Attachment_4_Historic_Structures_Report.pdf

M A M M O T H H O T S P R I N G S H O T E L H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t

Ye l l o w s t o n e N a t i o n a l Pa r k

A&E Architects Project No.: 13092

March, 2015

NPS Contract No.: P11PC10372

N AT I O N A L PA R K S E R V I C E

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

M a m m o t h H o t S p r i n g s , W Y

222 N. Higgins Ave . Missoula , MT 59802

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t - T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s -

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS HOTEL

H I S T O R I C S T R U C T U R E R E P O R T

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 1: DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

A Historical Background and Context

B Chronology of Development and Use

Development and Use of the Site Development and Use of Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (HS-2025

C Architectural Description (Existing Conditions)

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel Description and Condition

PART 2: TREATMENT AND USE

A Management Philosophy and Primary Treatment

B Requirements for Treatment

C Alternatives for Treatment

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (HS – 2025) D Basis-of-Design

APPENDICES

A. Bibliography

B. List of Figures

C. Schematic Design Drawings Phase 1 Seismic Retrofit

D. Building Code Review

E. Guest Room Potential Design Options

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y This Historic Structure Report (HSR) provides historical and architectural information pertinent to the

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Located at Mammoth Hot Springs, the administrative headquarters for

Yellowstone National Park, the first iteration of this Hotel was built by the Yellowstone Park Improvement

Company (Figure E1). However, the current appearance of the hotel building dates to the mid-1930s reconstruction of the entire hotel complex at Mammoth Hot Springs. Between 1936 and 1938, the majority of the buildings associated with the then-existing hotel were razed to make room for a new complex of Art

Moderne-style buildings designed for the site by Robert Reamer.

The purpose of this report is to identify the significant character-defining architectural features of the

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and to provide general guidance for treatment. Part 1A provides general contextual information pertinent to the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, while Part 1B contains information about the development and use of the current hotel site and the hotel building. Part 1C documents the existing appearance and condition of the hotel, and enumerates its character-defining architectural features.

Part 2, Treatment and Use provides a recommendation for an appropriate level of preservation treatment for the building, which is listed as a contributing building in the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. This section of the HSR includes actions designed to preserve the character-defining features of the building and achieve the ultimate treatment. Also included in this section is a “Basis of Design” report with Schematic

Design for the repurposing and rehabilitation of the hotel.

DJ&A Engineers was contracted to complete the first phase of a multi-phase project that will eventually result in the seismic stabilization of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in Yellowstone National Park. In support of this project, DJ&A was tasked with reviewing and updating the 2010 Condition Assessment reports and provide an

Historic Structures Report. DJ&A teamed with A&E Architects and other sub-consultants to perform those tasks associated with Phase 1 of this project. James R. McDonald of A&E Architects, along with staff, conducted the Condition Assessment of the hotel in the summer and fall of 2014. McDonald documented the building's significant architectural elements, identified areas of deterioration, and formulated the preservation treatment recommendations. Beaudette Consulting Engineers performed the structural assessment that informed some of the treatment recommendations. Associated Construction Engineering completed an analysis of the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire suppression systems. Janene Caywood, CRCS, prepared the historical data sections of this document. Caywood conducted research in the Yellowstone Park

Archives, Library, and Museum Collections (all located in the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center in

Gardiner, Montana). She also consulted secondary references, including Mary Shivers Culpin’s A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966, which provided information regarding the history of the Yellowstone Park Company.1 In addition, Ruth Quinn’s Weaver of Dreams: the Life and Architecture of Robert C. Reamer, provided background information regarding Robert Reamer’s body of work for the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company.2

Major Findings: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel represents one of a complex of Art Moderne-style buildings designed in 1936 by Robert Reamer to transform the then-existing Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel into a “lodge style” facility. This conversion was consistent with National Park Service policy, which promoted the construction

1 Mary Shivers Culpin, 2003, A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966. National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Document No. YCR-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.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 2 of facilities that appealed to the majority of park visitors, who by that time were accessing the parks in their own automobiles.

The hotel building consists of two structural components; the four-story “Guest Wing” built in 1913 as an addition to the old hotel, and the two-story “Lounge Building,” designed in 1936 and constructed in 1937. As originally designed, the 1913 wing contained 124 guest rooms. Subsequent remodeling has resulted in the conversion of some guest rooms into offices for concession employees. The lounge building originally contained two primary interior spaces: a lobby with a registration desk to accommodate guests checking into both the cottages and the hotel rooms, and the lounge proper. Besides the reception area, the lobby contained men’s and women’s restrooms, a porter’s room, and a telegraph office. The lounge, now known as the “Map Room,” originally was intended for the exclusive use of the hotel guests; those staying in the cottages were supposed to use the services provided in the recreation building behind the lounge.

