Hopewell Culture Administrative History

CHAPTER THREE
Clyde B. King, "Mr. Moundbuilder," 1946-1962 (continued)

Recreation Overwhelms the National Monument

While picnicking and group recreation, primarily softball and horseshoes, were the most common visitor activities at Mound City Group, other popular endeavors included kite-flying and "rolling down the mounds." [33] Clyde King's efforts to curb picnicking began soon after he entered on duty in late 1946. Two stone grills were removed north of the pavilion in an effort to end picnicking in that area adjacent to the parking lot and mounds. In 1948, King implemented further restrictions, including no children under sixteen unless chaperoned by an adult, an absolute 10 p.m. curfew, not more than three picnic tables per group unless conditions permitted otherwise, and moving softball playing to an open area further away from the pavilion for safety reasons. As a result, fewer large groups came, and those that did come were there for educational purposes, too. Because of its many years of use, closing the park to picnickers was not advisable, King lamented. Too many touring groups used the park as a lunch and information stopover, particularly those on their way to Adena State Memorial. Families of patients at the Veterans Administration hospital also regularly used the pavilion. Most of the use was local; few tourists from outside the region knew about, or used, the pavilion. [34]

In 1952, another restriction limited picnicking strictly within the picnic grounds themselves, except when that area was at capacity. King directed absolute policy enforcement toward school groups which served food in the shelter, and then dispersed into the mounds to eat. High school children particularly were guilty of leaving "plates, cups, wrappers, and cellophane bags in the mound area" for Maintenanceman J. Vernon Acton to pick up. [35]

Figure 33: Groups of children arrived at Mound City Group in droves during the fall and spring while on school-sponsored trips. (NPS/circa 1960)

When MISSION 66 development plans (see next section) for a museum/visitor center were unveiled in November 1957, news that picnicking would be de-emphasized was not well-received. The local newspaper advised against eliminating the shelterhouse. [36] However, King remained adamant, ignored local sentiment outright, and secured NPS permission to remove it. [37] By late summer 1959, King received verbal commitments from both city and state government to accept the pavilion if details could be worked out. On October 1, 1959, the Chillicothe Park and Recreation Commission urged the mayor to accept the structure and secure funding to dismantle, transport, and resite it in the city's Yoctangee Park. [38] At its October 15 meeting, the city council failed to act on the NPS offer, and King speculated the council was playing "power politics" in light of behind-the-scenes efforts to get NPS to change its mind. He reported to Philadelphia, "I prefer to raze the building myself than to have it become a nuisance to the entire future program of the area." [39] In an October 24 meeting with city officials and Garrett S. Dill, manager of the local American Automobile Association (AAA), King informed them that if the campaign to retain the pavilion persisted, NPS might revisit the issue of relinquishing management of the site. Anticipating political pressure, King urged Regional Director Tobin to stall "long enough that the shelter will be a thing of the past before January 1, 1960." [40]

In response to local letters of protest, political pressure came swiftly. One typical letter came from the Ross-Highland Automobile Club representing four thousand members in two counties. In a unanimous vote, its board of directors demanded NPS retain the pavilion and reopen the recently-closed road leading to it. Extolling the good condition of the structure, the group could not understand why it had to be removed when it could scarcely be viewed from the proposed visitor center-museum. Used for reunions, club meetings, Sunday school and church groups, political gatherings, and diverse types of city, county, and regional groups, the pavilion was like no other comparably-sized public facility in that part of Ohio. [41] Senator Stephen Young of Ohio, promising to do his "utmost to postpone or prevent the discontinuance" of the pavilion, arranged an emergency meeting with NPS Director Conrad Wirth. [42] In the meantime, Tobin instructed King once again to offer it to the state and, should Ohio decline the offer, "take immediate steps to demolish the structure." [43]

As King acted on his instructions, Mother Nature intervened to save the pavilion. By late fall, contract workers had already removed the parking lot to pavilion roadbed as well as the 40-car lot itself. After exhibits were removed, they also dismantled the pavilion's small museum display room. As work was set to begin separating the building from its stone foundation, a December 7 snowstorm struck and delayed the work long enough that by mid-December, mounting political pressure forced Interior officials to agree to a public meeting. Tobin ordered the initial removal work be halted. In the meantime, in reaction to the removal work, the state division of parks accepted the building, the city immediately asked that it be given another shot at it, and the state withdrew its offer. [44]

