Att_06_Final_HSR_08-13-2019.pdf

HISTORIC STRUCTURES REPORT

LAUREL DORMITORY

Old Faithful Historic District Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

A&E Project #18104.00

TIC# 101/71937

August 9, 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents

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PART 1: DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

11-23

B. Chronology of Development and Use

A. Historical Background and Context

C. Architectural Description

D. Character Defining Features

E. Conditions Assessment

PART 3: STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE AND RECORD OF TREATMENT

A. Standard Operating Procedure

B. Record of Treatment Form

PART 4: APPENDICES

A. Bibliography

B. List of Figures

C. Existing Drawings

D. Photograph Location Reference Drawings

E. Treatment Drawings

PART 2: TREATMENT AND WORK RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Management Philosophy and Primary Treatment Recommendations

D. Basis-of-Design

B. Treatment Requirements............................................................................................................. 96-97

C. Alternatives for Treatment........................................................................................................ 97-103

24-31

32-35

36-37

38-93

115-119

120-137

138-145

147-167

ADMINISTRATIVE DATA 7

F. Code Review Summary 169-201

Executive Summary Laurel Dormitory Historic Structures Report - 2019 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Historic Structure Report (HSR) provides historical and architectural information pertinent to the building currently known as the Laurel Dormitory at Old Faithful Inn. Robert C. Reamer designed this building in 1922 and referred to it as the Old Faithful Inn Girls Dormitory. The purpose of this report is to identify the significant character-defining architectural features of the building and to provide general guidance for treatment. Part 1A contains general contextual information pertinent to the Yellowstone Park Company’s development of its hotels in the park, while Part IB contains information about the chronology of development and use of the Old Faithful Inn site and of the Girls’ Dormitory. Part 1C documents the existing appearance and condition of the building.

Part 2, Treatment and Use provides a recommendation for an appropriate level of preservation treatment for the building This section of the HSR includes a list of alternative actions designed to preserve the character-defining features of the building and achieve the ultimate treatment In general, it is recommended that modifications be limited to those associated with updating the interior of the building and with health and fire safety issues.

Dennis Johnson (Project Architect, AIA, LEED AP) and Matt Morgan (Preservation Architect, AIA) of A&E Architects conducted the preliminary condition assessment of the dormitory in the fall of 2018, while Alexandra E. Sykes (Preservation Designer) of A&E Architects formated and complied the final report. This examination included documentation of the building’s significant architectural features, and identification of areas of deterioration. Bruce Haroldson Project Manager, Samantha Fox (PE), and Whitney Achter (PE) of DCI Engineers conducted the structural assessment, and Kip Weeda (PE, LEED AP) of Associated Construction Engineering, completed an analysis of the dormitory’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire suppression systems. The results of all analyses are used to develop the treatment recommendations included in Part 2 of this document.

Janene Caywood, CRCS, prepared the historical data sections of this document. She conducted research in the Yellowstone Park Archives and the Yellowstone Park Library (both located within the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center in Gardiner, Montana). Caywood also contacted the Yellowstone Photo Archives to identify historical images of the Old Faithful Inn Girl’s Dormitory, and the Technical Information Center at the National Park Service’s, Denver Service Center, to find plans and drawings pertinent to the building.

Secondary works, including Mary Shivers Culpin’s “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People” A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966, provided additional information regarding the general concession history in the park.1 Ruth Quinn’s, Weaver of Dreams, The Life and Architecture of Robert C. Reamer, provided contextual information on Reamer’s contributions to concession’s development in Yellowstone National Park.2

Major Findings:

Besides the Old Faithful Inn itself, it appears that the Girls’ Dormitory is the only other building in the Old Faithful group designed by Robert Reamer, which in turn elevates the building’s significance relative to other ancillary buildings associated with the inn. Many aspects of its design match that of the inn’s 1913 east or south wing. However, while the exterior of the building appears to possess good material and design integrity, its interior has been modified extensively with new finishes. The general arrangement of rooms accessed from central hallways remains intact, however the number and location of bathrooms has been modified from the original design.

1 Mary Shivers Culpin, 2003, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People” A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966. National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Document NoYCR-CR-2003-01 2 Ruth Quinn, 2004, Weaver of Dreams, The Life and Architecture of Robert C. Reamer. Gardiner, Montana, Leslie and Ruth Quinn Publishers

Condition Assessment Findings:

Architectural

Exterior

The exterior of the building in general is in fair to good condition, with the exception of the roof, the two egress stairs and windows being in poor condition. The exterior woodwork include the logs and sidewall shingles are dry and weathered throughout.

The historic north porch including roof and adjacent building entrance wall is exhibiting significant signs of distress and is in poor condition from apparent water infiltration.

Interior

The interior of the building in general is in fair to good condition including the doors, casing, carpet and wall finishes, with the exception of the wood windows, and wall finishes under these windows being in poor condition.

Crawlspace

It was noted that high moisture conditions appear to be present seasonally within the crawlspace potentially begin exacerbated by the fact that ventilation in the crawlspace is poor.

