Oregon Historic Sites Database

Search Menu

Site Information small logo

Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:7930 SW 77th St historic name:Petersen Rock Garden
Redmond vcty, Deschutes County current/other names:Petersen Rock Gardens and Museum
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr:Rd Between Redmond & Bend twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:16S 12E 11
resource type:district height (stories): total elig resources:12 total inelig resources:2
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1935 second date:1952 date indiv listed:10/30/2013
primary orig use: Garden orig use comments:
second orig use: Work of Art
primary style: Not Applicable prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Stone:Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding:
plan type: architect:
builder:Petersen, Rasmus
comments/notes:
Formerly listed as "Bend vicinity," though the mailing address is now Redmond; 1923 Craftsman house also on property.
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
NR date listed: 10/30/2013
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date:
Gen file date: 08/03/1976
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The parcel within which Petersen Rock Garden is located is a small portion of approximately 256 acres that Rasmus Christian Petersen established as an irrigated farm after homesteading an original eighty-acre parcel, beginning in 1906. Construction of the rock gardens began in the winter of 1935-36 and ended with Petersen’s death in 1952. Today the property is 12.36 acres in size, with the gardens occupying approximately four acres. Buildings on the site include Petersen’s own residence (1927), the museum, a restaurant building, restrooms, two additional residences, an ice house, a pump house, and a shed. Site structures include a cistern, root cellar, two stone outdoor cook stoves, and bird pens. All resources are contributing to the site, as part of Petersen’s homestead and gardens, with the exception of the bird pens and the third residence, neither of which share the common features of the other buildings and structures. The gardens occupy five distinct areas, one of which is the parking lot. Landscaping is both formal and informal, but is clearly integrated with the site. The northeast and southeast corners of the site still relate to the original farm function of the property.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
Petersen Rock Garden, which has state-wide significance, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C in the areas of Art and Landscape Architecture, as a folk art environment, for its significance as an exceptional work of art that combines architecture, landscape, art, and sculpture in a unified whole. Located approximately eight miles southwest of Redmond, Oregon, the work recalls European and American grotto traditions, juxtaposed with American iconography and vernacular folk art traditions, through the creativity and artistry of Danish immigrant Rasmus Christian Petersen. Petersen, who began constructing the garden after finishing his education in Danish and American culture at Nysted Folk High School in Nebraska and three successful decades of farming, was also influenced by his homestead’s setting in central Oregon, with its dramatic views of the Cascade range. Creation of the garden represents the last chapter in Petersen’s life. The gardens are all the more remarkable for their unexpectedness in the desert landscape and their lack of precedent in their creator’s life. The Period of Significance for the site is 1927, the date of construction of the Petersen’s residence, to 1952, the date of Petersen’s death. The gardens and property as a whole retain excellent integrity and easily convey the reasons for their significance. Petersen Rock Gardens is significant as a work of art and landscape architecture, and as the work of a master craftsman, that retains excellent integrity and maintains the same extraordinary presence today that it had over 75 years ago when visitors started touring it in the thousands. Rasmus Christian Petersen, the creator of Petersen Rock Garden, immigrated to the United States in 1901 at the age of 18, after which he studied for four years at the Nysted Folk School in Nebraska, one of five Danish-American folk schools in America. This school, as well as the others, was modeled on Danish Folk Schools in Denmark and Europe as conceived by Danish philosopher, theologian, educator, composer, and poet Nicolai Frederick Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872). In the United States they were organized through the Danish-Lutheran Association in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After leaving the Nysted Folk School in 1905 Petersen homesteaded near the newly formed town of Bend, successfully farming and ranching for three decades. In this time period Petersen acquired land until his homestead was over three times its original size; experimented with a number of crops and types of livestock, for which he was recognized at the regional level and beyond; continually improved his homestead, including building a substantial and fashionable Craftsman bungalow in 1927; and became a leader in his community, co-founding the community hall and local grange and serving on a number of boards. Upon his retirement, his energy and engagement with his surroundings did not wane, but took on another dimension. Petersen began building his rock gardens in 1935 and began selling his farm land in the early 1940s