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.
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.
The Old Faithful Historic District in Yellowstone National Park comprises the built-up portion of the Upper Geyser Basin surrounding the Old Faithful Inn and Old Faithful Geyser. It includes the Old Faithful Inn, designed by Robert Reamer and is itself a National Historic Landmark, the upper and lower Hamilton's Stores, the Old Faithful Lodge, designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, and a variety of supporting buildings. The Old Faithful Historic District itself lies on the 140-mile Grand Loop Road Historic District.
The Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station House is a National Park Service ranger residence located in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area of northern Washington. The building was built at Purple Point above Lake Chelan in the small, unincorporated community of Stehekin, Washington. It was originally constructed by the United States Forest Service to serve as the residence for the Stehekin District ranger. The Forest Service later converted it into a summer guard station. The building was transferred to the National Park Service in 1968 when the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area was established. The Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Clackamas Lake Ranger Station Historic District is a Forest Service compound consisting of eleven historic buildings located in the Mount Hood National Forest in the Cascade Mountains of northern Oregon. It was originally built as a district ranger station for the Clackamas Lake Ranger District. It was later converted to a summer guard station. Today, the Forest Service rents the historic ranger's residence to recreational visitors. The Clackamas Lake Ranger Station is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Polebridge Ranger Station in Glacier National Park was the first administrative area in the park, predating the park's establishment. The ranger station was destroyed by fire, leaving the residence.
The Glacier National Park Tourist Trails, including the Inside Trail, South Circle Trail and North Circle Trail, were established in Glacier National Park to connect a series of tourist camps and hotels established by the Great Northern Railway between 1910 and 1915. Prior to the construction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, these trails were the primary form of circulation within the park. The trail system includes a number of bridges.
The Belly River Ranger Station Historic District in Glacier National Park includes several historic structures, including the original ranger station, now used as a barn. The rustic log structures were built beginning in 1912. Other buildings include a woodshed, built in 1927 to standard National Park Service plans and a cabin used as a fire cache.
The Kintla Lake Ranger Station in Glacier National Park is a rustic log structure that was built by the Butte Oil Company in 1900 at Kintla Lake. It was taken over by the National Park Service and used as a ranger station. It is significant as a remnant of early oil exploration activities in the Glacier area. A boathouse was built by the National Park Service in 1935 to the same design as the boathouses at Upper Lake McDonald and Saint Mary ranger stations. A fire cache cabin, identical to those at Logging Creek, Polebridge and Lake McDonald ranger stations was built in 1934.
The Skyland Camp-Bowman Lake Ranger Station in Glacier National Park was originally built as the Culver Boys' Military Academy. The main building, known variously as the Skyland Camp Messhall, Culver Boys' Military Academy Messhall and Skyline Chalet, was built in 1920 and is a good example of National Park Service Rustic architecture. The main cabin, known as "Rainbow Lodge" was built by the boys of the academy in 1920 from red cedar logs, and is more elaborate and carefully detailed than typical ranger stations of this period. The interior is dominated by a stone fireplace.
The following articles relate to the history, geography, geology, flora, fauna, structures and recreation in Glacier National Park (U.S.), the U.S. portion of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
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 Tioga Pass Entrance Station is the primary entrance for travelers entering Yosemite National Park from the east on the Tioga Pass Road. Open only during the summer months, the entrance station consists of two historical buildings, a ranger station and a comfort station, built in 1931 and 1934 respectively. Both are rustic stone structures with peeled log roof structures, and are examples of the National Park Service rustic style employed at the time by the National Park Service. Two log gate structures that had been removed since the site's original construction were rebuilt in 1999; the stone piers that supported them remain. The use of stone at Tioga Pass set a precedent for the extensive employment of stone construction in other park buildings in the Yosemite high country. Civilian Conservation Corps workers assisted in the entrance station's construction.
The Elkhorn Guard Station, also known as the Elkhorn Ranger Station, comprises four buildings in the backcountry of Olympic National Park, Washington. The station was built by the U.S. Forest Service between 1930 and 1934, before the establishment of the national park, when the lands were part of Olympic National Forest (USFS). The structures were designed in the Forest Service's interpretation of the National Park Service rustic style, using native materials and construction techniques. The complex was built using labor from the Public Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Elkhorn Guard Station is one of five surviving USFS-built guard stations.
The Lake of the Woods Ranger Station is a United States Forest Service compound consisting of eight buildings overlooking Lake of the Woods in the Fremont-Winema National Forests of southern Oregon. All of the ranger station structures were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1937 and 1939. Today, the compound serves as a Forest Service work center, and the old ranger station office is a visitor center. The ranger station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Horseshoe Lake Ranger Station in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California is a backcountry ranger station that was built by Civilian Conservation Corps labor in 1934. The cabin typifies National Park Service standard designs for such structures in the prevailing National Park Service Rustic style then used by the Park Service. It is the only such example of a standard-plan backcountry ranger station in Lassen Volcanic National Park. There were originally two structures at the site, the residence, and a now-vanished barn.
Kelly's Camp is a small district of vacation cabins on the west shore of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Kelly's Camp consists of twelve log buildings along the western shore of the lake. The structures were notable for being one of the most extensive summer cabin enclaves remaining in the park. Early reports following the advance of the Howe Ridge Fire on August 12, 2018 are that nine or ten structures have been destroyed.
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.
The Hull Cabin was built in the late 1880s near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon by settler William Hull. The Hull family arrived in the area in 1880 and established a ranch in the area, raising sheep and building the Hull Tank, a large earth-banked reservoir for their stock. The Hulls branched out into prospecting and were among the first to take in tourists heading to the Grand Canyon.
The Elk Lake Guard Station is a United States Forest Service cabin located in the Deschutes National Forest southwest of Bend, Oregon. The guard station was built in 1929 on the north shore of Elk Lake. It was used as a home base for Forest Service personnel who protected forest resources, maintained facilities, and aided summer visitors in the Cascade Lakes area of Central Oregon. After decades of use, the cabin was renovated in the late 1990s. Today, the historic guard station serves as a Forest Service visitor information center along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. The Elk Lake Guard Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
