| Ash Mountain Entrance Sign | |
| Nearest City: | Three Rivers, California |
| Coordinates: | 36.4875°N -118.8358°W |
| Built: | 1935 |
| Architect: | George Muno, Harold Fowler, Merel S. Sager |
| Architecture: | Woodworking, wrought iron |
| Added: | April 27, 1978 |
| Refnum: | 78000367 |
The Ash Mountain Entrance Sign at Sequoia National Park was constructed in 1935 by Civilian Conservation Corps craftsmen. Featuring a carved Native American face, the sign was made from blocks of sequoia wood and fastened with wrought iron brackets.[1]
The design was first proposed by National Park Service architect Merel S. Sager in 1931, who designed a small log sign for the Ash Mountain entrance. In 1935 resident park landscape architect Harold G. Fowler created a much larger design. He recruited CCC worker George W. Muno, who had displayed a talent for woodworking, and they selected a piece of fallen sequoia wood from the Giant Forest. Fowler sketched the profile in blue chalk on the wood using an Indian Head nickel as a guide. Muno carved the wood over several months and the sign was assembled and erected over the winter of 1935–36. It was moved in 1964 to make room for a new park entrance station.[2]
The sign is supported by a 4feet sequoia log rising from a two-tiered masonry platform. The sign panel is 10feet feet wide by 4feet high and 1feet thick, carved into a profile reputed to signify Sequoyah, whose Cherokee tribe never inhabited California. The sign was originally unpainted but assumed its present appearance in the 1950s. As originally built, a matching log pylon stood on the opposite side of the road. The pylon was removed when the sign was relocated.[2]