The current conditions that influenced the treatment recommendations in this report include the fact that neither of the hotel’s two components (the 1913 guest wing and the 1937 Lounge Building), meet modern seismic standards; both components require retrofitting. Secondly, some of the original intended uses of space within the Lounge Building have been usurped by other uses. For example, the lounge (Map Room) currently accommodates a variety of NPS administrative uses (meeting, conferences, etc.) that require that the room be closed to guests. This is exacerbated by the fact that the Recreation Hall, originally intended for use by cottage guests, is now used exclusively by concessions staff. While both hotel and cottage guests are welcome to use the lounge / Map Room, they are often prevented from doing so when the room is reserved for other uses.

Similarly, the office space in the second floor of the Lounge Building is not configured to meet current concession and administrative needs. By moving concession staff to the currently vacant Haynes Photo Shop, and reconfiguring the existing second-floor office space to accommodate large meetings, guests will once again be able to enjoy the lounge / Map Room.

Other issues include the fact that gift shop operations have gradually expanded into the lobby, which in turn diminishes the space for guests checking in or out of the hotel. Also, the hotel is now open during the winter months, and the concessioner offers ski rentals. This rental facility currently is housed in a trailer moved into the site during the rental season. As currently configured, the lobby portion of the Lounge Building does not have sufficient space to accommodate the gift shop and seasonal ski rental. For these reasons, the rehabilitation treatment includes the construction of a two-story, architecturally compatible addition to the west side of the

Lounge Building. A one-story addition will be added to the rear (north) wall, to accommodate a new, more formal entrance for the guests, the majority of whom enter the building from the rear parking area. The rear addition will not be visible from the building’s façade.

The year-around use of the hotel and the opportunities to use the hotel for meetings requires that the building be made comfortable for the visitor. The heating and ventilation systems will be upgraded to provide a more even heat in the building. Insulation will be added to the walls and ceilings, and windows will be replaced to meet energy considerations. All efforts will be made to upgrade the mechanical and electrical systems to save on energy and potentially to meet LEED requirements. All of this will not only provide a quality hotel for the visitor experience in the park, but will also preserve this historically significant building.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 3

A d m i n i s t r a t i v e D a t a Common Name: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel Historic Name: National Hotel (1893- 1904); Mammoth Hotel (1904-1936); Mammoth Springs Hotel and Cottages (1939-1965); Mammoth Motor Inn (1966-1977) Smithsonian Number: 48YE486 Historic Structure Number: HS-2025 LCS Number: 10936 FMSS Number: 3830 Locational Data: USGS Mammoth 1986 Quadrangle (unsurveyed) UTM point references: Zone 12, 523530 m E; 498365 m N (NAD 83)

Proposed Level of Preservation Treatment: The proposed level of preservation treatment for the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is rehabilitation, which is defined as “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: Historic Structures Report: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone National Park, November 19954; National Register of Historic Places registration form for the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District, 2000; List of Classified Structures, updated 2008.

Date of listing in the National Register: The Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District (NRIS Number 02000257) was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 2002.

Period and level of significance: The period of significance identified for the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District is 1891 to 1948. The district is listed at the state level of significance.

National Register Criteria and Areas of Significance: The Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District is listed under National Register Criteria A and C. Areas of significance include: Entertainment/Recreation, Architecture, Military, and Conservation.

National Register Statement of Significance:

The Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District has statewide significance as the administrative and concession headquarters of the largest national park in Wyoming. The district is significant under Criterion A for its historical association with the development of Yellowstone National Park, and more specifically, with the development of administrative and concession policies in Yellowstone and the national park system. The district’s location, near one of the major natural curiosities in the park, the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, and at the juncture of the first entrance road to the park, resulted in its selection as the site of the first administrative headquarters and the site of the first concessions in the first national park in the United States.

The first hotels in Yellowstone were located at Mammoth Hot Springs, as well as the first retail store, photograph shop, and filling station, the successors of which still operate within the district. Yellowstone Park historian, Aubrey Haines, called mammoth “the most important place name related to the Park’s concession business.” The army era in the national parks is also associated with the district, which includes Fort

Yellowstone, the best-preserved post representing the early military efforts to protect the nation’s natural resources. (Fort Yellowstone has been separately nominated as a National Historic Landmark district). The

3 Director’s Order 28 (NPS-28) Cultural Resource Management Guideline, Appendix A: Glossary, NPS Office of Policy (http://www.nps.gov/online_books/nps28/28appena.htm, accessed 10/12/2014).

