Going-to-the-Sun Road: A Model of Landscape Engineering. Teaching with Historic Places.

Soaring mountain peaks, glaciers, deep-blue lakes, and lush forests delight the senses of visitors who drive on Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. The construction of the Going-to-the-Sun-Road, dedicated in 1933, made this experience available to the many visitors who come to the park by car. Building this transmountain road, literally carved out of the precipitous mountainside for 12 of its 50-mile length, was a challenging and dangerous task. Its designers and builders learned valuable lessons that were applied to many such scenic roads to follow. This lesson is based on National Historic Landmark documentation, National Register of Historic Places, and other sources. The lesson may be used in U.S. history, social studies, and geography courses in units on conservation and the environment or the influence of the automobile on popular culture. It is divided into eight sections: (1) "About This Lesson"; (2) "Getting Started: Inquiry Question"; (3) "Setting the Stage: Historical Context"; (4) "Locating the Site: Maps" (Montana; Glacier National Park); (5) "Determining the Facts: Readings" (Surveying Going-to-the-Sun Road; Building Going-to-the-Sun Road; Preserving the Landscape); (6) "Visual Evidence: Images" (Going-to-the-Sun Road; Area near Logan Pass; Building the Granite Creek Retaining Wall; Triple Arches; Construction Equipment; View of the Garden Wall; Going-to-the-Sun Road); (7) "Putting It All Together: Activities" (Use a Park or Preserve It?; Working in a Park; Investigating the Local Community); and (8)"Supplementary Resources." (BT)