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NR Nomination

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address: Smokejumper Way historic name:Siskiyou Smokejumper Base (Boundary Increase)
Cave Junction, Josephine County current/other names:Siskiyou Aerial Project, "Gobi Desert" Cave Junction, CJ
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr:Illinois Valley Airport; 4 miles SW of Cave Junction off Oregon Highway 199 twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:district height (stories): total elig resources:5 total inelig resources:13
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1944 second date:1956 date indiv listed:11/24/2014
primary orig use: Fire Station orig use comments:
second orig use: Air Facility
primary style: Rustic prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Shingle siding comments:
secondary siding:
plan type: architect:
builder:
comments/notes:
The property is owned by Josephine County: Board of County Commissioners; Josephine County Courthouse; 500 NW Sixth Street, Dept 6; Grants Pass, OR 97526; 541 474-5221; bcc@co.jospehine.or.us; Commissioner names: Cheryl Walker (Commissioner Chair and also the Airport Liaison), Keith Heck (Commissioner Vice Chair), Simon Hare (Commissioner), The person who oversees the property is the Airport Manager Larry Graves, Josephine County Airport Manager; 541-955-4535 Office, 541-660-2169 Cell, Lgraves@co.josephine.or.us
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
Farmstead/Cluster Name:Siskiyou Smokejumper Base
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 11/24/2014
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date:
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Siskiyou Smokejumper Base (Boundary Increase) area is located in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon and encompasses approximately 2 acres. The runway for the Illinois Valley airport borders the west side, providing an open vista to the north, west, and south. The property is further bound by the existing Siskiyou Smokejumper Base to the north; the airport property line to the east; and a water ditch to the south. The boundary increase area served as the crew residence area during the historic period, and is defined by a pleasant park-like setting with a lawn and ornamental and native shade trees. The majority of the historic features are dispersed within this landscaped area on a north-south axis, parallel to the airport runway. The contributing 1954 barracks and bathhouse and non-contributing, but compatible, 1954 cook house are rustic single-story rectangular volumes constructed on slab-on-grade foundations with wood-shingle siding and gabled roofs clad in composition shingle. There are multiple small-scale features on the site, including a contributing concrete exercise pad, volleyball court, and sump pump foundation. The design and materials of the contributing resources is reflective of the previously-listed district. Non-contributing features include cobble stone walls and steps, hose hutch, propane tanks, and interpretive signage, among other items, that are small in scale, generally constructed of compatible materials, and that do not significantly interrupt key sight lines between contributing resources. The non-contributing training area, located to the south of the boundary increase, is excluded from this nomination because of an absence of contributing historic resources.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Siskiyou Smokejumper Base (Boundary Increase) is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for its statewide significance under Criterion A in the areas of Conservation and Politics and Government for its association with federally-legislated efforts to protect and conserve vital timberlands prone to catastrophic fires. Reflective of the early developmental stage of Forest Service smokejumping, the Siskiyou Smokejumber Base served as an example for operations and training along the Pacific Coast, influencing the development of bases in Redding, California and Redmond, Oregon. The portion of the facility previously listed on November 17, 2006 (NRIS No. 06001035) includes the core resources most closely related to firefighting activities. The inclusion of the historically-associated crew residence area immediately south of the listed district provides a greater historic and physical context for the district as a whole, illustrating the daily activities associated with housing, feeding, training, and entertaining fire crews stationed at the base. The boundary increase area and the previously-listed district share the same period of significance, which begins in 1944 with the establishment of the facility and ends in 1955 when the last major improvements were made to the site.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
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:
Beckham, Stephen Dow, 1978. Cultural Resource Overview of the Siskiyou National Forest. Report submitted to the Siskiyou National Forest, Grants Pass, OR. Beckham, Stephen Dow, 1979. An Inventory and Evaluation of the Historical Significance of the Civilian Conservation Corps Buildings on the Siskiyou National Forest. Report submitted to the Siskiyou National Forest, Grants Pass, OR. (200 pages with photographs and maps) Block, Paul, 2004. Interview of former smokejumper. Photo collection from late 1940s Boucher, Alan, 2004. Interview of former smokejumper. Photo collection from 1946 to mid 50s Buck, Bill, 2006. Interview of former smokejumper. Photo collection from early 1950s Clarke, Phil, 2004. Interview of former smokejumper. Photo collection from late 1940s to early 1950s Collins, Stan, 2002. Book of Gobi, Siskiyou Smokejumper Base 1943-1981 Greene, Bill, 2004. . Interview of former smokejumper. Photo collection from late 1940s. Nolan, Robert, 2004. Interview of former smokejumper. Photo collection from 1948 to 1949. USDA, 1981. Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Annual Reports, 1943 - 1981, Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon