Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States, preserving 236,381 acres including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,411-foot (4,392 m) stratovolcano. The mountain rises abruptly from the surrounding land with elevations in the park ranging from 1,600 feet to over 14,000 feet (490–4,300 m). The highest point in the Cascade Range, Mount Rainier is surrounded by valleys, waterfalls, subalpine meadows, and 91,000 acres of old-growth forest. More than 25 glaciers descend the flanks of the volcano, which is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow.
National Park Service rustic – sometimes colloquially called Parkitecture – is a style of architecture that developed in the early and middle 20th century in the United States National Park Service (NPS) through its efforts to create buildings that harmonized with the natural environment. Since its founding in 1916, the NPS sought to design and build visitor facilities without visually interrupting the natural or historic surroundings. The early results were characterized by intensive use of hand labor and a rejection of the regularity and symmetry of the industrial world, reflecting connections with the Arts and Crafts movement and American Picturesque architecture. Architects, landscape architects and engineers combined native wood and stone with convincingly native styles to create visually appealing structures that seemed to fit naturally within the majestic landscapes. Examples of the style can be found in numerous types of National Park structures, including entrance gateways, hotels and lodges, park roads and bridges, visitor centers, trail shelters, informational kiosks, and even mundane maintenance and support facilities. Many of these buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Longmire, which is effectively encompassed by the Longmire Historic District, is a visitor services center in Washington State's Mount Rainier National Park, located 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east of the Nisqually Entrance. The area is in the Nisqually River valley at an elevation of 2,761 feet (842 m) between The Ramparts Ridge and the Tatoosh Range. Longmire is surrounded by old-growth douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock.
Leigh Lake Ranger Patrol Cabin was designed and built by the U.S. Forest Service in the 1920s. The cabin is located northwest of Leigh Lake in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The cabin was built to a standardized design, similar to that used for the Moran Bay Patrol Cabin. The cabin was acquired by the National Park Service upon the designation of Grand Teton National Park on February 26, 1929 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 1990. The cabin is still in use by the National Park Service.
The Cascade Canyon Barn was designed by the National Park Service to standard plans and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935. The National Park Service rustic style barn is 5 miles (8 km) west of Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming.
Bagby Guard Station is a rustic cabin located in the Mount Hood National Forest in western Oregon, United States. It is adjacent to Bagby Hot Springs. The guard station was originally built to house fire crews assigned to patrol the surrounding National Forest. The Bagby Guard Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Death Canyon Barn is a combination barn and ranger patrol cabin in Grand Teton National Park. The barn was built in Death Canyon on the Death Canyon Trail at its junction with the Alaska Basin Trail by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 in the National Park Service rustic style. Located with a clear view of Prospector Mountain, it shares a common style and purpose with the Cascade Canyon Barn to the north in the park, with minor differences attributable to available materials and the preferences of the work crews building the barns.
The Moran Bay Patrol Cabin was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps about 1932. The log structure was located in the northern backcountry of Grand Teton National Park, and was built to a standard design for such structures, in the National Park Service Rustic style, but for the U.S. Forest Service, which administered much of the area prior to the expansion of the park in 1943. The Upper Granite Canyon Patrol Cabin is similar.
The Coal Creek Patrol Cabin in Glacier National Park, Montana, is a rustic backcountry log cabin. Built in 1925, the cabin has a single room with a board floor and a small cellar for a food cache. The cabin was used by rangers on patrol routes from the Nyack and Paola ranger stations.
The Willow Prairie Cabin is a rustic one-room cabin located in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in western Oregon, United States. It was built by a road construction crew in 1924. When the road was finished the United States Forest Service began using it to house fire crews assigned to patrol the surrounding National Forest. The Forest Service now rents the cabin to recreational visitors. The Willow Prairie Cabin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Wonderland Trail is an approximately 93-mile (150 km) hiking trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. The trail goes over many ridges of Mount Rainier for a cumulative 22,000 feet (6,700 m) of elevation gain. The trail was built in 1915.