Into this confusion came Regional Archeologist John L. Cotter and Assistant Regional Director George A. Palmer on January 27, 1960. The public meeting promised by Interior took place in the Ross County probate courtroom. Palmer announced his and Cotter's presence was merely to gather information on the 1957 NPS decision, expressed in the MISSION 66 prospectus, to remove the shelter house. He stated dissimilar activities, recreation and education, needed to be physically separated. When the pavilion was built in the 1930s, Palmer declared, it was allowed because there was nothing else for visitors to do at Mound City Group and those facilities were lacking in the area. Three decades later, Palmer noted, the situation had changed, and Mound City Group's MISSION 66 facilities were soon to be open to the public. Palmer then listened as twenty local representatives of organizations and businesses presented their arguments which reflected three principal themes: groups needed a place for lunch while on organized tours, it encouraged increased tourism travel, and the local perception of MISSION 66 necessitated recreational development at each unit. Garrett Dill, manager of the Ross-Highland Automobile Club, dramatically announced a telephone poll of the eighty-one national monuments operated by NPS. It revealed thirty-nine possessed picnic facilities. From a national standpoint, Dill concluded, Mound City Group conformed to Park Service policies. [45]

Palmer later reported being disconcerted by two things. First, the same contractor who performed the work of removing the parking lot and road to the pavilion spoke out against the very policy which gave him a job. Second, the person who presented the most effective argument against NPS had been portrayed to him by Clyde King as a staunch friend and supporter. Eugene Rigney, director of the Ross County Historical Society, said the logical thing to do would be to assess the situation only after the new visitor center had been in operation for a few visitor seasons. To make the decision at this time, Rigney argued, seemed very premature. Palmer reported to Regional Director Ronald F. Lee, "The National Park Service is not without fault in this very unfortunate public relations situation from which I am convinced there is no withdrawal without considerable loss of prestige and friendship in the community." Palmer believed King should have taken the 1957 prospectus to community officials and discussed its implications. Further, believing the structure had to be removed, maintenance was deferred and deterioration occurred. "To anyone attending the public meeting," Palmer noted, "it was obvious that our reversal of policy [regarding picnicking] and the presentation of it to the community has been mishandled." [46]

In response to a public meeting claim that the deteriorated shelter house was "not worth moving," King conducted an immediate safety inspection. A red-faced superintendent apologized to Regional Director Lee that he had not paid more attention not only because he believed the building would be razed, but that much of the extensive wood rot had been covered up by high shrubbery stripped away in November in preparation for the removal. Finding it potentially unstable, King recommended it be condemned as unsafe pending professional investigation. He worried that because four of the five roof supports showed signs of deterioration that much of the remaining wormy chestnut could also be affected by dry rot as well. Determined to be rid of picnicking once and for all, Clyde King advised that the contract proceed for pavilion removal. [47]

George Palmer responded tersely to King's request. Still peeved by being blindsided during the public relations debacle, Palmer nixed King's counsel, admonishing, "You should, by all means, not make any public statement that will make our relations with the local community any more difficult than they are at the present. The Director has taken the matter of the final disposition of the building out of our hands so that the action you take or the action that we take here will not be the determining one." [48] King's subsequent request to disassemble the remainder of the museum room as well as electrical power and fixtures "to discourage night use and youths playing music" brought another rebuke from Philadelphia. Palmer denied permission to proceed with any additional dismantling work which "could be misunderstood and misinterpreted" by the community. [49]

In Region Five's recommendation to Director Wirth, Palmer noted that with removal of the parking lot, pavilion road, and even the VA incinerator road, it was too late to retreat from the policy decision to abandon picnic facilities. To replace proper access would cost $40,000, and $10,000 more to make all necessary building repairs. While the region believed it to be necessary to stand firm on removal, Palmer admitted, "It is my honest opinion that the Service has made a mistake at Mound City in accepting statements that the picnic ground is not needed or used sufficiently to justify it. There is a local need for a picnic ground and the state has not provided one that would replace the picnic facilities at Mound City." Palmer committed Region Five to channeling federal recreation monies to Ohio to construct such area facilities, but in the interim, Mound City Group should continue to serve those picnickers willing to walk to the pavilion from a new parking lot. NPS Washington officials concurred. [50]

