Fort Clatsop Administrative History

Site Development

In 1960, the creation of an administrative staff for the memorial began. Charles Peterson, formerly the Assistant Superintendent at Morristown National Historical Park, became the first superintendent of the memorial on May 29, 1960. On September 30, 1960, Fort Clatsop National Memorial became an official administrative unit of the National Park System. In October 1962, the 124.97 acres identified by the planning team as the best possible acquisitions for the memorial's establishment were vested in federal ownership. The Secretary of the Interior issued a public statement declaring the memorial formally established pursuant to P.L. 85-435 (72 Stat. 153).

Beyond the proposal and successful campaign for creation of a national park unit, National Park Service staff become involved in the development of a concept for that park's design and function. For Fort Clatsop, that concept was begun by John Hussey in his Suggested Historical Area report of 1957. His idea for a memorial at the site was shaped by Mission 66 development policies and visitor use attitudes. Hussey recommended that a memorial at the Fort Clatsop site interpret the historic Lewis and Clark Expedition through the use of the fort replica and the re-creation of the historic scene. Hussey recognized the need for a visitor center, providing visitor facilities, interpretive exhibits, and administrative offices. He recommended the relocation of the county road and the acquisition of buffer areas to protect the historical integrity from residential and commercial developments that were "becoming more prominent." [6] Hussey stressed acquisition of enough property around the fort site for adequate building and parking space, but also for the re-creation of the "atmosphere of primeval forest which should be created around the actual fort site." [7] It was John Hussey who first imagined the memorial as a park where the visitor could learn about the Corps of Discovery through interpretive media in a visitor center and then be able to walk to the fort replica and experience a change in environment, from the modern to a re-creation of the environment that the Expedition experienced.

Site development involves the implementation of the design concept prepared for a park unit. The planning team directed to establish boundaries for the memorial, working under the acreage ceiling, selected lands around the fort site that allowed for development of the memorial. After acquiring title to those lands, the process of achieving the suggested historical area report's concept for Fort Clatsop National Memorial began to develop.

From 1960 to 1965, the period of Charles Peterson's term as superintendent, four projects formed the genesis of the memorial as an operating unit of the National Park Service. These four projects were: the relocation of the county road, the development and building of the visitor center, the remodeling of the fort replica, and the creation of a park master plan.