Structural

The foundation at the time of the site visit was stable with no indication of recent movement. Any foundation cracks noted were in expected locations such as re-entrant corners or due to expansion/contraction. Wood framing in general was in good condition with the exception of the entry porch area noted on page 77.

MEP

The heating system for the building is steam heat (served from boiler room across Myriad Creek), is operational and in fair condition. Building ventilation for the bathrooms is by mechanical exhaust fans, which are operational and in fair condition. The crawlspace has a fan, which is marginally effective, operational but in poor condition. The dorm rooms have operable windows for ventilation, are code compliant, but are in poor condition. The plumbing fixtures are operational, however they are not ABA compliant and are in fair condition.

The plumbing piping has a variety of materials, and condition ranges from fair to poor. The electrical power system and lighting is operational and in fair condition. The fire sprinkler system and fire alarm system are both operational, however they are in poor condition.

Administrative Data Laurel Dormitory Historic Structures Report 7

ADMINISTRATIVE DATA

Common Name: Laurel Dormitory (Old Faithful Inn)

Historic Name: Girls Dormitory Old Faithful Inn

Smithsonian Number: 48

Historic Structure Number: HS-2312

LCS Number: 050036

Locational Data: Teton County, Wyoming USGS Old Faithful 7.5 minute quadrangle 1986

UTM point reference: Zone 12, 513319 m E / 4922898 m N

Proposed Level of Preservation Treatment: The proposed level of preservation treatment for the Laurel Dormitory is rehabilitation, which is defined as “the act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural values.”3

Related Studies: National Register of Historic Places Old Faithful Historic District, 1982; Facility Condition Assessment Survey Old Faithful Inn – Laurel Dorm, CTA Architects September, 2001; List of Classified Structures, updated 2008; Xanterra Parks and Resorts Park Concession Facilities Assessment (Old Faithful Employee Housing) 2010

Date of Listing in the National Register: The Laurel Dormitory at Old Faithful Inn is counted as a contributing resource within the Old Faithful Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 7, 1982.

Period and Level of Significance: The period of significance for the Old Faithful Historic District extends from 1903 through 1942: It is listed at the National level of significance.

National Register Criteria and Areas of Significance: The Old Faithful Historic District is listed in the National Register under Criterion A, for its association with concessions development in Yellowstone National Park, and under Criterion C, for its architectural merit. This district contains some of the oldest concession facilities in the park, including the iconic Old Faithful Inn (designed by Robert C. Reamer and designated a National Historic Landmark) and the Old Faithful Lodge (designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood). Reamer designed the Laurel Dormitory, in 1922, referencing many of the architectural elements used in the east wing of Old Faithful Inn, which he designed in 1913.

3 The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Treatment of Historic Properties, with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings. https://www.nps.gov/tps/standards/treatment-guidelines-2017.pdf (accessed July 23, 2017); Director’s Order 28 (NPS-28) Cultural Resource Management Guideline, Appendix A: Glossary, NPS-Office of Policy https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ nps28/28appena.htm (accessed January 20, 2017)

Looking at the north side of the dormitory Fig. #01

Laurel Dormitory

PART 1: DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

Part 1: Developmental History

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Part 1A: Developmental History Laurel Dormitory Historic Structures Report - 2019 11

The Beginning of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park

Immediately after the 1872 signing of the Organic Act that created Yellowstone National Park, the newly formed Department of the Interior began receiving requests for hotel leases upon which to develop tourist facilities inside the park. While acknowledging the need to open the park to visitors, the Secretary of the Interior was reluctant to issue leases for any purpose, choosing instead to wait until Congress should appropriate funds to manage the park. In part because of this delay, until the early 1880s, tourist accommodations in the park were limited to small-scale, privately financed facilities including McCartney’s Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs (built in 1871) and Marshall’s Hotel near the forks of the Firehole River in the Lower Geyser Basin (built in 1880).

In 1882, however, a group of wealthy businessmen applied to the Department of the Interior for a lease that would allow them to build a hotel in the park, to operate one or more steamboats on Yellowstone Lake, and to establish stage lines and livery accommodations to connect points of interest inside the park with all railroads and highways extending to the park boundary. The company’s three principals, Carroll Hobart and Henry Douglas, both of Dakota Territory, and Rufus Hatch of New York City, were all associated in some capacity with the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. Early in 1883, the railroad company began construction of a branch line from Livingston, Montana, to the park’s north entrance at Gardiner, Montana. Tourists would require lodging, and the three investors in the improvement company proposed to capitalize on the new tourism market. Minnesota Senator, William Windom, transmitted the proposal to the department personally. Because of this influence, and over the objections of then-Park Superintendent, Patrick H. Conger, the department negotiated a lease with the consortium, operating as the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company (YPIC).

