Center to Pueblo Bonito and other locations. The roads were constructed with newly installed bridges, riprap, and culverts. Trails to many of the archeological sites were constructed in 1951 as well, including trails to Chetro Ketl, Hungo Pavi, Una Vida and Casa Rinconada.

 

A prototype of a residence at Chaco: May 7, 1956.

NPS

In 1951-52, the two prototype residences were designed and constructed to house staff at the monument. The location and orientation of the two residences were against the backdrop of the canyon wall with a view of Fajada Butte to the south from the front windows. Stone walls around the two residences were installed in late 1952 and other yard furnishings including iron grills were installed by 1956.

The Gallo Campground, featuring 12 campsites, was constructed as part of Mission 66 plan for Chaco between 1955 and 1956. The campground was expanded to the east between 1966 and 1967 featuring the addition of two loop roads, 46 new campsites, and two new comfort stations.

 

Early Construction of a Residence: 1958

NPS

Two additional staff residences were built in 1958 in the Mission 66 style and were built in proximity to the original prototype residences against the canyon wall with a view of Fajada Butte to the south. At the same time, a Mission 66 style visitor center with parking lot was constructed just west of the residences. The building was designed by Architect Truman J. Mathews, with the design based on a preliminary drawing drafted by the Western Office of Design and Construction. By the end of 1960, most of the Mission 66 work at Chaco was completed.

The Mission 66 structures were strategically sited in areas where they could be easily accessible to visitors, and all while still being integrated into the surrounding landscape through low massing. By design, this left naturally open views unimpeded by the park’s new facilities. The housing area, visitor center, and maintenance yard were deliberately clustered together within a natural cove, which was then called the Fajada headquarters area in reference to the distinctive butte visible across the canyon floor to the south.

 

Final Construction of Residence: August 8, 1958.

NPS

 

Construction Techniques

Curvilinear residential roads and cul-de-sacs replicated patterns of everyday suburban developments and suggested that the living conditions in the park followed modern standards. Mission 66 guidelines directed that employee housing should form a planned residential community out of public view.

Park architecture of Mission 66 style was modernist, featuring horizontal design and muted colors in order to have a low impact on surrounding views. Unlike traditional NPS architecture which used locally sourced materials and were often designed to appear rustic, mission 66 architecture used modernist postwar building designs and materials.

Several standard designs were adapted from NPS housing prototypes developed after World War II and constructed between 1945 in 1955. The standards established minimum and maximum net floor areas for 1, 2, 3, and four bedroom houses, duplexes, and multiple unit apartment buildings. Standard plans featured low rectangular forms. Those shingle, gable roofs were standard, some had built up flat roofs. Most single-family units and some multiple housing units had carports or enclosed garages, a clear reference to the automobile focus of Mission 66 design at that time.

Landscape architects who worked on Mission 66 projects were encouraged to continue to follow design principles developed during the 1930s, new construction was to lay lightly on the land, minimizing cuts and fills to blend with the natural topography, native plants were to be used to repair construction scarring, removal of trees was to be minimized. Roads and parkways were aligned to respond to natural constraints, such as rock formations and opportunities, especially views investors. At times these adjustments took place during construction. Curvilinear roads provided additional privacy for campsites and residential units. Sitting houses to maximize privacy was also accomplished by setting units on an angle to reduce views of neighboring houses. Standardized plans were created. Use of prefabricated wall panels and roof structures.

 

View of houses against cliff wall: January 30, 1957.

NPS

House Layout

The staff housing and its setting were excellent examples of Mission 66 work, combining Modernist architecture with the effort to maintain the natural character of its context. This staff housing was part of a larger group of landscape features implemented under the Mission 66 program. Though the staff housing is most closely linked to the Mission 66 program, the setting of the houses draw inspiration from nearby Pueblo Bonito, which dates from 850 CE to 1150CE. This inspiration sees the location of the housing projects against the face of the cliff, which is typical of many of the prehistoric complexes found in the area.

Picture windows look across the canyon to Fajada Butte, while side windows minimize view of neighbors both the site against the cliff face and choice of roof and paint color tend to conceal the housing from public view. A special feature of this housing which follows the principles of natural grading is how the backyards are set into the ground through use of retaining walls. The impression is that the buildings are emerging from the earth rather than set on top of it.

 

House Floor Plan Schematic: February 12, 1960.

NPS

Standard designs offered a combined living and dining area, a kitchen, bedrooms, and one, 1 1/2, or three-quarter bathrooms on one level. These spaces were distributed in a rectangular plan with the living space is located to one side of the entry in the private sleeping areas located to the other side. A standard fenestration pattern included wooden or aluminum framed picture windows with operable sidelights in the living room and smaller yet still oversize frame windows in the bedrooms. The front entry was normally demarcated with an entry stoop, recess, or other modest treatment. The backyard, typically accessible through a rear door, allowed passage from the living, dining, or kitchen area to the rear outdoor area. Individual residences usually consisted of a driveway and a walkway leading from the driveway to the front door in some instances, low masonry retaining walls further define the property edge. Each residence was linked to the street with a short connecting driveway or apron that led to the garage or carport.

 

Chaco Residence with Stucco: August 2025

NPS

Alterations Over The Decades

Beginning in the 1970s, not long after completion of the last Mission 66 style buildings and infrastructure at Chaco, the monument began modifications primarily to the visitor center and residences. Some of these modifications would be considered modest alterations, such as construction of low walls around two of the residences in 1976, but other modifications were more substantial and resulted in significant change to the original design, materials, and workmanship which defined Mission 66. For example, the original painted block walls of the residences received a stucco coating in late 1970s. By the 1980s, the roofs, doors, and windows had been replaced with materials and styles incompatible with Mission 66. The original flat roofs of the residences were replaced with pitched roofs, altering the visual style set against the cliff face. All that remains of unaltered Mission 66 infrastructure at Chaco are several culverts and retaining walls along the loop road, near Kin Kletso, and in a couple of side drainages.