Bryce Canyon Lodge

Last updated

Bryce Canyon Lodge and Deluxe Cabins
A541, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA, NRHP lodge, 2016.jpg
Bryce Canyon Lodge
USA Utah location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Coordinates 37°37′37″N112°10′2″W / 37.62694°N 112.16722°W / 37.62694; -112.16722
Built1925
Architect Gilbert S. Underwood
Architectural styleNational Park Service Rustic
MPS Bryce Canyon National Park MPS
NRHP reference No. 87001339 (NHL), 95000434 (HD boundary increase) [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 28, 1987 (NHL), April 25, 1995 (HD boundary increase)
Designated NHLMay 28, 1987 [2]

Bryce Canyon Lodge is a lodging facility in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, United States, built between 1924 and 1925 using local materials. Designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the lodge is an excellent example of National Park Service rustic design, and the only remaining completely original structure that Underwood designed for Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Contents

Description

The two-story lodge is built on a stone base with intentionally oversized log framing, creating a massive, rustic appearance. The central portion of the building dates to 1924, with the addition of the north and southeast wings taking place in 1926. The lodge is entered by a long porch fronting the entire lobby, whose roof rests on a 52-foot (16 m) long log beam supported by paired log columns. The lodge is capped by a heavy, steeply-pitched shingled roof with clipped gables and shed dormers. [2] [3] [4]

The main floor of the lodge comprises the lobby, a dining room, a small auditorium, a gift shop, kitchen and administrative and utility spaces. The dining room and auditorium are open to the roof with exposed log trusses. The lobby features milled timbers with Arts and Crafts detailing. Fireplaces of rough rubble stone are found in the lobby, where the firebox is constructed in a pointed arch, and in the auditorium. A basement underlies much of the main level. [2]

The lodge's roof is notable for its unusual shingling pattern, originally designed by Underwood, in which the lower edges of the horizontal shingle courses form irregular, undulating moiré or wave-like patterns across the roof. This creates an optical illusion that the roof is warped, or in motion. This unique shingling pattern is on the original cabins as well as the main lodge buildings, and has been replicated with each re-roofing of the complex, using the original pattern, as a way to keep the craftsman's trademarks of the original builders and Underwood's design. [2]

Deluxe cabins, July 2016 A540, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA, NRHP deluxe cabins, 2016.jpg
Deluxe cabins, July 2016

Deluxe cabins

The satellite cabins, called deluxe cabins, are to the southeast of the lodge. Five buildings contain four lodging units, and ten contain two. The cabins have rubble stone chimneys and corner pilasters, with log slab siding on the main wall exposures, simulating full log construction, complete with chinking. The cabins have log-framed porches with log railings. On the interior the roof trusses are exposed. Original paneling complements the stone fireplaces. The area formerly included two other lines of cabins, the budget cabins and standard cabins, since removed. [2]

History

Lodge's front entrance, facing east, offset view showing doors Bryce Canyon Lodge 157602pv.jpg
Lodge's front entrance, facing east, offset view showing doors

The Bryce Canyon Lodge was built by the Utah Parks Company, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad, and opened by T. E. Fitzgerald, a noted hotel manager in the region. [5] The lodge was part of the railroad's project to develop tourist traffic to Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon by providing noteworthy destination hotels at each park. The Union Pacific was following in the footsteps of other railroads' efforts to promote the western parks of the United States and Canada. Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood was in charge of the design work for the Union Pacific hotels. Construction at the Bryce Canyon Lodge started in 1924 and was completed in the early summer of 1925. The guest wings were added in 1926 and the auditorium in 1927. The second floor of the lodge was used as the dormitory for women employees of the lodge. The budget and economy cabins, also designed by Underwood, were mostly built in 1927, with five deluxe cabins. Ten more deluxe cabins were completed by 1929. [2]

Bryce Canyon Lodge is operated by Aramark, a park-management company selected and contracted by the National Park Service. The lodge and cabins were declared a National Historic Landmark (NHL) on May 28, 1987 under the name "Bryce Canyon Lodge and Deluxe Cabins." The historic district was expanded on April 25, 1995, as the Bryce Canyon Lodge Historic District which encompasses the National Historic Landmark District but is not itself an NHL. [1]


See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Faithful Inn</span> United States historic place

The Old Faithful Inn is a hotel in the western United States with a view of the Old Faithful Geyser, located in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The Inn has a multi-story log lobby, flanked by long frame wings containing guest rooms. In the western portion of the park, it sits at an approximate elevation of 7,350 feet (2,240 m) above sea level.