4 James R. McDonald Architects Historic Structures Report: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Yellowstone National Park, Report prepared for TW Recreational Services and Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, November 1995.

This report covered the entire hotel complex at Mammoth, not just the hotel building.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 4 district is also significant for its association with early history of the National Park Service, reflecting the influence of that agency on park development in areas, such as preserving natural features and scenic resources, responding to the popularity of the automobile, creating museums and educational programs, and incorporating master plans in park design. The district is also associated with the history of New Deal era public works programs, having benefitted from several projects that provided funding and manpower for improvements and new construction.

Mammoth Hot Springs is also significant under Criterion C for its architecture. Fort Yellowstone, within the district, reflects the layout and architecture of a typical western army fort of the late nineteenth century, and is remarkable for its level of integrity, the masonry displayed in its native sandstone buildings, and the substantial quality of its construction. The buildings of the military period are representative of the work of the

United States Quartermaster Corps and Reed and Stem. Buildings erected after the military era in the administrative area of the district are significant for their representation of the work of architects of the National

Park Service, and the landscape of the district reflects the influence of the agency’s master plans and the efforts of its landscape architects. Government buildings of the post–military era include representative examples of the French Renaissance and English Tudor style architecture. The concession area buildings are notable for their reflection of the evolution of park commercial architecture from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. Included with the district are concession buildings which are excellent representatives of Colonial Revival, Rustic, Prairie, and Art Moderne styles. The work of architects hired by concessioners, including Robert C. Reamer and Fred Wilson, is also represented in the district.5

5 R. Laurie and Thomas Simmons, “National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District,” 2000, Section 8 pages 1 and 2.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 6

P A R T 1 - D E V E L O P M E N T A L H I S T O R Y

A. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The Beginning of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park Mammoth Hot Springs was one of the first areas within Yellowstone National Park to be developed by private operators. In 1871, a year before the signing of the Organic Act that created the park, entrepreneurs Harry

Horr and James McCartney, built a small log ‘hotel’ at Mammoth Hot Springs.6 Immediately after the signing of the act, the newly formed Department of the Interior began receiving requests for hotel leases upon which to develop tourist facilities within 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, McCartney’s

Hotel was one of only two tourist hotels inside the park boundary—the other being Marshall’s Hotel in Lower

Geyser Basin.

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 investors in the improvement company proposed to capitalize on the new tourism market by building hotel accommodations inside the park. 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. In 1882, the newly established Yellowstone Park Improvement Company (YPIC) received a lease from the Department of the

Interior to build hotels at several locations inside the park boundary.

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

The company hired architect, L. F. Buffington of St. Paul, Minnesota to design the turreted, Queen Ann-style building.7 Located between Fort Yellowstone on the west and the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces on the east, the main portion of the hotel opened to receive visitors on July 30, 1883.8 However, just two years later, the

YPIC was bankrupt, and its assets taken over by 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 granted to the improvement company. The YPA completed the hotel at Mammoth (Figure H-1), and opened temporary tent-style lunch stations at several locations within the park.

6 This log building was located in Clemantis Gulch, just north of the Mammoth terraces.

7 Mary Schrivers Culpin, For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People: A History of Concession Development in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966, (Yellowstone National Park: Yellowstone Center for Resources, 2003), p. 12.

8 Lee H. Whittlesey, ‘This Modern Saratoga of the Wilderness’: A History of Mammoth Hot Springs and the Village of Mammoth in Yellowstone National Park, Unpublished National Park Service manuscript, 2010-2014), pp 133-134.

Manuscript available at Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 7

Figure H-1. The façade of the Mammoth Hotel (originally named the National Hotel) as it appeared in

1901 (Photo No. H-4129, Haynes Foundation Collection, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana).

Despite the growing popularity of the park, the hotel concession continued to struggle financially. Besides its hotel at Mammoth Hot Springs, the YPA operated the hotel at Lake, the Fountain Hotel in Lower Geyser Basin

(completed the same year as Lake Hotel), and the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel (also known as Hobart’s Hotel) built by the Yellowstone Park Improvement Company on the site of the present day Old Faithful Inn. The

Department of the Interior considered the Upper Geyser Basin Hotel inadequate, and wanted the YPA to replace it with a new facility.

