Visit Mesa Verde's Historic Administrative District

Mesa Verde was the first park to experiment with architectural designs based in strong indigenous cultural traditions. The Pueblo Revival style buildings found in the area of the museum, blend into their environment and reflect the vision of Park Superintendent Jesse Nusbaum and Aileen Nusbaum, his wife. These early historical structures; the superintendent’s residence, park headquarters, the post office, ranger club, museum and community building are all results of that vision. Today, the Mesa Verde Administrative District, is a National Historic Landmark that you can explore. It was established in 1987 to recognize the unique place it holds in the development of architecture in this country. The Headquarters Loop includes a number of historic buildings located on top of Chapin Mesa in a fragrant pinyon and juniper forest. Various landscape architectural features contribute to the character, atmosphere, and ambiance of the area. The paved walkways and stone steps bordered by low stone curbs meander among the buildings and provide small, intimate vistas in keeping with the small scale of the structures. The planting islands of native vegetation around the buildings, also edged by stone curbs, screen the structures from the hot summer sun and make the buildings seem indigenous to their surroundings.