The conditions of the YPIC lease were modified several times, partly due to concerns about one company possessing a monopoly on concession services within the park. Debate in Congress also led to limitations placed on the amount of land that could be leased to concessioners to “small portions of the ground in the park not exceeding 10 acres in extend for each tract,” and that no such tract could be leased within a quarter mile of any of the park’s geysers or from Yellowstone Falls.” In the end, the Department of the Interior granted to the YPIC lease parcels at six locations within the park, including: Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful, Madison River, Soda Butte Spring, Tower Falls, Great Falls, and at Yellowstone Lake4 In return, the company agreed to built a 250 room hotel at Mammoth (fully equipped and appointed with all necessary support infrastructure) for a cost of not less that $150,000. The character of improvements at the other locations was not specified.

By the winter of 1882/1883, the YPIC had begun construction of the National Hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs;

the partially completed hotel received its first guests in July of 1883.5 The company had also established “hotel camps,” at Norris (presumably within its Madison River lease), in the Upper Geyser Basin, and at the Great Falls of the Yellowstone. Although the YPIC made a good start on its development, the terms of the lease with the Department of the Interior—specifically the provision to limit the amount of usable acreage at each site, made it difficult for the company to attract investors. By early 1884, the company could not pay its creditors, one of whom filed a lien on some of its property. The company’s president declared bankruptcy, while a court-appointed receiver, assisted by the company’s resident General Manager, Carroll Hobart, directed the company’s day to day activities.6 In an attempt to resolve the YPIC’s issues Hobart moved forward with completing the company’s hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs, and by beginning construction of a new frame hotel in the Upper Geyser Basin, roughly 300 yards west of the Old Faithful Geyser. Known as Hobart’s Hotel, it is reported to have been located in the same area as the future Old Faithful Inn (Figure H-1).

4 Culpin, For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People, pp. 10-11.

5 Ibid, p.12.

6 Ibid, p. 26.

1A. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

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Figure H-1. View of Hobart’s Hotel from the vicinity of Old Faithful Geyser

(Photo No14948, courtesy of Yellowstone Photo Archives).

In the summer of 1885 a variety of problems associated with the park’s concessions lessees prompted the Secretary of the Interior to dispatch a special envoy to Yellowstone to investigate the status and condition of the various lessees and make recommendations to the department. With regard to the YPIC, Special Agent William H. Phillips noted that the company had made no permanent improvements at several of its lease sites: At Mammoth its structures were scattered over a 40 acre area rather than within the few acres covered by the lease.

Phillips also reviewed with disfavor the partially completed Hobart’s Hotel in the Upper Geyser Basin, noting that it was a nondescript building and that it violated the terms of the company’s lease because it was located too close to the Old Faithful Geyser.7

The insolvency of the YPIC coupled with its noncompliance with lease terms, contributed to the Secretary of the Interior’s decision to transfer its leases to the newly formed Yellowstone Park Association (YPA)—the primary shareholders of which also happened to be heavy investors in the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. Under protest from the YPIC attorneys, the YPA acquired the government leases initially granted to the improvement company. In 1886, the YPA completed the YPIC’s National Hotel at Mammoth. It also purchased Marshall’s Hotel in Lower Geyser Basin and Hobart’s Hotel in Upper Geyser Basin.8 While neither facility was of the same quality as the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, they represented the only available lodging in these two areas of the park.

Over the next few years the YPA continued to develop infrastructure at its various lease sites. During the winter of 1889/1890, the association initiated construction of a wood frame hotel on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake. Known simply as Lake Hotel, it was ready to receive visitors in the summer of 1891. Also in 1891, the company built a new hotel near the Fountain Paint Pots, located in the Lower Geyser Basin. In his annual report for 1891, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent, George S. Anderson, described the new Fountain Hotel as “the largest best built, and in every way the finest in the park, and I doubt not is destined to be the most popular” (Figure H-2).

7 Ibid, pp. 29-31.

8 Ibid, p. 127.

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Figure H-2. Photo of Fountain Hotel near Fountain Paint Pots

(Photo NoYELL-02774, courtesy of Yellowstone Photo Archives).

With regard to Hobart’s Hotel in the Upper Geyser Basin, he stated “so long as the law prevents a valid lease for the site so long will the old shed remain rickety and unsatisfactory.” In general, Anderson was pleased with the performance of the YPC, stating that its general manager, W. G. Johnson, “... is working hard and intelligently to remove from it the odium that has heretofore attached to it, and with a large measure of success. The complaints that have reached me have been few and trivial.”9

Despite the growing popularity of the park, the hotel concession continued to struggle financially. As indicated above, the Department of the Interior considered the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel inadequate, and wanted the YPA to replace it with a new facility. However, while the quarter mile restriction rule held, the company would have to find a new site for a hotel—other than that occupied by Hobart’s Hotel. In 1894 two things happened to alter the landscape of hotel development in the Upper Geyser Basin: In August, congress passed the Hayes Act, which allowed the construction of improvements within an eighth of a mile of Yellowstone’s geysers, and, in November, fire destroyed Hobart’s Hotel. For the next few years, the YPA housed overnight guests in tent cabins, and fed them from a new log building that served as a combination kitchen/dining hall and company office.10

While the YPA went as far as hiring an architect to draft the plans for a new, Queen Ann-style hotel in Upper Geyser Basin, the financial footing of the company was uncertain, and it could not proceed with construction. Meanwhile, in order to continue its influence over hotel development and operation in the park, in 1898, the Northern Pacific Railroad, acting through its subsidiary, the Northwest Improvement Company, purchased a controlling interest in the YPA. With control of the YPA in hand, the railroad looked for an appropriate purchaser, which it found in E. W.