Although the YPA went as far as hiring an architect to draft the plans for a new hotel in Upper Geyser Basin, the financial footing of the company was uncertain, and it could not proceed with the construction. 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 held and profitably operated the concession for transportation services in the park since 1891. In

1901, the Northwest Improvement Company sold its share in the YPA to the Yellowstone Park Transportation

Company principals, who 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.

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 his 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

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 8 position with Child, indicating that the association would likely result in other profitable connections with the

Northern Pacific Railroad.9 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.10 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.

In 1906, Harry Child asked Reamer to prepare at least two conceptual designs for a new hotel at Mammoth— to replace the old National Hotel that the YPA had inherited from the YPIC. However, the company was also considering upgrades to its other facilities, including a major hotel construction project at Canyon. Perhaps because of these reasons, neither of Reamer’s proposals for a new building at Mammoth Hot Springs progressed beyond the conceptual design phase.11 In 1913, however, Reamer did preside over the remodeling of the Mammoth Hotel, during which the top floor of the building was removed and a new flat roof installed (Figure H-2). Also part of the remodel was the construction of a new four-story wing, attached to the east end of the old hotel. The hotel company built the new wing for the Mammoth Hotel with day labor and without the benefit of construction drawings. According to W. M. Nichols, President of the YPHC, “Reamer does much better to build as he goes along rather than to draw up a set of specifications and be tied down to them”.12 No construction drawings for the remodel of the old Mammoth Hotel have been found, indicating that

Reamer may have followed that procedure for the guest wing component of the 1913 work.

9 Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, pp 29-32.

10 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.

11 Quinn, Weaver of Dreams, p. 60.

12 W. M. Nichols to Lieut. Col. L. M. Brett, Superintendent Yellowstone National Park, April 18, 1914. Letter on file at Rocky Mountain Regional Office, National Park Service, Denver Colorado.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 9

Figure H-2. Photograph of the remodeled Mammoth Hotel taken in 1914, after the Reamer-designed remodel. The new wing is located at the far right of the photo.

(Photo No. H-6058, Haynes Foundation Collection, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana).

T h e E s t a b l i s h m e nt o f t h e N a t i o n a l P a r k S e r v i c e a n d t h e B e g i n n i n g o f C o m p r e h e n s i v e P l a n n i n g E f f o r t s

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 Yellowstone Park Camping Company, respectively.13

Besides the reorganization of concession businesses, the new National Park Service brought a “concerted, businesslike approach to the operation of the national park system.”14 Included in the new approach was the need for planned development of both concession and administrative facilities. In 1918. 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 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.15 Working with park service employees, the

13 Culpin, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People,” p. 60.

14 Ibid. p. 61.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 0

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 concessioner’s architects building as they go. Henceforth, the agency asserted its right to approve general development plans

(including the siting 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 hotel buildings, including the hotels at

Mammoth, Old Faithful, Lake, and Canyon. For Mammoth, he recommended, “... the (hotel) company needed to enlarge the Mammoth Hotel dining room, more rooms added with some baths, and the hotel should be painted.”16

Over the next decade, Child complied with most of Albright’s recommendations, beginning with an addition to the Lake Hotel. In 1922, he hired Reamer to design the addition. In 1927, the hotel company proceeded with the construction of another new wing at Old Faithful Inn (also designed by Reamer), which was finished just prior to the 1929 Wall Street crash and the beginning of the Great Depression. During the first half of the

1930s, park visitation declined dramatically, with the most substantial drop seen in rail passengers. As rail passengers constituted the majority of hotel clientele, the hotel company suffered the greatest losses. During the 1933 season, only two of the hotel company’s facilities, Old Faithful Inn and Canyon Hotel, opened. The improvements to Mammoth Hotel recommended by Albright in 1920 would not occur until the mid 1930s, by which time the agency had adopted a different approach to providing lodging for park visitors.

E f f e c t s o f t h e G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n o n P a r k C o n c e s s i o ne r s One of the nation-wide trends recognized by both National Park Service officials and by the major park concessioners during the depression years, was the preference of park visitors for lodge-style accommodations, i.e., facilities where guests stayed in individual cabins (some equipped with cooking facilities), oriented around a main lodge containing a dining facility or cafeteria, and space for leisure activities.

Yellowstone already possessed four such complexes, Old Faithful Lodge, Lake Lodge, Roosevelt Lodge, and

Mammoth Lodge—all operated by the Yellowstone Lodge and Camps Company under the same ownership as the hotel and transportation companies. In general, these lodge-type facilities had fared better financially during the hardest years of the depression.

