Ash Mountain Entrance Sign
Ash Mountain Entrance Sign is located in California
Ash Mountain Entrance Sign
Ash Mountain Entrance Sign is located in the United States
Ash Mountain Entrance Sign
Nearest cityThree Rivers, California
Coordinates36°29′15″N 118°50′9″W / 36.48750°N 118.83583°W / 36.48750; -118.83583
Built1935
ArchitectGeorge Muno, Harold Fowler, Merel S. Sager
Architectural styleWoodworking, wrought iron
NRHP reference No.78000367
Added to NRHPApril 27, 1978[1]

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]

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]

The Ash Mountain Entrance Sign, wrapped in protective foil during the approach of the KNP Complex Fire in 2021.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ "SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK Ash Mountain Entrance Sign (1936)". Parkitecture in the Western Parks. National Park Service. 2008-11-17.
  3. 1 2 William C. Tweed (April 7, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Entrance Sign" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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