Bach, Silas Huntley, and Harry W. Child, the owners of the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, who had successfully operated the concession for transportation services in the park since 1891.

9 George S. Anderson, Superintendent Yellowstone National Park, Report of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1898, p. 7.

10 Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, pp. 3-4.

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In 1901, the Northwest Improvement Company sold its share in the YPA to the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company principals, who, for a time, continued to operate the hotel concession under the name of the YPA. The same year, Silas Huntley died, leaving Harry W. Child to preside over both the transportation company and their newly acquired hotel concession.11

One of Child’s early decisions as YPA president was the 1903 hiring of a young California-based architect, Robert C. Reamer, to work in Yellowstone. Reamer had been recommended to Child by Reamer’s former employer, Elisha S. Babcock. Reamer worked on projects for Babcock’s Coronado Beach Company in San Diego from the mid 1890s through 1902, during which time he was responsible for alterations to the Del Coronado Hotel, as well as the design of new buildings in the resort complex. Babcock encouraged Reamer to accept a position with Child, indicating that the association would likely result in other profitable connections with the Northern Pacific Railroad.12 Indeed, Reamer’s 1903 foray into Yellowstone National Park marked the beginning of a 35-year relationship between the architect and the YPA and its successor companies [the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company (YPHC) and the Yellowstone Park Company (YPC)], which would eventually hold the concession to all of the park’s hotels, lodges, and transportation services.13 Although the company did occasionally employ other architects for design work in Yellowstone, its president, Harry Child, and his successor, W. M. “Billy” Nichols, hired Reamer to design virtually all of the major additions and alterations to the park’s hotels until Reamer’s death in 1938.

Reamer’s first assignment in Yellowstone was to design a new hotel for the Upper Geyser Basin, the Old Faithful Inn. The Secretary of the Interior approved Reamer’s architectural drawings in May, and with a $100,000 loan from the Northern Pacific Railroad, the YPA initiated construction of the new hotel in June of 1903. Working throughout the winter, Old Faithful Inn opened to the public on June 1, 1904.14 Using locally sourced timber and stone, the resulting building was a masterpiece of rustic design.

In 1913, Reamer returned to Yellowstone to design a new wing for Old Faithful Inn. Referred to as the south or east wing, this three-story addition represented a rather stark departure from the design of the original building.

While the roof of the original consisted of a complex series of steep gables with intersecting gable-roofed dormers, the new wing had a flat roof, with shed extensions. Decorative log trim broke the monotony of the shingle-sided exterior walls. Similarly, the interior walls of the addition were finished with plaster, rather than the natural board and log walls of the original building. Several suggestions have been offered to account for the change in design.

Quinn suggests that the major guiding force behind the erection of the 1913 wing was building the addition as quickly as possible.15 However, later correspondence indicates that the YPA favored the use of flat roofs because they were sturdier and easier to maintain than the steeply pitched roofs of the original volume.16 For whatever reason, the park superintendent appears to have had no issues with the design of the new wing, noting in his annual report for 1913 only that the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company was “... at work enlarging Old Faithful Inn, at Upper Geyser Basin, where increased facilities for caring for tourists are much needed. Over 100 rooms will be added to this already large hotel.”17 The company completed the work on the new wing in the spring of 1914.

11 Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, pp. 4-5.

12 Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, p. 6.

13 In 1936, the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, Yellowstone Park Lodge Company, and Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, and three other small companies, merged to form the Yellowstone Park Company, with W. M. Nichols serving as President and Vernon Goodwin serving as Vice President. Culpin, For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People, p. 129.

14 While Reamer was brought to the park specifically to design the Upper Geyser Basin hotel, the YPA also tasked him with designing modifications to Lake Hotel, transforming it from a generic frame building into a grand Colonial Style edifice.

15 Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, p. 95.

16 Ibid.

17 Brett, Lloyd M., Report of the Acting Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1913, p. 5.

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Besides the new wing for the inn, the company also added several ancillary buildings within its lease area at Old Faithful. These include: an eight-room Men’s Dormitory and a four-room Engineer’s Dorm. There is no indication that Reamer was involved in the design of these ancillary buildings, however, both shared some simple rustic design elements such as shingle exterior wall and roof finishes.