until he was left with twelve acres. By 1941 he had built the museum and by 1942 he had completely retired from farming. In this time frame he also expanded his collecting, gathering rocks for his gardens but also obtaining and acquiring impressive specimens of rocks and minerals including lava casts, petrified wood, including a petrified palm, quartz crystals, and other semi-precious stones. At the time of his death his rock and landscaped gardens, ponds, and visitor facilities filled four acres around his home. The Petersen Rock Garden closely fits the definition of a folk art environment as outlined by architectural historian John Beardsley in his seminal work, Gardens of Revelation, Environments by Visionary Artists. It is a handmade environment that expresses Petersen’s personal vision; fabricated of found, mostly local, materials; built around and encompassing his homestead. These types of environments are not constructed by those who primarily identify themselves as artists. Yet they often display extraordinary craftsmanship and artistic vision, such as seen in the Petersen Rock Garden. The garden also fits within this genre in that it fills the space to which it was allotted; incorporates fantastic motifs; and distorts scale to an advantage, creating an otherworldly experience. While it is clear that Petersen Rock Garden developed in an organic, incremental fashion, it is remarkably formal, with pronounced north-south axes, lesser east-west axes, as well as less formal areas, such as the design and arrangement of the islands. Historically these were reinforced by the plant materials of the gardens, from trees to flowers, as well as minor paths. Fantastic motifs are seen in garden structures that resemble castles, churches, public buildings, and peasant houses set in environments that take on the appearance of mountain villages. The vignettes appear ‘life size’ when viewed in juxtaposition with the desert landscape, yet many can be traversed by visitors through paths and stairs. At the same time, they appear as gardens when seen in the context of the farmstead buildings, such as Petersen’s house and the museum. This distortion of scale contributes to the experience of the gardens. The circumstances of Petersen’s life fits within the definition of the artists who create gardens and environments such as these, in that he began the garden when he retired, he worked in relative isolation, and its completion took many years; in fact we do not know what it would have looked like had Petersen lived longer than the 17 years he was engaged in building the garden. Like many of these artists, Petersen did not discuss the source of inspiration for his imagery and motifs. The two written messages within the garden, which are juxtaposed with patriotic imagery, are “God Bless America” and “Enjoy Yourself. It is Later Than You Think.” While falling firmly within the folk art environment genre, it is clearly a singular, personal expression and continues to defy categorization. Petersen created this significant art environment and museum utilizing and showcasing the geological and mineralogical materials found in his environs and beyond. When completed, the wealth of materials represented an outstanding collection of semi-precious stones, a rarity outside of an American museum. The Period of Significance is 1927, the construction date of the home that became the center of his enterprise, to 1952, when Petersen died. The Petersen Rock Garden is an excellent example of a folk art environment translated into rock gardens and plant materials that encompasses Petersen’s homestead as well, resulting in a total environment that is both Petersen’s home, the center of his operation, and his creation. It fits well within this genre, which is often characterized by an installation that is constructed incrementally, over a long period of time, often from found elements, by artists that typically have no formal training, but communicate their message through the construction of a total, living, environment. Sixty years after his death, Petersen’s rock garden remains a testament to his talent and determination. It has been visited by hundreds of thousands of people from around the world and is as unexpected today in the desert landscape as it was when he began creating it in the midst of the Great Depression. The garden is singular in the state of Oregon and an excellent expression of its type, a twentieth century folk art environment, in the United States. It is renowned for the vision it embodies and the craftsmanship and materials that allowed Petersen to realize his masterpiece.
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
Kent Asmussen, Oregon Genealogical Society Eugene, Oregon Michael Hall, Historian Madras, Oregon. Tim Park, photographer Portland, Oregon C. Allen Roy Redmond, Oregon Paul Tice, i-Ten, videographer Portland, Oregon Linda VanOrden, Junction City Historical Society Junction City, Oregon Books Allen, Barbara, Homesteading the High Desert. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987. Beardsley, John, Gardens of Revelation, Environments of Visionary Artists. New York: Abbeville Press, 2003 (1995). Brogan, Phil F., East of the Cascades. Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, 1971. Burden, Ernest, Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Congdon, Kristin G. and Kara Kelley Hallmark, “Rasmus Petersen (1883-1952),” American Folk Art, A Regional Reference, Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2012. Deschutes County Historical Society, A History of Deschutes Country in Oregon. Bend, OR: Deschutes County Historical Society, 1986. Dodds, Gordon B., The American Northwest: A History of Oregon and Washington. Arlington Heights: The Forum Press. 