HALS Reports

2026 HALS Competition

Each year HALS (Historic American Landscapes Survey), through the National Park Service Heritage Documentation Program, sponsors a competition to document significant landscapes.

This year’s suggested theme is Landscapes of Liberty and Freedom. The deadline is August 31^st.

CGLHS encourages everyone to participate. 

See this article for additional information: https://www.asla.org/news-insights/the-field/hals-2026-call-to-action. There's a huge list of potential projects to document in California. These may or may not fit the suggested theme, but the theme is purposely broad. If you feel motivated to document a landscape, or you would like to document one that is not listed, send a message to organizer Andrea Gaffney at info@aeg7.com. This way we can try to avoid a duplication of effort. 

All documentation will be recognized at the annual ASLA conference in September. Documentation is then sent to the Library of Congress. 

Please see below for members' previous submissions.

The HALS Mission

The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) mission is to record historic landscapes in the United States and its territories through measured drawings and interpretive drawings, written histories, and large-format black and white photographs and color photographs. The National Park Service oversees the daily operation of HALS and formulates policies, sets standards, and drafts procedural guidelines in consultation with the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress preserves the documentation for posterity and makes it available to the general public. 

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/

Chris Stevens, acting Chief of the National Park Service Historic American Landscapes Survey and Landscape Architect for the HALS Program since 2008 described the benefits and opportunities of the project and process of documenting a landscape for submission to the NPS in his talk and may be watched via YouTube here: 

Documenting Landscapes in Perpetuity: The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) to CGLHS members on May 12, 2021.

HALS Reports by CGHLS Members 

Members of CGLHS have contributed to many HALS projects in California and beyond. Some of the documentation on Californian locations prepared by CGLHS members is listed below with links to the Library of Congress repository.

Griffith Park Zoo, Los Angeles - Report by Libby Simon (2014) 

Sutter’s Fort, Sacramento - Report by Janet Gracyk (2016)

Wellesley Park, Redwood City - Report by Diana J. Painter (2005)

Sunset Headquarters, Menlo Park - Report by Janet Gracyk, Chris Pattillo, Jill Johnson, Sarah Raube, and others (2015) 

Olompali State Historic Park, Marin County - Report by Carol Roland, drawings by PGAdesign (2019)

Balboa Park, Golden Hill Fountain Grotto - by Nancy Carol Carter (HALS CA-150-A July 15, 2020)

Degnan-Guerra Residence - by Gina Guerra (HALS CA-151 July 15, 2020)

University Mound Nursery - by Stacy Farr and Eleanor Cox (HALS CA-153 July 31, 2020)

Perkins Park - by David A. Laws (HALS CA-155 June 20, 2020)