The Establishment of the National Park Service and the Beginning of Comprehensive Planning Efforts

The creation of the National Park Service in August of 1916 brought sweeping changes to park concessions throughout the national park system. The agency’s first director, Stephen T. Mather, and his assistant, Horace Albright, conducted an inspection of the national parks during the summer of 1916. Recommendations for Yellowstone resulting from this tour included the consolidation of similar concession services under separate companies. The Yellowstone Park Hotel Company would continue to operate the park’s hotels, while transportation and camp ground services (both previously provided by several different operators) would be consolidated under the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company and the Yellowstone Park Camping Company, respectively.18

Besides the reorganization of concession businesses, the new National Park Service brought a “concerted, businesslike approach to the operation of the national park system.”19 Included in the new approach was the need for planned development of both concession and administrative facilities. Secretary of the Interior, Franklin Lane, issued a statement establishing that landscape preservation and harmonization would guide all park development and use. To that end, in 1918 the service hired its first landscape architects, or “landscape engineers,” Charles Punchard, Daniel Hull, and Thomas Vint. The men of the new Landscape Division were charged with locating and designing park roads, with designing improvements built by the park service, and with reviewing the plans proposed by the concessioners.20 Working with park service employees, the Landscape Division was responsible for the master plans developed for each of the national parks beginning in the late 1920s.

In 1919, Horace Albright returned to Yellowstone National Park as its first civilian superintendent. Albright supervised the park’s concessions operations closely, including Harry Child’s two companies, the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company and the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company. Prior to the establishment of the National Park Service, the concessioner’s leases had included a provision that required approval of new construction by the Secretary of the Interior. However, these approvals were often sought after the fact. With its new cadre of landscape architects and engineers, the National Park Service was determined to ensure that development did not destroy the natural features of the parks. Gone were the days of concessioners’ architects building as they

go. Hence forth, the agency asserted its right to approve concessioners’ general development plans, the sites of new buildings, construction drawings for new buildings, and major additions to existing buildings, as well as grounds improvement work such as landscaping and the placement of roads.

By the end of the 1920 season, Albright had assessed the facilities and operations of the hotel company and made recommendations for improvements and additions to most of its hotels. For Old Faithful Inn, he recommended that it “..should be enlarged by a new wing of rooms, with and without baths, lobby should be enlarged, and grounds should be planted with shrubbery and grass.”21 Over the next decade, the hotel company complied with most of Albright’s recommendations.

18 Culpin, For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People, p. 60.

19 Ibid, p.61.

20 Linda Flint McClelland, Presenting Nature: The Historic Landscape Design of the National park Service 1916-1942, (Interagency Resources Division, National Register of Historic Places, US Department of the Interior, 1993), p. 115.

21 Excerpt from Albright’s report to National Park Service Director, Stephen Mather, 21 October 1920, quoted in For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People, p 67.

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One of the first projects undertaken by the company was an addition to its hotel on the banks of Yellowstone Lake. Once again, Harry Child employed Reamer to design the Lake Hotel “Annex” (or east wing). Although a relatively simple design, Reamer repeated some architectural elements of the Colonial design, to make it match his 1903 remodel.

While the Lake Hotel addition appears to have been Reamer’s major project for 1922, he also designed a new Girls’ Dormitory at Old Faithful Inn. His design for the new dormitory closely mirrored that of the inn’s south/ east wing, which he had executed eight years before, in 1913. Like the addition, the new dormitory had a flat, tar- and gravel-covered roof, with shed extensions around its perimeter, supported by pole brackets—giving it a ‘mansard-like’ appearance. The exterior walls were covered with wood shakes, with decorative whole log trim marking the line between the first and second floors and creating bays in the second story (Figure H-3). A note on the plans indicates that the windows and doors for the dormitory were to be taken from the old Fountain Hotel, which the company had abandoned in 1917.22

Figure H-3. Robert Reamer’s plans for the new Old Faithful Girls’ Dormitory

(Drawing No101/70052, Technical Information Center, Denver Service Center, USDI National Park Service).

In his monthly report for August of 1922, superintendent Horace Albright, noted “ … at Old Faithful work has been started on the new Girls’ Dormitory of 58 rooms …”23 While construction began in August, it appears that the plans were not approved by Director Kemmerer until October, by which time the hotel company had ceased work on the building in order to concentrate its efforts on completing the new wing at Lake Hotel.24 Work on the dormitory resumed in May of 1923, and by June workers had finished the plastering and had moved on to the interior trim work.

22 Drawing No101/70052 “Girl’s Dormitory, Yellowstone Park, Yellowstone Park Hotel Co.,” drawing available at Technical Information Center, Denver Service Center, USDI National Park Service, Denver, Colorado; Culpin, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People,” p60.

23 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for August, 1922, submitted to the Director National Park Service, September 8, 1922, p 15..

24 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for October, 1922, submitted to the Director National Park Service, November 9, 1922, p 10, YNPL; Drawing No. 101/70052 “Girl’s Dormitory, Yellowstone Park, Yellowstone Park Hotel Co.,” drawing available at Technical Information Center , Denver Service Center, USDI National Park Service, Denver, Colorado (hereinafter TIC, DSC).

