Well-versed in cultural resource management, Dr. R. Christopher Goodwin received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University in 1979. For the past 34 years, Dr. R. Christopher Goodwin has served as the president, CEO, and director of research at R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., which provides historical services such as analysis and documentation for the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS).

1. Understanding the Historic
American Landscapes Survey
By Dr. R. Christopher Goodwin,
PhD

2. Introduction
• Well-versed in cultural resource management, Dr. R.
Christopher Goodwin received his Ph.D. from Arizona State
University in 1979. For the past 34 years, Dr. R. Christopher
Goodwin has served as the president, CEO, and director of
research at R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., which
provides historical services such as analysis and
documentation for the Historic American Landscapes Survey
(HALS).
HALS exists to preserve and document historic landscapes in
the United States. This goal often is achieved by completing
drawings, both measured and interpretative, to go along with
written histories and photographs of various landscapes. The
National Park Service designed the HALS program and set the
definitions of historic landscapes.

3. Historic American Landscapes
• According to the National Park Service, historic
landscapes exhibit unique identities that contribute to
their local communities. Various types of locations are
eligible for qualification as historic landscapes, from
rural areas with sprawling farms or tiny vegetable
patches to urban and government properties including
nuclear test sites, suburbs, and derelict settlements once
inhabited by Americans decades or centuries ago.
As the definition of historic landscapes broadened,
HALS became as a method of thoroughly and accurately
documenting historically significant places.