The AMK Ranch is a former personal retreat on the eastern shore of
Jackson Lake in
Grand Teton National Park. Also known as the Merymare, Lonetree and Mae-Lou Ranch, it was a former homestead, expanded beginning in the 1920s by William Louis Johnson, then further developed in the 1930s by Alfred Berol (Berolzheimer). Johnson built a lodge, barn and boathouse in 1927, while Berol added a larger lodge, new boathouse, and cabins, all in the
rustic
Rustic may refer to:
*Rural area
*Pastoral
Architecture
* Rustication (architecture), a masonry technique mainly employed in Renaissance architecture
* Rustic architecture, an informal architectural style in the United States and Canada with sever ...
style.
After acquisition by the National Park Service, it was designated the University of Wyoming - National Park Research Station The research center is cooperatively owned by the National Park Service and the University, directed by University of Wyoming zoology professor Michael E. Dillon.
Description
Located on the shore of
Jackson Lake north of Colter Bay Village, the ranch is notable for its high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail, comparable to that seen in contemporary
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
structures. The Berol Lodge is the most extensively detailed rustic structure in Grand Teton.
Of the 17-building complex, 14 are considered contributing structures to the historic district.
The Merymere Lodge was one of the first structures on the property. The principal buildings are the Johnson Lodge, built by William Johnson, and the Berol Lodge, built by Alfred Berol.
History
The original property was established in 1890 as a homestead rather than as a working ranch, the farthest north in Jackson Hole, by John Dudley Sargent and Robert Ray Hamilton. Sargent and Hamilton. Both men had been sent west by their families to put them at arms length, as
remittance men
A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes with ...
. Sargent may have murdered Hamilton on
Signal Mountain, which gained its name from the signal fire lit by searchers for Hamilton when they found his body.
William Johnson was an executive of
The Hoover Company, who acquired the Sargent Ranch in 1926, building a small lodge, garage and boathouse in 1927 using the log construction prevailing for dude ranches in
Jackson Hole. Johnson died in 1931, and Berolzheimer, an officer of the Eagle (later
Berol) Company, manufacturers of pencils, bought the ranch in 1936. Berol hired New York architect George W. Kosmak to design a new main lodge, boathouse, and cabins. Kosmak was assisted by Jackson architect Paul T. Colbron.
In 1953 the ranch became a field research station, operated by the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
.
The AMK was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on April 23, 1990.
See also
*
References
External links
AMK Ranchat Grand Teton National Park
AMK Ranchat the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
AMK Ranch Cultural Landscape StudyUniversity of Wyoming-National Park Service (UW-NPS) Research Center
at AMK Ranch
University of Wyoming - National Park Service Research Station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amk Ranch
Buildings and structures in Grand Teton National Park
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming
Rustic architecture in Wyoming
Dude ranches in Wyoming
Ranches in Wyoming
Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming
National Register of Historic Places in Grand Teton National Park
University of Wyoming