Rehabilition of the shelter house roof support system occurred in April 1960 for the summer visitor season, and the first of many groups balked at having to carry their supplies from the new visitor center lot to the pavilion. King had to barricade the "driveway beyond the railroad tracks to prevent groups from parking around the shelter itself. It may become necessary to barricade the residence driveway to keep it from becoming an area for picnic parking. Some groups demand it." [51] George Palmer, returning to Mound City Group for an inspection tour and to meet with local officials, announced the shelter house would remain for at least three years until other facilities became available in the area. Visitors would have to walk to the pavilion from the visitor center parking lot, and outdoor cooking grills along with the former museum room walls would be removed. [52]

These measures contributed to a dramatic reduction of picnicking use. Following the 5 p.m. visitor center closing, evening picnics ceased altogether, and weekend use came about only by those groups willing to walk to the area, after which most said they would henceforth go elsewhere. In light of diminished use, King again recommended razing the pavilion prior to the 1961 season. Region Five, anxious to avoid further public criticism and confident that the passage of time would cure the problem, again rebuffed King's request, advising him to focus his attention on the new visitor center and forget the picnic area. [53] Visitor use statistics revealed the drop in picnicking use. July 1960, traditionally a heavy visitor-use month, saw 3,806 visitors compared to 7,782 during July 1959. Those visitors largely were recorded at the new visitor center. King reported that only one group of thirty and ten family groups used the picnic grounds along with a "few 'die-hards' who feel the change in emphasis was a personal slap at Chillicothe." [54] In his August 1960 report, King noted,

Local 'play' groups just will not come out for picnics if they cannot drive almost to their tables. With but few exceptions the local citizens are accepting the changes, if they are explained in the proper way. The first approach: that we are responsible for operating a Monument, not a playground, therefore, the road was removed. Then if they are not satisfied they are reminded that an area with a steep bluff and deep river is not the ideal choice for a playground. After that but few have more to say for most local people have often commented about how dangerous the area was, especially for small children.

The closing of the picnic ground, even in the remote future, does not come into the discussion but for all effective purposes, the picnic ground is closed. They rarely use it during the week, sometimes only one group, sometimes none, and seldom more than two groups use it on Sunday. The Ross County Fairground is open to group picnics such as formerly used this area and several of these groups have gone there this year. [55]

Other recreational uses continued on a reduced scale as well. Evening use included people exercising their dogs, children running and rolling over the mounds, fishermen walking to the river, and those out for an evening drive. [56]

King refused to back down from his non-compromising position on razing the shelter house. When asked to assess local sentiment at the end of the 1961 season, King reported that while Dill and Rigney stuck with their previous views, the chamber of commerce now believed picnicking should be strictly the city's responsibility. Most local people had already found other accommodations. King said that the goal of eliminating such facilities was intentionally omitted from the MISSION 66 prospectus "lest local pressure compel us to keep and improve [them]. Since my arrival here almost 15 years ago I have been advised by the Service to eliminate picnicking as soon as possible." In the two seasons that elapsed since the phase-out of picnicking was announced, none of the picnics actually required use of a shelter. "In fact," King commented, "the use of the area has been insufficient to warrant the retention of any facilities in that area. To reopen the discussions might endanger our position, whereas the razing of the building as a justifiable safety measure would be accepted with no comment." [57]

Clyde King did not see demolition of the despised shelter house occur on his watch. In late March 1962, he transferred to Harper's Ferry National Monument, West Virginia, as management assistant. Although hailed as "Mr. Moundbuilder" by the local newspaper, King's editorial tribute was muted in its praise; the long altercation had clearly taken its toll. [58] In July 1962, following an inspection that revealed the pavilion's deterioration might again make it unsafe, George Palmer met again with Chillicothe officials, and secured agreement from Eugene Rigney that the building should be removed. However, they agreed that three picnic tables, a trash barrel, and a small parking lot be provided in the park's northwest corner adjacent to State Route 104. [59] On August 24, 1962, contract work began to remove the wooden pavilion, leaving the stone foundation, concrete walks, and comfort station, [60] which were removed by April 17, 1963, with the sites fertilized and seeded in grass. [61]

Picnicking never again became the dominant recreation activity that it was prior to 1960. The long-held NPS goal of eliminating it was successful, but cost the agency considerable public goodwill by the manner in which it came to be. In August 1973, the small picnic area was moved inside the perimeter fence for safety reasons. The poorly-designed lunching spot became increasingly hazardous as the volume of State Route 104 traffic continued to increase. Moved to a spot northwest of the visitor center, patrons could now more conveniently park in the main lot and walk to the tables. This interim solution ended in 1976 when the picnic area was again relocated and received favorable public comment. [62]

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