Cultural Landscape Report
Annapolis Landscape Architects (ALA) working with Louis Berger US, Inc., a WSP Company, on the Cultural Landscape Report prepared for the National Park Service (NPS) as required by the Section 106 compliance process for the proposed headquarters for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (NHP) on the former Miller Lumber site in Williamsport, Maryland.
ALA prepared the following maps:
- Periods of Significance,
- Significant Views,
- Viewshed Images,
- Site Morphology,
- Existing Conditions Assessment,
- Preservation Treatment Plan.
The Miller Lumber Site is across the street from the Cushwa Basin area of the C&O Canal National Historic Park, which the NPS has been developing as an interpretive locus. The study area was comprised of one mile of the C&O Canal and approximately 25 acres.
The cultural landscape of the C&O Canal National Historic Park contributes to the Canal’s National Register of Historic Places nomination. The goal of this CLR is to facilitate the integration of the new headquarters and the Cushwa Basin area into a single destination for visitors while limiting the adverse effect on the cultural landscape.
The 185-mile-long Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park is located along the north bank of the Potomac River, starting in Washington, DC and ending in Cumberland, MD. The canal was built between 1828 and 1850, and it operated sporadically between floods until 1924. Significant themes found in this cultural landscape include history and archaeology, transportation, geology and geography, and human adaptation.