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In his monthly report for July, Albright stated that the dormitory was “... completed and occupied.” 25 Albright also noted that the company’s crews had begun construction of a new girl’s laundry/store room at Old Faithful, and was approximately three-quarters completed26 The new laundry/store room, located to the rear of the Girls’ Dormitory, was completed in August.27 A 1924 plat of the YPHC’s Old Faithful lease shows that the company’s improvements at this location occupied a little over eight acres-with Old Faithful Inn dominating the site.28

Additional improvements within the hotel company’s Old Faithful lease did not occur until 1926. This may have been due to the fact that representatives from the Landscape Division did not undertake intensive planning for this area until late in the season of that year. In September, Superintendent Albright sent a telegram to Director Mather, complaining that Yellowstone had “very little attention from Landscape men this year. Less than other Parks.” He went on to explain that National Park Service Landscape Engineer, Thomas Vint, was in the park and helping with general development plans for Old Faithful, Canyon, and West Thumb, laying out “vista cutting and other work for cleanup crews” and intended to consult with the district engineer on road matters. Albright ended with the message, “Need him two weeks longer at least.”29

It is likely that Vint’s efforts at Old Faithful included the siting of additions to the Old Faithful Inn, including a new guest room wing, and expansion of the dining room, the lobby, and the porte cochere—all projects recommended by Albright in 1920.30 The company also proposed modifications to some of the ancillary buildings in the Old Faithful Inn complex, including the girls’ and boys’ dormitories. In early August of 1926, William “Billy” Nichols of the hotel company wrote directly to Daniel Hull, the Chief Landscape Engineer in the Landscape Division, apprising him of plans to modify the Old Faithful boys’ dormitory, originally built in 1913:

You will probably remember the boys’ dormitory at old Faithful which is in the rear of the hotel and across the creek. We want to add four rooms to it on the North end, adding to that end and to the rear so as to make an “L” about sixty feet long at that end of the building.

We will follow the same design as the present building which you will remember is boards in log trim As this will not show from any part of the hotel, can you authorize it without having the plans and specifications?

An early answer will be much appreciated.31

Hull agreed and sent a telegram to Superintendent Albright indicating that he should approve the plan.32 Meanwhile, the hotel company once again engaged Robert Reamer to design the new wing for Old Faithful Inn.

He had drawings ready in the spring of 1927. However the design of the massive, three-story addition caused consternation among the park staff and the Landscape Division.

25 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for May, 1923, submitted to the Director National Park Service, June 7, 1923, p 16; Monthly Report for June, 1923, submitted to the Director National Park Service, July 7, 1923, p 23; Monthly Report for July, 1923, submitted to the Director National Park Service, August 7, 1923, p 22.

26 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for July, 1923, submitted to the Director National Park Service, August 7, 1923, p 22.

27 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for August, 1923, submitted to the Director National Park Service, October 8, 1923.

28 Lease No. 6 and associated plat. Folder 2, Box 5, Series I Administration Files (YELL 123369), Commercial Visitor Services Records, Record Group (RG) 05, YNPA.

29 Albright to Stephen T. Mather, telegram dated September 25, 1926. Folder 5, Box 4, Series V: Planning, Design & Construction Projects:

Grounds & Shorelines (Yell 182386), YNPA 30 Note that the National Register nomination for the Old Faithful Historic District indicates that the YPHC added two new buildings to the Old Faithful Inn complex in 1926. These include: a small employee dormitory (HS-2316) located south of the 1913 men’s dormitory, and a combination power house and laundry directly behind the inn (HS-2306.)

31 W. M. Nichols to D. R. Hull, Telegram dated August 12, 1926. Folder 4 “Yellowstone Park Hotel Company – Construction of Buildings 1926- 1927”, Box 27, Series VII “Records of Buildings and Facilities”, RG 05 Commercial Visitor Services Records, YNPA.

32 Hull to Albright, telegram dated August 16, 1926. Folder 4 “Yellowstone Park Hotel Company – Construction of Buildings 1926-1927”, Box 27, Series VII “Records of Buildings and Facilities”, RG 05 Commercial Visitor Services Records, YNPA.

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While there was general agreement that the site selected for the Y-shaped addition was the only feasible alternative, Superintendent Albright and Thomas Vint objected to its flat roof.33 As indicated previously, the hotel company had begun using flat roofs in 1913, with the construction of the inn’s first (south/east) wing. With conditional approval to begin construction on the two lower stories, a contractor began excavating for the footings for the addition in June of 1927.34 While visiting the park during the first part of July, Vint “finally agreed to accept the plan of the architect who was the designer of the original Old Faithful Inn, leaving the responsibility for the new wing entirely on its author.”35

Vint returned to the park in August of 1927, no doubt to review the construction projects underway at Old Faithful.

After his trip, he sent a letter to Horace Albright regarding the need to improve the appearance of the area behind the inn. He suggested that the utilities for the “service units” at Old Faithful (presumably the combination power house/laundry) should be relocated across the stream that transected the hotel company’s lease--in the area occupied by the three employee dormitories (built in 1913, 1922/23, and 1926) and the laundry/warehouse behind the Girls’ Dormitory (built in 1923). He also commented on the character of the temporary housing noting that: “There are a number of ten(t) frames and temporary residences for hotel employees constructed each year in different places to the rear of the hotel These give the area a very sloppy appearance and there is apparently a need for such quarters or they would not be reconstructed each season ….”36

This reference to the need to improve the appearance of employee housing may have prompted the hotel company to ask Robert Reamer to design an addition to the Old Faithful Inn Girls’ Dormitory, completed in 1923 (Figure H-4). While the architectural plans for this addition do not bear Reamer’s signature, it is unlikely that they originated from the Landscape Division, as National Park Service policy limited its work to government buildings and structures.