The Utah Parks Company, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad, owned and operated restaurants, lodging, and bus tours in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and Cedar Breaks National Monument from the 1920s until 1972. Operating as a concessionaire of the National Park Service, the company operated from a base in Cedar City, Utah. The company's bus tours connected there with Union Pacific trains as well as tour buses from Los Angeles, San Francisco and other west coast cities, and offered a loop tour of the region's parks and monuments, escorted by a Utah Parks Company driver/guide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zion Lodge</span> United States historic place

Zion Lodge is located in Zion National Park, Utah, United States. The lodge was designed in 1924 as a compromise solution between its developer, the Utah Parks Company, which wanted a large hotel, and National Park Service director Stephen Mather, who desired smaller-scale development. The Utah Parks Company had been formed in 1923 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad, and was, like many similar programs, intended to stimulate passenger rail traffic to the national parks of southwest Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake McDonald Lodge</span> United States historic place

The Lake McDonald Lodge is a historic lodge located within Glacier National Park, on the southeast shore of Lake McDonald. The lodge is a 3+12-story structure built in 1913 based on Kirtland Cutter's design. The foundation and first floor walls are built of stone, with a wood-frame superstructure. The lobby is a large, open space that extends to the third story. It has a massive fireplace and a concrete floor scored in a flagstone pattern, with messages in several Indian languages inscribed into it. The rustic lodge was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 as one of the nation's finest examples of large-scale Swiss chalet architecture. Lake McDonald Lodge is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Tovar Hotel</span> NRHP building in Coconino County, Arizona

The El Tovar Hotel, also known simply as El Tovar, is a former Harvey House hotel situated directly on the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Park Service rustic</span> Style of architecture developed in 20th century for the United States National Park Service

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Depot</span> Historic train station inside Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon Depot, also known as Grand Canyon Railroad Station, was constructed in 1909–10 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, in what is now Grand Canyon National Park. It is one of three remaining railroad depots in the United States built with logs as the primary structural material. The station is within 330 feet (100 m) of the rim of the canyon, opposite the El Tovar Hotel, also built by the railroad. The depot is designated a National Historic Landmark, is listed the National Register of Historic Places, and is included in the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Lodge</span> NRPH building in Coconino County, Arizona

The Grand Canyon Lodge is a hotel and cabins complex at Bright Angel Point on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who designed a number of other hotels in national parks for the Utah Parks Company and other concessioners. Built in 1927–28, the Grand Canyon Lodge resort complex consists of the Main Lodge building, 23 deluxe cabins, and 91 standard cabins, some of which were moved to the north rim campground in 1940. All guests are housed in cabins detached from the main lodge, which serves as a dining, concessions and service facility. Constructed of native Kaibab limestone and timber, the complex was designed to harmonize with its rocky and forested setting. The Grand Canyon Lodge complex is notable for its setting and rustic design, as well as its status as the only complete surviving lodge and cabin complex in the national parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Power House</span> United States historic place

Grand Canyon Power House is a former electric power plant that served National Park Service and concessioner facilities at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park. It is significant for its architecture, which masks the building's industrial function behind a veneer of rustic design. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark on the basis of its design quality and the level of preservation of its equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Park Operations Building</span> United States historic place

The Grand Canyon Park Operations Building was built in 1929 on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park. It is significant as an example of a National Park Service building designed to blend harmoniously with the natural surroundings, in the National Park Service Rustic style. The Operations Building was designed to replace the Superintendent's Residence as the park headquarters. It was in turn replaced by a newer building in 1967, and presently functions as the headquarters for park law enforcement. The building was designed by the National Park Service Landscape Division under the direction of Thomas Chalmers Vint, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark for its design significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Village Historic District</span> Historic district in Arizona, United States

