Explorers and Settlers * Robert G. Ferris (editor) * National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings Vol. V

Historic Places Commemorating the Early Exploration and Settlement of the United States by the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service. A practical, extensively detailed archival catalog engineered to preserve and detail over 150 critical historical landmarks, military outposts, and early homesteads that mark the initial European mapping and colonization of the American landscape.

The Story: Written and curated under the direction of series editor Robert G. Ferris, this data-dense 1968 publication transforms federal land preservation files into an exceptionally clear historical reference workspace. Issued as the definitive fifth installment of the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings by the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service, the volume completely avoids romanticized frontier storytelling. Instead, it establishes an objective, research-first ledger that treats early colonial architecture and territorial expansion down to its exact preservation parameters, ownership status, and material logistics.

Guides regional historians and preservationists step-by-step through a versatile landscape of geographical sectors across the continental United States. Ferris utilizes a comprehensive diagnostic toolkit to organize 156 nationally significant properties into distinct categories—spanning sites already managed inside the federal system, non-federal landmarks, and locations qualified for formal Registry protection. The text documents the precise architectural parameters and layout logistics of iconic structures, including Spanish missions in the Southwest, historic homesteads along the East Coast, and early trading forts built by French, British, and Russian frontiersmen.

The book functions as an active instructional shield for architectural preservation. Every entry details the exact location coordinates, verified historical background background logs, and historical boundary metrics needed to safeguard these structures against modern development. Packed with dozens of crisp archival photographs, detailed blueprint maps, and extensive colonial cross-references, this clothbound reference work serves as a vital historical time capsule. It provides collectors and researchers with the absolute tools for historical site assessment, turning a standard history shelf into a profound sanctuary of early Americana documentation.

Perfect For: Historians, preservation architects, and academic researchers specializing in colonial settlement patterns and frontier construction style; collectors of vintage, mid-century government publishing office (GPO) hardcovers; and educators building a comprehensive library of official National Park Service survey documents.

Published 1968 by the US Dept of the Interior.