Walton Danforth Stowell

Who was Walton Danforth Stowell?

Walton "Kip" Danforth Stowell was an American architect and historic preservationist, best known for his work for the U.S. National Park Service in designing visitors centers and interpretive exhibits in U.S. National Parks throughout the country. For most of his career, he worked at the Harpers Ferry Design Center which is responsible for architectural design and interpretive planning in National Parks.

Kip Stowell and his contemporaries were the first generation of historic preservationists at the National Park Service charged with implementing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 which was a monumental legislation enabling preservation of the nation's historic, cultural, and heritage resources. He began his distinguished 50 year career as an architect and historic preservationist merely as a student in the now prestigious National Park Service's Architectural Student Summer Program doing measured drawings for the Historic American Buildings Survey and for Charles E. Peterson who is considered to be the founding father of historic preservation in the United States.