The Great Outsiders: Great Falls Visitor Center
Like two ships, passing in the night.
The visitor center at Great Falls State Park, Virginia was completed in 1969 by Kent Cooper and Associates. Situated beside the Great Falls of the Potomac River, the building was designed to resemble two passing barges — a nod to a section of the old Patowmack Canal that ran through where the center now stands.
I visited Great Falls in May of 2024, staying in nearby Arlington. The center was officially closed for repairs and refurbishments however, I was still able to wander the grounds of the building to make my images. I included this location in The Great Outsiders for the buildings unique design, where the two concrete ‘barge’ structures sit parallel to each other, connected by a floating bridge in the center.
At either end of the barges are wide openings with ramp ways leading to entrances, but when viewed in the context of the dense surrounding woods, appear as gaping voids amongst the vegetation.
The visitor center had a worn-down feel to it and evidence of wear and tear could be seen all over, particular in the courtyard section between the two buildings. Since returning from the shoot, I found this document from the NPS that details the planned renovation work. Happily, it appears that the project will preserve the existing Mission 66 features of the center whilst improving the courtyard area as well as general accessibility and maintenance. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026 and I’m looking forward to revisiting Great Falls once the project is completed.
It was a pleasure to spend some time exploring one of the more unique designs from the Mission 66 program, especially one that didn’t require me to trek across the entire country to get to! I found making images of the building quite challenging due to the density of the forest, which surprisingly also covered a lot of the courtyard between the two structures. It does to me however, reflect the ethos of Mission 66 by suitably blending into its surroundings whilst rewarding those who want to take a closer look.
Thank you for reading and I’d love to hear what you think about this structure and Mission 66 in general - let me know in the comments.
Additionally, if you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, please consider telling your friends and/or sharing it on your socials. Any further attention I can bring to this fascinating slice of post-war history is greatly appreciated!
Next month, we’re heading to coastal North Carolina to take a look at a striking mid-century building that sits on land steeped in aviation history. See you then!
For those of you too impatient to wait for next month’s installment, you can skip ahead and take a look at the images of all the locations I’ve documented to date, over on my website.