Places

Many places in Grand Canyon have been preserved because of their significance in architectural or park history.

 

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the Nation's official list of historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources.

Properties listed in the Register include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. Currently 95,000 listings have been nominated by governments, organizations, and individuals because they are important to a community, a state, or the nation.

Historic Structures in Grand Canyon National Park

National Register of Historic Places

• Individual Properties 19
• Buildings 8
• Districts 10
• Sites 2

Determinations of eligibility have been received for an additional 14 structures and districts and 316 archeological sites; and nominations for ten trails are pending for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Historic Landmarks

National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Today, fewer than 2,500 historic places bear this national designation.

District: A significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects that are historically or aesthetically united by a plan or physical development. Examples: residential areas, large forts, rural villages, canal systems, and large landscaped parks.

Building and Structure: Construction that includes those that create human shelter. The units may be a historically and functionally related unit, such as a courthouse and jail or a house and barn. Examples: houses, barns, garages, churches, hotels, bridges, tunnels, fire towers, silos, roadways.

Site: The location of a significant event where a historic occupation or activity occurred. It may be the site of a building or structure which is no longer standing or which exists only as a ruin. Examples: village sites, battlefields, ruins of historic buildings and structures, campsites, sites of treaty signing, trails, and natural features, such as springs and rock formations.

Historic Structures in Grand Canyon National Park

National Historic Landmarks

• Individual Buildings 5
  El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon Railroad Depot, Grand Canyon Lodge, Grand Canyon Park Operations Building (also known as Ranger Operations) and the Grand Canyon Power House.
• Districts 2
  Grand Canyon Village (257 contributing properties) and the Mary Colter Buildings
• Site 1
  1956 Grand Canyon TWA – United Airlines Aviation Accident Site

 

Grand Canyon's Historic Structures

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  The Historic Village

  With the arrival of the First Steam-Powered Train in 1901, the quiet area of the South Rim rapidly expanded into the Grand Canyon Village.

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  Mary Colter's Buildings

  Mary Colter was the chief architect and decorator for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948.

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  The Pioneer Cemetery History

  The Grand Canyon Pioneer Cemetery is the final resting place of many canyon pioneers, park administrators, and village residents.