The Huckleberry Creek Patrol Cabin is located in the northern portion of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. It was built around 1934 to house rangers on patrol within the park. The log cabin's design resembles the "Standard Plan for Patrol Cabins" prepared by the Western Division of the National Park Service, with the addition of a full-width front porch. Civilian Conservation Corps labor may have been used in the construction of the cabin.
Indian Henry's Patrol Cabin is an early National Park Service patrol cabin in Mount Rainier National Park. The cabin was built in 1915–1916 at an elevation of 5,300 feet (1,600 m) in an area of the park known as "Indian Henry's Hunting Ground," which had been used in the 19th century by the Cowlitz and Nisqually tribes. "Indian Henry" was an Indian guide who accompanied James Longmire in his explorations of the area. The Indian Henry's area became a tourist destination with the 1908 establishment of the "Wigwam Camp," a tent camp which was abandoned in 1918. The area remained as a headquarters for backcountry patrols; the cabin was the first such facility in the park.
The Ipsut Creek Patrol Cabin was built by the United States National Park Service in 1933 in Mount Rainier National Park to house backcountry rangers. The log cabin resembles other cabins at Huckleberry Creek, Lake James and Three Lakes, all built to standard plans from the Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs, supervised by Acting Chief Architect W.G. Carnes. The cabin is approximately 24 feet (7.3 m) by 14 feet (4.3 m), with a lean-to storage shed to the rear.
The Lake George Patrol Cabin was built in 1934 by the National Park Service in Mount Rainier National Park as a backcountry patrol station and hiker's shelter. The single-story wood-frame building measures about 26.5 feet (8.1 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m). Initially intended as a horse barn, it was converted for ranger accommodation, replacing a 1921 structure. The first cabin survived until 1969, when it was destroyed by a falling tree.
The Paradise Historic District comprises the historic portion of Paradise developed area of Mount Rainier National Park. The subalpine district surrounds its primary structure, the Paradise Inn, a rustic-style hotel built in 1917 to accommodate visitors to the park. The Paradise Inn is a National Historic Landmark. Five other buildings are included in the district. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1991. It is part of the Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District, which encompasses the entire park and which recognizes the park's inventory of Park Service-designed rustic architecture.
The St. Andrews Patrol Cabin was built by the National Park Service in 1922 as part of a network of stations near the boundaries of Mount Rainier National Park for rangers on patrol. The one-room log structure stands on the Wonderland Trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier. The exterior of the cabin features a porch to the front. The interior is finished with varnished logs and tongue and groove flooring. The cabin was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1991. It is part of the Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District, which encompasses the entire park and which recognizes the park's inventory of Park Service-designed rustic architecture.
The Nisqually Entrance Historic District comprises the first public entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. The district incorporates the log entrance arch typical of all Mount Rainier entrances, a log frame ranger station and checking station, a comfort station and miscellaneous service structures, all built around 1926, as well as the 1915 Superintendent's Residence and the 1908 Oscar Brown Cabin, the oldest remaining structure in the park. The buildings in the district conform to the principles of the National Park Service Rustic style that prevailed in park design of the 1920s and 1930s.
The Three Lakes Patrol Cabin was built in 1934 in Mount Rainier National Park as a district ranger station. The log cabin was built to a standard plan designed by W.G. Carnes, Acting Chief Architect of the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs, supervised by Thomas Chalmers Vint. The cabin measures about 13.5 feet (4.1 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m). It is a simple gable structure with a shed roof over the front door, supported by brackets. The eaves have a similar bracket detail. Log ends project prominently at the corners. It consists of a single room, unfinished apart from a wood floor.
Architects of the National Park Service are the architects and landscape architects who were employed by the National Park Service (NPS) starting in 1918 to design buildings, structures, roads, trails and other features in the United States National Parks. Many of their works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a number have also been designated as National Historic Landmarks.