In 1934, Thomas Vint, Chief National Park Service Architect, suggested that the Mammoth Lodge be removed and that the Mammoth Hotel should be converted to a lodge-type facility, with cabins surrounding a few central buildings. W. M. Nichols, president of the hotel company since the 1931 death of Harry Child, hired

15 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.

16 Excerpt from Albright’s report to National Park Service Director, Stephen Mather, dated 21 October 1920, quoted in For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People, 67-68.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 1

Reamer to redesign the complex. Reamer proposed razing all but the 1913 wing of the old hotel and building a new “Lounge Building,” a separate dining room, and a separate recreation building. Guests would stay in single or double cottages located behind the new lounge and recreation buildings and in the hotel rooms in the 1913 wing. Reamer argued against simply moving the old Mammoth Lodge cabins to the site of the hotel.

Rather, he designed both single and double wood-frame cabins, with lapped exterior siding.

The conversion of the Mammoth Hotel began in 1936 with the razing of the old hotel and its small ancillary buildings and the construction of the new dining hall, which housed a formal dining room as well as a cafeteria.17 Nineteen thirty-seven saw the completion of the “Lounge Building,” followed by the recreation building. Construction of the Mammoth cottages began in the spring of 1938. After execution of Reamer’s redevelopment scheme, the Yellowstone Park Company renamed the complex Mammoth Springs Hotel.

The Impact of Mission 66 on the Yellowstone Park Company

In 1955, National Park Service Director, Conrad Wirth, initiated Mission 66, a long-range program designed to bring park operations across the country up to an acceptable standard. The target date for completion of the program was 1966—the fiftieth anniversary of the National Park Service. Officials from all of the national parks were expected to provide suggestions for improvements in all areas of management including the state of its concession facilities. A committee of four from Yellowstone, consisting of Superintendent Edmund Rogers, Chief Ranger Otto Brown, Landscape Architect Mattson, and Chief Naturalist Dave Condon, prepared a list of specific recommendations for specific developed areas within the park, including: Lake and Fishing Bridge, West Thumb, Old Faithful, Tower Fall, Roosevelt, Mammoth, and Canyon. It also suggested new development at Bridge Bay. The plan would increase guest room capacity by slightly more than 5,000—at a cost to the concessioner of $13,654,000 in new construction and another $721,200 for rehabilitation.18

Because the YPC owned most of the hotel, lodge, and boating facilities, the company would be required to undertake the improvements. Its new 20-year contract, dated February 3, 1956, contained a provision that required it to begin the building program by April of that year. Although the company was able to secure a loan to begin the initial building program, in the long run it did not have the financial wherewithal to meet the ambitious obligations mandated by the Mission 66 program. In addition, the level of service provided by the company had declined, prompting complaints from visitors. After several years of looking for a buyer, in 1966, the YPC sold its Yellowstone franchise to the Goldfield Corporation, including the Mammoth Hotel and its associated buildings.19 Goldfield Corporation sold to General Host just a few months later.

General Host, however, did not fare much better than the YPC. According to Culpin, “As part of the government contract with General Host, Inc., the company agreed to invest a minimum of $10,000,000 by

December 1975, or its 30-year contract would terminate.” General Host failed to meet this deadline, and although given a two-year extension, in 1976 a study team investigating the concession contract recommended that it be terminated. Subsequent to the canceling of the General Host contract, and the former

Yellowstone Park Company was sold to the United States government for 19.9 million dollars.”20 From 1976 to the present, the former YPC buildings (including the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel) have been operated by a series of concession/resort companies, the most recent being Xanterra Parks and Resorts.

17 Cammerer to Rogers, July 30, 1936. Folder 7, Box 6, Series I: Subject Files, Subseries C: Facilities Management 1920- 1976, Yellowstone Park Company Records, 1892-1979 (Catalogue No. YELL 185385), National Archives and Records Administration, Yellowstone National Park (hereinafter NARA YELL).

18 Culpin, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People,” p. 105-107.

19 Ibid p. 115.

20 Ibid p. 114.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 2

B . CHRONOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND USE

D e v e l o p m e n t a n d U s e o f t h e M a m m o t h H o t S p r i n g s H o t e l S i t e

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is located on the north side of the Grand Loop Road within the Mammoth

Hot Springs area of Yellowstone National Park. The hotel building and the adjacent dining hall both stand within the original footprint of the old National Hotel, which first opened its doors in 1883. When the park began working on its first Master Plan in the late 1920s and early 1930s, planners recommended an almost complete reconfiguration of then existing concession buildings at Mammoth Hot Springs.