The addition was attached to the west end of the rear wall of the original building, creating an L-shaped footprint.

A notation on the plans directed that all details were to match the existing work. Accordingly, the new component consisted of two stories with a flat, tar and gravel roof, with shed “extensions’ around the perimeter. Two-light over two-light, double-hung windows were evenly spaced along each wall. While the side walls were to be covered with shakes, specifications for the end wall indicated that it was to be covered with shingles. Exterior log trim on the upper story matched that of the original component. When completed, the addition added ten bedrooms and one bath on each of its two floors (see Figure H-4).

33 Horace M. Albright, Superintendent to Director, National Park Service, June 1,1927;Thomas C. Vint, Associate Landscape Engineer to Director, National Park Service, June 8, 1927; ; R. C. Reamer to H. M. Albright, Superintendent, June 9, 1927; Stephen T. Mather, Director to H. M.

Albright, Supt., Yellowstone National Park, June 23, 1927; R. C. Reamer to H. W. Child telegram dated June 25, 1927.Folder 2, Box 27, Series VII, Records of Buildings and Facilities, RG 05 Commercial Visitor Services Records, YNPA.

34 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for June, 1927, submitted to the Director National Park Service July 3, 1927.

35 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for July, 1927, submitted to the Director National Park Service August 9, 1927, p.4.

36 T. C. Vint “Memorandum for Mr. Albright covering items concerning landscape work on Trip from August 29, to September 11, 1927.” Folder 5 “Hull, D. R. (Landscape Engineer), Correspondence, 1927-1928,” Box 4, Series V: Planning, Design & Construction Projects: Grounds & Shorelines, RG 04: Facilities & Maintenance Records, YNPA.

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Figure H-4. “Addition to Girls’ Dormitory at OF.” (Drawing No101/70053, Technical Information

Center, Denver Service Center, USDI National Park Service).

Unfortunately, Albright’s monthly reports are comparatively silent on the progress of the addition to the Girls’ Dormitory. In his report for September of 1927, he stated that the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company was working on the new wing at Old Faithful Inn, “building a new Girls’ Dormitory, painting the inside of the boys’ dormitory, remodeling the hotel lobby and building an addition to the dining room.”37 The reference to a “new Girls’ Dormitory,” is likely a mistake, which Albright corrected in his annual report for 1927. In that report he noted that the hotel company’s activities for the year included: “..150 room addition (to the inn) including 95 bathrooms, addition to lobby, addition to dining room; addition to Girls Dormitory (emphasis added); new tailor shop; completion of outside fire protection.”38 In addition, under the heading “Landscape Engineering,” Albright stated that the hotel company had finally demolished the old Fountain Hotel.39 Although not called out on the architectural plans, it is possible that the doors and windows for the addition to the Girls’ Dormitory came from the Fountain Hotel.

With the new wing open to guests in 1928, the hotel company proceeded with additions to some of the ancillary buildings associated with the inn. In the fall of that year, Kenneth McCarter, the Jr. Landscape Architect assigned to the park, reported to Acting Superintendent M. F. Daum, that the hotel company was half way to completing an addition to the men’s dormitory located behind the Inn, “making the building a U shape.” He noted that the company had not consulted either Thomas Vint or himself about the work.40

In 1929, the hotel company made further modifications to the buildings in the Old Faithful Inn group. William Nichols submitted tracings to Kenneth McCarter for additions to the power house behind the inn, which McCarter recommended for approval.41

37 Horace Albright, Monthly Report for September, 1927 Submitted to the Director National Park Service, October 8, 1927, p. 8.

38 Horace Albright, Superintendent Yellowstone National Park, Annual Report for Yellowstone National Park to the Secretary of the Interior, 1927,

p. 25.

39 Ibid, p. 9.

40 KCMcCarter, “Memo for MrDaum Weekly report from KCMcCarter week ending Sept 30, 1928.” Folder 4 “Landscape Matters, 1929, Box 5, Series V: Planning, Design, & Construction Projects: Grounds & Shorelines, RG 04: Facilities & Maintenance Records (YELL 182386), YNPA.

41 K. C. McCarter, “Report of Kenneth C. McCarter, Junior Landscape Architect, Week of July 22-28, 1929.” Folder 5: Landscape matters, 1930, Box 5, Series V, RG 04, YNPA.