Grand Canyon Village Historic District comprises the historic center of Grand Canyon Village, on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The district includes numerous landmark park structures, many of which are National Historic Landmarks themselves, or are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town design as a whole is also significant for its attention to integration with the Grand Canyon landscape, its incorporation of National Park Service Rustic design elements, and for the idiosyncratic design of park concessioner structures such as the El Tovar Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parsons Memorial Lodge</span> United States historic place

The Parsons Memorial Lodge is a small building built in 1915 by the Sierra Club at the northern end of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. It was one of the earliest structures built of stone in a national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangers' Club</span> United States historic place

The Rangers' Club is a building in Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park that was donated by the independently wealthy first director of the National Park Service, Stephen Tyng Mather. He intended it to be used by the newly hired park rangers who were taking over from the departing army troops. He specifically intended it to blend into the natural environment. Its use of rustic stylings was part of a trend to the use of rustic design and natural materials in Park Service buildings until the 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums</span> United States historic place

The Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums are three "trailside museums" within Yellowstone National Park in the western United States. Built in 1929 to designs by Herbert Maier, they are preeminent early examples of the National Park Service Rustic style of architecture, and served as models for the construction of park buildings elsewhere in the park system in the 1930s. They were collectively designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Faithful Historic District</span> Historic district in Wyoming, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryce Inn</span> United States historic place

The Bryce Inn, also known as the Bryce General Store, in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood and built in 1932. It was the last major building designed by Underwood for the Utah Parks Company. Designed in the National Park Service Rustic style, the Inn served as the center of a set of "housekeeping cabins" for park visitors, providing a cafeteria, laundry and vending facilities. However, the housekeeping cabins have since been removed, changing the Inn's relationship to its surroundings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zion Lodge Historic District</span> Historic district in Utah, United States

The Zion Lodge Historic District surrounds the rustic lodge originally designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in Zion National Park. The lodge served as the center of a group of cabins, employee dormitories and support buildings which are included in the district. A swimming pool and bathhouse were demolished in 1976. The district was expanded in 1986 to include an Underwood-designed former photography studio and additional cabins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryce Canyon Lodge Historic District</span> Historic district in Utah, United States

The Bryce Canyon Lodge Historic District surrounds and includes the Bryce Canyon Lodge in Bryce Canyon National Park, as well as the survivors of a large complex of buildings that comprised the core of the park's visitor services area in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Canyon Inn and Campground</span> United States historic place

The Grand Canyon Inn and Campground, also known as the North Rim Inn, were built by the William W. Wylie and the Utah Parks Company as inexpensive tourist accommodations on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, in Grand Canyon National Park. Intended to complement the more expensive Grand Canyon Lodge, the cabins and Inn were located near Bright Angel Point, but father back than their more expensive counterparts, near the Grand Canyon North Rim Headquarters. The design of the cabins and the redesign of the Inn building were undertaken by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bright Angel Lodge</span> United States historic place

Bright Angel Lodge is a hotel complex at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Designed by architect Mary Jane Colter, the lodge is a complex of cabins around a central lodge building, directly on the edge of the canyon. The rustic lodge complex is a major contributing building in the Grand Canyon Village National Historic Landmark District. In 2022, Bright Angel Lodge is also a member of Historic Hotels of America, an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bryce Canyon Lodge and Deluxe Cabins". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 18, 2007. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
  3. Laura Soullière Harrison (1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Bryce Canyon Lodge and deluxe Cabins" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ""Architecture in the Parks: A National Historic Landmark Theme Study: Bryce Canyon Lodge and Deluxe Cabins", by Laura Soullière Harrison". National Historic Landmark Theme Study. National Park Service . Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  5. "T. E. Fitzgerald Named Bonneville Hotel Manager". The Post-Register. December 2, 1946. p. 7. Retrieved January 28, 2020.