The Mammoth Hot Springs and the formations are the most remarkable in the world. Consequently, the setting should be unencumbered by artificial works of man. All building along the road to Golden Gate should be removed, including the Lodge and its out-buildings, residences of employees of the Government, including the house and out-buildings of the U. S. Commissioner immediately adjoining the Hymen Terrace, the Curio Shop and other building owned by Mrs. Pryor, the old log hotel structure and Whittaker’s store and gas station...21

Within the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company’s lease, they recommended the following:

The hotel, the largest part built in 1883, is ugly, a fire trap, and past the stage of satisfactory usefulness for the type of patronage it caters to. It should be replaced by an attractive, architecturally suitable, and appropriate, fireproof structure.22

A 1934 plat for the Mammoth area shows that the hotel, as well as improvements on adjacent concessioner’s lease sites (a store and gas station west of the hotel), all were slated for removal (Figure H-3)23 A new ‘Hotel

Group,’ consisting of five separate buildings, was to be added at the base of the hill behind the old hotel, while the area where the hotel stood would be converted to green space. All remaining concession services would be moved to a new building east of the hotel, on the north side of a new landscaped boulevard or “esplanade.”

21 Gilmore D. Clarke “Report to Accompany Plan of Mammoth Hot Springs Area, Yellowstone National Park,” June 1930, p.

7-8. File 328, Box L-56, Series I: Master Plans & Reports, Park Facilities and Maintenance Records 1918-Present (Catalogue No. YELL 182386), NARA YELL.

22 Ibid.

23 Drawing No. YEL 3124-B, 1934. File 007: 1933 Master Plan for Yellowstone NP, Folder 1 of 3, Subseries A: Master Plans, 1932-1931, Series II: Management and Accountability 1881-2009, undated, Maps and Drawing Collection (Catalogue No. YELL 145676), NARA YELL.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 3

Figure H-3. Detail of Sheet No. 7, dated 1934, part of the Master Plan for Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs area. Light blue dashed lines indicate the buildings recommended for removal, while the orange shaded areas within dashed lines indicate proposed new construction. Note that the entire hotel (including the 1913 wing) was slated to be removed.

In June of 1936, however, Sanford Hill (the park’s Resident Landscape Architect), working with representatives of the hotel company, approved an alternative development plan for the hotel lease site: “A general plan of procedure for the reconditioning and development of the present hotel was agreed to by the operators [the YPC] and the Park.” 24 In July of 1936, Reamer produced a conceptual drawing of the new complex (Figure H-4), and on July 30th, National Park Service Director, Arno Cammerer, sent a telegram to

24 Sanford Hill (Resident LA) and Howard Gregg (Assistant LA), “Report to the Chief Architect Period June 1 – June 30, 1936.” File 2 (Reports to Chief Architect by Sanford Hill and Howard Greg), Box L-56, Series I: Master Plans & Reports, Park Facilities and Maintenance Records 1918-Present (Catalogue No. YELL 182386), NARA YELL.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 4 the park’s superintendent, approving the razing of the old hotel to make room for the new Mammoth Hot

Springs development.25

Figure H-4. Architect’s drawing of the new development at Mammoth Hotel, titled “Mammoth Springs Lodge.”

(Photo No. H-36494, Haynes Foundation Collection, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana).

Chief Landscape Architect, Thomas Vint, also visited the park in June to review the company’s plans for the cabin group. Reamer had prepared two versions for the cabin area, one with the cabins arranged in a regular grid pattern (as shown in Figure H-4), and a second, with the cabins facing onto five irregularly shaped landscaped areas and a row of cabins lining the base of the cliff at the rear of the hotel complex. Vint approved the latter version. 26 He also approved Reamer’s architectural drawings for the new lounge and the dining room. Company president, Billy Nichols asked Reamer to finalize the cabin layout plan and forward it to the Branch of Plans and Design.27 To make way for the new dining room and Lounge Building, in August of

1936, company crews began demolition of the old hotel (Figure H-5). By the end of the summer, the first floor and the stud partitions for the new dining room had already been built (Figure H-6).

25 Cammerer to Rogers, July 30, 1936. Folder 7, Box 6, Series I: Subject Files, Subseries C: Facilities Management 1920- 1976, Yellowstone Park Company Records, 1892-1979 (Catalogue No. YELL 185385), NARA YELL.

