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1956
May 11 1956 A ten-year development plan is presented to the NPS by Harry and Pop Smith. The concessioners have found that their volume has increased since taking over, with profits and use of the Lodge showing gains each summer.
Summer 1956 Present Goodbye Creek Bridge is completed. Traffic had been routed above the creek on a small wooden bridge. Construction begins on Mazama Campground (Loops A, B, C, and D). A major addition of a dining room and a winter warming area is added to the Rim Cafeteria. The bridge is rebuilt during the early 1980’s.
Summer 1956 Photographer falls to his death while attempting to photograph the Phantom Ship at Sun Notch.
Mission: 66 instituted. Mission: 66 was a national, ten-year program to update National Park facilities. Crater Lake would never be the same again. Roads were rebuilt, permanent housing added and new life was added to older, historic buildings.
July 1956 90 degree temperature measured at Headquarters. One of the hottest days on record.
June 1956 The old two-bedroom log cabin, located near Highway 62 in the old Annie Spring Campground, was burned to the ground. The logs were so punky; a screwdriver could be shoved through the logs.
August 25-26 1956 The first authorized use of scuba gear on the Lake and at Wizard Island. (For what it’s worth, the first SCUBA dive was accomplished in Crater Lake during the summer of 1956. One of the divers, a guy named Allen Cherry loaned me some photos to run in the 1996 edition of Nature Notes from Crater Lake; see also John Broward’s article (pp. 19-20) in that issue.) From Steve Mark, Park Historican. The photos were by Life Photographer A.Y. Owen.
December 26 1956 Seasonal Ranger Joe Meeker marries Marlene Randall in the lobby of the Headquarters building. When the Episcopal priest asked how long the ceremony would last, Meeker replied, “Depends on how hot the fire is in the fireplace.”
Season 1956 Visitation: 359.840
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