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Similarly, he approved the proposed additions to the kitchen at the inn, which included dormitories on the second floor. The new park superintendent, Roger Toll, concurred and forwarded the plans to Washington DC.42

Impact of the Great Depression on Concession Services

The Wall Street crash that occurred in October of 1929 produced an almost immediate effect on Yellowstone tourism. During the first half of the 1930s, park visitation declined dramatically, with the most substantial drop seen in rail passengers, which constituted the majority of the hotel company’s clientele. Consequently, it suffered the greatest losses. During the 1930 season, the company’s only improvements were the addition of a warehouse for its Lake Hotel and the initiation of construction of a wing in its Canyon hotel—however the latter project was not completed and operational until 1934.43

Other than the new construction at its Canyon hotel, during the first half of the 1930s, most of the hotel company’s activities were limited to routine maintenance. In1932, company employees painted the roofs of Old Faithful Inn and its hotel at Mammoth.44 In his annual report for 1933, Superintendent Toll wrote: “Because it was the poorest season in the history of the [hotel] company, nothing was done except to take care of repairs and renewals absolutely required.”45 That year, the company only opened Old Faithful Inn and its hotel at Canyon—the others remained shuttered.

By the middle of the decade, tourist travel began to pick up. At the end of the 1935 season Superintendent Toll noted:

A large increase in travel had its effect on the business of the operators and the percentage in gain in business was comparable to the percentage increase in travel. While this travel came as more or less of a surprise the operators were able to accommodate all visitors, although there were a number of times when the housekeeping cabin facilities were taxed to capacity at the larger areas. The hotels and lodges were not filled to capacity, prior to June 30, despite the fact that the Mammoth and Lake Hotels were not operating.46

However the concessioners remained on maintenance only footing. Superintendent Toll enumerated projects conducted by the hotel company at Old Faithful, which included: improvements to its water supply, carpeting 20 rooms, furnished new rugs for the mezzanine floor, carpeting the halls in the new (west) wing, reupholstering the furniture in the lobby, installation of a new bake oven in the kitchen, and “necessary painting to take care of wear and tear.”47

In May of 1936, the park’s Resident Landscape Architect, Frank Mattson, wrote to the Chief Architect of the Branch of Plans and Design in Washington DC apprising him of the possibility that the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company and the Yellowstone Park Camps and Lodges Company might consolidate.48 The two companies went ahead with the merger, which also included the transportation company (Child’s original concession), as well as the boat and fuel companies.

42 K. C. McCarter, “Report of Kenneth C. McCarter, Junior Landscape Architect, Week of August 19-25, 1929.” Folder 5: Landscape matters, 1930, Box 5, Series V, RG 04, YNPA.

43 Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1930, p. 23; Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, p. 156.

44 Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1932, p. 18.

45 Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1933, p. 22.

46 Roger Toll, Annual Report for 1935, p. 35.

47 Ibid.

48 Frank Mattson to Chief Architect, Branch of Plans and Design, April 2, 1936Folder “Leases (Concessioners) 1928-1936, Box 3, Series I Administration Files (YELL 123369), YNPA. Note that the construction of the west/north wing on Old Faithful Inn extended beyond the boundary of the hotel company’s Old Faithful lease site. One of Mattson’s duties was to approve concessioners’ leases, and he noted that many of the leases exceeded the limits as codified in law.

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The newly organized company called itself simply, the Yellowstone Park Company (YPC). William Nichols served as president of the new entity, and Vernon Goodwin (formerly head of the camps and lodges company) as its vice president.49

The year following the merger was a good one for the YPC. In his annual report for 1937, Superintendent Toll reported:

The business of the park operators was in step with the large increase in travel and all of the companies reported excellent profits at the end of the 1936 season. Due to the tremendous increase in travel the accommodations in the park were taxed to capacity most of summer, particularly the housekeeping cabins and lodges. At the Lake hotel the company opened the girl’s dormitory about the middle of July and provided 48 additional rooms to supplement lodge accommodations. The Lake hotel remained closed during the 1936 season, but was reopened for the 1937 season after having been closed for the previous five years. The slight difference in price between hotel and lodge accommodations resulted in most of the rail visitors using the hotels thereby leaving the lodge space to accommodate motorists. This arrangement appears to have worked very satisfactorily and has resulted in the occupancy of most of the space in the hotels which directly affected the reopening of the Lake Hotel and improvements at Mammoth.50

Park visitation continued to improve during the later part of the 1930s through 1941. Most of the YPC’s major hotel facilities had been completed, so expenditures were mainly concentrated on improving the lodge complexes, with annual maintenance, with updating utilities (including the conversion from wood- to oil-burning boilers), and with repair and replacement of furnishings in its quest and employee lodgings. One such expenditure included the 1938 purchase of 130 yards of cretonne draperies for the Girls’ Dormitory at Old Faithful Inn.51

In 1941, however, the trajectory of increasing visitation changed with the entry of the United States into World War II. By 1943, the impact to the park and its concessioners had become apparent. In his annual report for that year, Superintendent Rogers stated:

It was expected that the Yellowstone Park Company would take a heavy loss this War year due to its tremendous investments, while the smaller operators might be able to meet expenses through their curtailed operations. It was very difficult for the operators to obtain sufficient and experienced help.52

With the nation still on a war footing, in 1944 there was no attempt to advertise concession services in Yellowstone.

None of the hotels, lodges, or cafeterias opened, as there was no bus service to the park entrances. The only facilities that opened were the general stores at Old Faithful, Mammoth, and Fishing Bridge, all of which accommodated a limited number of overnight guests.