26 Drawing No. 8906-B “Approved plan for new mammoth hotel development” Approved and dated 1936, Note drawing 8906-A showed the cabins arranged in a regular grid pattern. Drawing No. 8906-B, File No. 401, Subseries A: Architectural Drawings 1903-2006, undated, Maps and Drawing Collection (Catalogue No. YELL 145676), NARA YELL.

27 “Monthly Narrative Report to Chief Architect Major & Minor Roads, Trails, and Projects other than E. C. W,” File (same as report name), Box L-56, Series I: Master Plans & Reports, Park Facilities and Maintenance Records 1918-Present (Catalogue No. YELL 182386), NARA YELL.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 5

Figure H-5. Looking northeast towards the old Mammoth Hotel being razed to make way for the new dining room and lounge buildings, August 14, 1936. The roof of the 1913 wing, the only portion of the old hotel left standing, is indicated by the white arrow.

(Photo No. 31109; Box X-29, Freezer 1, Yellowstone Photo Archives.)

Figure H-6. Foundation and wall framing for the new dining room, October 24, 1936.

(Photo No. 20773, Box W-16, Freezer 1, Yellowstone Photo Archives).

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 6

Early in 1937, Resident Landscape Architect, Sanford Hill, was in the park to discuss the Bureau of Public

Road’s Mammoth Plaza Road contract with Superintendent Rogers. During his visit, Hill completed preliminary drawings of the layout of parking areas and roads in the vicinity of the new hotel buildings, which would be built under the contract. The plan was to “… start work at a point between Pryor’s Store and the new

Hotel Dining Hall, and continue (east) through the Mammoth Plaza as far as possible, keeping within the

$100,000 limit.” 28

Regional Landscape Architect, Howard Baker, inspected the Mammoth project site in June of 1937. He noted that “The Master Plan for this area [Mammoth Hot Springs] is becoming fairly well tied down with the projects under construction and the proposed immediate construction program.”29 He found the YPC’s construction crews still working to complete the dining room and lounge buildings. Although they had not finished these buildings by the official opening date of June 20, he felt they would be done soon, and would then begin the construction of the recreation building and cabins.

By July of 1938, the YPC’s lodging complex at Mammoth was nearing completion. Once again, Howard Baker inspected the site:

The Mammoth hotel and cabin developments were nearing completion and present a very fine appearance. The cabin area was especially well handled and is a marked improvement over the general run of cabins now existing within Yellowstone National Park.30

Baker’s only concern was that the area around the hotel dining room and the recreation building needed walks, curbing, and planting. “It is hoped that the park operator appreciates the need for this work as it certainly will enhance the appearance of the new development.”31

By the end of the 1938 construction season much of the YPC’s new “lodge-style” complex at Mammoth was complete (Figure H-7). In the decades since completion, although the functions of some buildings within the complex have changed, the site has undergone relatively little modification: The complex as a whole, and the hotel itself, appear much as they did in 1938. Exceptions include some modifications to the green spaces adjacent to the hotel building. Also, pedestrian sidewalks have replaced the narrow curbing that defined the lawn east of the lounge/hotel wing and in front of the dining room.

Figure H-8, shows the evolution of the hotel footprint, from its original appearance in 1883 through 1937 when the YPC completed the transformation of the old hotel to a lodge style facility.

28 Sanford Hill “Field Inspection Narrative Report, March 11 to March 24, 1937.” Folder: Field Inspection Sanford Hill Mar.

1937, Box L-56, Series I: Master Plans & Reports, Park Facilities and Maintenance Records 1918-Present (Catalogue No.

YELL 182386), NARA Yellowstone. Because the new construction associated with the hotel varied from the 1934 Master Plan, the National Park Service had to “readjust” its plan for the Mammoth area by orienting new road construction to the three main buildings (dining room, lounge/hotel wing and recreation building) associated with the Mammoth Hotel project.

Hand-written notation on Sheet 2D, accompanying Sheet No. 12, Mammoth Site Plans, 1939 Master Plan. File No. 017, Subseries A: Master Plans, 1932-1971; Series II: Management and Accountability, 1881-2009, undated, Maps and Drawing Collection (Catalogue No. YELL 145676), NARA YELL.

29 Howard W. Baker, “Report to the Chief Architect on Yellowstone National Park, June 5 to 22, 1937.” Folder (same as report title), Box L-56, Series I: Master Plans & Reports, Park Facilities and Maintenance Records 1918-Present (Catalogue No. YELL 182386), NARA YELL.