1986. Hole, Leslie Pugmire and Trish Pinkerton, Images of America, Redmond. San Francisco, CA: Arcadia Publishing, 2009. Kelly, Mary B., Goddess Embroideries of the Northlands. Hilton Head Island: Studiobooks, 2007. Nielsen, Ernest D., N. F. S. Grundtvig: An American Study. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Press. 1955. Olson, Paul A. “Scandinavians: The Search for Zion.” Broken Hoops and Plains People, A Catalogue of Ethnic Resources in the Humanities: Nebraska and Thereabouts. Nebraska Curriculum Development Center. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Printing and Duplicating Service. 1976. Oregon State Board of Control, Oregon End of the Trail. Portland, OR: Binfords & Mort, Publishers, 1940. Polk’s Bend City Directory Including Redmond & Prineville. Detroit: R.L. Polk & Company. 1952. R. L. Polk & Co., Deschutes County Directory. R. L. Polk & Co., 1942, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960. Schwantes, Carlos A., The Pacific Northwest, An Interpretive History. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1989. Stone, Lisa and Jim Zanzi, Sacred Spaces and Other Places: A Guide to Grottos and Sculptural Environments in the Upper Midwest. Chicago: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Press, 1993. Taylor, Patrick, Editor, The Oxford Companion to the Garden. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2006. Von Schaewen, Deidi and John Maizels, Fantasy Worlds. New York: Taschen, 1999. Ward, Elizabeth B., Redmond: Rose of the Desert. Redmond, OR: Midstate Printing, 1975. Drawings, Maps, and Photographs “Deschutes Irrigation & Power Company. Irrigated Lands, Redmond District. February 24, 1909.,” (map). On file: Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR. “Farm Home of Rasmus Petersen, Redmond, Oregon,” (album of 12 photographic prints). On file, University of Washington libraries, Special Collections, Seattle, WA. April 2013. State of Oregon, “Lands Segregated for Reclamation by the State Under Provisions of the Carey Act. Crook County. April, 1907,” (map). On file, Oregon Historical Society, maps collection, Portland, OR. November 2013. Nysted 1902-03 Class Photograph, front and back (photograph). On file, Grand View University Library, Des Moines, IO. Nysted 1902-03 Magazine (Roster). Grand View University Library, Des Moines, IO. Tice, Paul, “Site Plan, Petersen Rock Gardens.” August 18, 2012. Portland, OR. Government and other Documents Bayer, Linda, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form for Ave Maria Grotto. Huntsville, AL: Huntsville Planning Department, May 23, 1983. Beckham, Stephen Dow, “Nielsen (A.C.) House,” State of Oregon Inventory Historic Sites and Buildings, August 30, 1976. _____, “Petersen (Rasmus) Rock Gardens,” State of Oregon Inventory Historic Sites and Buildings, August 3, 1976. Bend Chamber of Commerce, Annual Report: Bend Chamber of Commerce, November 1, 1929 to December 31, 1930. On file. Deschutes County Historical Society, Bend, OR. Bend Chamber of Commerce, Annual Report: Bend Chamber of Commerce, 1931. On file: Deschutes County Historical Society, Bend, OR. Brogan, Phil F. Visitor Information Service Book for the Deschutes National Forest. Bend, OR: Deschutes National Forest, 1969. Christiansen, Marjorie and Barbara Sorensen and Jill Doberg/NE SHPO, National Register Nomination for St. Peder’s Dansk Evangelical Lutheran Kirke. Lincoln, NE: Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office, December 4, 2006. Dirr, Melissa, National Register Nomination for the Dannevirke Danish Lutheran Church & Community Hall. Lincoln, NE: Nebraska State Historical Society, May 24, 1999. Foght, H. W., “The Danish Folk High Schools.” U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 22. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1914. Hall, Michael A., Irrigation Development in Oregon’s Upper Deschutes River Basin, 1871-1957, A Historic Context Statement. Prepared for Deschutes County, the Cities of Bend, Redmond and Sisters and the State Historic Preservation Office. Prepared by the Deschutes County Historical Landmarks Commission, August 31, 1994. ____, National Register Nomination for Petersen Rock Gardens (Draft). Salem, OR: Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, November 1, 2012. Lupold, John, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – Pasaquan. Atlanta, GA: Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, March 10, 2008. Macnab, Sandy. “Average Monthly Soft White Wheat Price, Portland, OR.” Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Extension, n.d. Marals, J.I. Bishop Grundtvig and the People’s High School in Denmark. Pretoria, Union of South Africa: Government Printer and Stationary Office,1911. Moffson, Steven, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Paradise Gardens. Atlanta, GA: Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, January 10, 2012. Nessen, Peter M., National Register nomination for the “Grotto of the Redemption.” Des Moines, IO: State Historical Society of Iowa, December 8, 2000. Oregon Agricultural College. “Report of the Deschutes County Agricultural Outlook Conference.” Redmond, Oregon. Corvallis, OR: Oregon Agricultural College. February 28, 1936. Oregon State Board of Health, “Catherine Johansen,” “Rasmus Christian Petersen” (Certificate of Death). On file, Oregon State Archives, Salem, OR. Paul Lusignan, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Folk Art Environments, n.d. Selway, Robert, Albert Hurtado, and Emily Hard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form for Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments in California, Sacramento, CA: Office of Historic Preservation, January 18, 1978. U.S. Census, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1940. