Mission 66

When the National Park Service was created in 1916, long-distance travel in North America was typically accomplished by train.

With the development of the US highway system as a public works project during the Great Depression, many previously remote parks became accessible via good roads and inexpensive automobiles.

The explosion in prosperity following World War II brought a tide of automobile-borne tourists that the parks were ill-equipped to receive.

Mission 66 was conceived as the means to accommodate increased visitor numbers and to provide high-quality interpretation services.

While Mission 66 involved a variety of infrastructure projects such as roads, utilities and employee housing, the most visible components were interpretive facilities and visitor centers.

An essay by Bernard DeVoto in Harper's Magazine proposed that the national parks should be closed until they were funded appropriately.

The National Park Service Rustic style that had previously been popular was suitable for the 1930s, when cheap and plentiful Civilian Conservation Corps labor was available, but was not practical on a large scale in a time of full employment.

[2] The similar Wuksachi Village in Sequoia National Park was planned to replace the Giant Forest and Camp Kaweah developments.

The old warehouse district had been targeted for demolition by the city to eradicate "urban blight", and the arch and its park were seen as a means to this end, which had been pursued since the 1930s.

[10] While most aspects of Mission 66 involved improvements to existing Park Service units, there was also a movement to expand the system to encompass active recreational use.