30 Howard W. Baker, Regional Landscape Architect “Report to Chief Architect on Inspection Trip to Yellowstone National Park, July 18 to August 4, 1938.” File No. 601-15.1 July 18 – August 4; Box L-56, Series I: Master Plans & Reports, Park Facilities and Maintenance Records 1918-Present (Catalogue No. YELL 182386), NARA YELL.

31 Ibid.

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 7

Figure H-7. “Mammoth Springs Hotel from Capitol Hill” 1938 (Photo No H-38615, Haynes Foundation Collection, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana).

H i s t o r i c S t r u c t u r e s R e p o r t 1 9

D e v e l o p m e n t a n d U s e o f t h e M a m m o t h H o t S p r i n g s H o t e l

Planning and Execution of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel 1934 TO 1937 The current Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel represents one component of the YPC’s reconfiguration of its

Mammoth hotel to a lodge style facility.32 The company’s decision to convert its hotels at both Lake and

Mammoth had been made in 1934. In October of that year, William Nichols sent a letter to Robert Reamer asking if he had completed “pretty pictures” of the proposed lodge style facilities at both sites. Nichols was headed to Washington DC to attend a meeting arranged by the Secretary of the Interior, and wanted to have the plans as well as a cost estimate available to discuss: “I don’t know that we want to show them in

Washington, but they might be of benefit to us there. I hope you make awfully pretty pictures … as that’s what those birds in Washington like to see.” Nichols wanted to have secure approval of the plans in order to begin construction in 1935.33

It was not until July of 1935, however, that Reamer produced “blue prints of sketch floor plans” for the new buildings at Mammoth: “These plans are not developed to any great extent but are being forwarded to you for a general criticism which I hope to have before Mr. Vint comes to Seattle.”34 Reamer pointed out that the new part of the hotel (called the Lounge Building on his blueprints) would be oriented at right angle to the 1913 wing. He anticipated that Nichols would object to the proposed location of the telegraph office in the lobby, but felt that it was a better option than extending the rear wall of the building, as doing so would “put some of the hotel guests in a pocket and also reduce the parking space in the rear.” He pointed out that the octagonal stairway would extend only to the second floor and then “take the space of one of the bedrooms in the 1913 wing. He also noted that the “lounge” component of the building was separated from the business lobby “for obvious reasons.”

Nichols and his construction manager, Mr. Brown, spent several days reviewing the plans and replied with a lengthy critique. They wanted some reorganization of the business lobby, stating that the telegraph desk should to be “shoved out on the porch,” to keep the noise out of the lobby space. He also wanted to reduce the number of doors leading from the front porch to the business lobby from three to one. This reduction, coupled with placing the manager’s office at the end of the registration counter near the front (south) wall of the building would maximize the space in the lobby for people checking in. “ … you will remember that when people are being registered, they line up and we want as much space as possible between the front door and the registration desk.” Besides these interior modifications, Nichols indicated that he wanted the width of the porte-cochere to be increased from 14 feet to at least 20 feet, so that it would be wide enough for two cars to pass; “… it will be used by sage brushers coming in to the park to register and it is very possible one man may be waiting outside, and another drive up behind him who is ready to go to his cabin … .”35

32 The YPC considered a variety of options to transform the Mammoth Hotel complex to a lodge type facility with rental cabins to satisfy “sage brushers,” i.e., those touring the park in their own personal automobiles. In 1934, the YPC and Reamer had discussed removing most of the old hotel to make way for new public buildings to be used by hotel and cabin guests. However when Nichols met with Thomas Vint in the Grand Canyon in 1935, Vint suggested that simply removing the top story of the old hotel and “fixing up the front a little bit,” might be sufficient. WMN to Robert C. Reamer, October 8, 1934 and May 8, 1935. Folder 7, B ox 6, Subseries C: Facilities Management 1920-1976, Series 1: Subject Files, Yellowstone Park Company Records 1892-1979, NARA YELL.

33 WMN to R. C. Reamer, October 8, 1934. Folder 7, B ox 6, Subseries C: Facilities Management 1920-1976, Series 1:

Subject Files, Yellowstone Park Company Records 1892-1979, NARA YELL.

34 Robert C. Reamer to W. M. Nichols, July 26, 1935. Folder 7, B ox 6, Subseries C: Facilities Management 1920-1976, Series 1: Subject Files, Yellowstone Park Company…