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resources, National Register Bulletin 15, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. Washington DC: US Department of the Interior, 1997 (1990). Newspapers and Periodicals The Bend Bulletin. Various issues, cited in text. The Oregonian. Various issues, cited in text. The Redmond Spokesman. Various Issues, cited in text “Four-Acre Rock Garden,” Popular Mechanics, January 1950. Heald, Weldon F., “A Farmer Turns To Stone,” The Lapidary Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, April 1952. Langtry, Virgil H., “Rasmus Peterson Uses Rock to Build Beauty in Gardens Surrounding His Pleasant Ridge Home,” The Redmond Spokesman, July 14, 1938. LeBaron, Gaye, (column), “John Medica is a man of great good humor . . .”, The Press Democrat, November 3, 1985. _____, “Monkeys on Mill Creek and a garden of stone,” The Press Democrat, n.d. Lucia, Ellis, “Rock-Beset Rancher Found Hidden Beauty, Rasmus Petersen couldn’t get rid of the countless rocks on his land, so he made a fabulous garden of them.” The Oregonian Magazine, August 9, 1953. Reed, Ione. “The Hobby That Became A Miniature World,” Eugene Register-Guard. July 1, 1973. Ulbricht, J., “Learning from the Art of Self-Taught Artists,” Art Education, Vol. 53, No. 4, July 2000, pp. 45-49. Vlach, John Michael, “American Folk Art: Questions and Quandaries,” Winterthur Portfolio, Vol. 15, No. 4, Winter 1980, pp. 345-355. Wittkop, Laura, “JC railroad history – the micro version,” Tri-County News, February 22, 2007:24. Web Resources “Cathrine Johansen,” Find A Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28823150, accessed April 2013. “Danish Lutheran Academy.” Luther League Review. Ed. Ernest Frederick Eilert Vol. 18 Issue 1. n.d., 31. Accessed June 15, 2012. “Danish Lutheran Church, Windows to the Past.” NetNebraska.org. Accessed February 22, 2012. Dansk Tidend. Danish Church Organizations. August 28, 1925. Accessed June 16, 2102. “Gilgal Sculpture Garden,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgal_Sculpture_Garden, accessed August 2013. Henriksen, Ingrid. An Economic History of Denmark. EH.net. Economic History Association. February 4, 2010. Accessed April 2, 2012. “Nyleta Petersen,” Billion Graves Record, http://billiongraves.com/pages/record/NyletaPetersen/2333826, accessed April 2013.. “Oregon Attractions and Oddities,” Roadside America.com, http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/or/all, accessed November 2012. “Oregon’s Most Endangered Places.” HistoricPreservationLeague.org. Accessed February 1, 2012. Petersensrockgarden. Facebook.com. Accessed September 15, 2012. “Petersen Rock Gardens,” RoadsideArchitecture.com, http://www.agilitynut.com/h/rockgarden.html, accessed March 2013. “Petersen’s Rock Garden,” Historic Preservation League of Oregon, http://www.historicpreservationleague.org/mep_PetersenRock.php, accessed March 2013. Pleasant Ridge Community Hall. “History.” Pleasant Ridge Grange. Accessed February 16, 2012. _____. “Map.” Pleasant Ridge Grange. Redmond, Oregon. Accessed February 16, 2012. “Rasmus Christian Petersen,” Ancestry.com, accessed April 2013. “Sawyer’s Inc.,” Oregon Historical Society Vertical File, accessed March 2013. Stubblefield, Harold W., “The Danish Folk High School and its Reception in the United States: 1870s – 1930s.” http://www-distance.syr.edu/stubblefield.html, accessed December 2012. The American Sheep Breeders & Wool Growers. Vol. XLII. No.12. Chicago: The American Sheep Breeders Co. December 1922. 585. Accessed March 25, 2012 “View-Master,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View-Master, accessed April 2013. Wells, Gail, “Tourists Discover the Oregon Coast,” The Oregon History Project, http://ohs.org/education/oregonhistoyr/narratives/subtopiccfm?subtopic_ID=570, accessed April 2013. Article written 2006. Theses and Dissertations Billesbach, Ann E. “The Danish Folk High School: Its History and Its Transplantation to the United States.” A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the State University of New York College at Oneonta at its Cooperstown Graduate Programs in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Oneonta, New York: State University College. 1982. Crawford, Katlyn Marie. “France and the United States: Borrowed and Shared National Symbols.” Thesis Prepared for the Degree of Master of Arts. Denton: University of North Texas. May 2011. Hegland, Martin. “The Danish Peoples’ High School.” Ph.D. Dissertation. New York: Columbia University. 1916. [Also published by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 45. 1915.] Kvilhaug, Maria Christine. “The Maiden with the Mead—A Goddess of Initiation in Norse Mythology.” Master Dissertation in History of Religions. Department of Culture. Oslo: University of Oslo. Spring 2004. Nuckols, Gregory Thomas. “On Nature and the Psyche: The Psychological and Spiritual Significance of Nature-Based Numinous Experiences.” A Dissertation Submitted to Pacifica Graduate Institute in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology. Pacifica Graduate Institute. Carpinteria, CA. 2010.