The Saint Mary Ranger Station (or St. Mary) is a

ranger station A ranger station is a building complex typically including a dwelling and outbuildings which support a ranger or other guardian of a wilderness or national forest area. For example, the Cold Meadows Guard Station in Idaho County, Idaho, United S ...

in Glacier National Park in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. The log cabin was built in 1913 on the east side of the park overlooking Upper

Saint Mary Lake Saint Mary Lake is the second-largest lake in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana. Located on the east side of the park, Going-to-the-Sun Road parallels the lake along its north shore. At an elevation of , Saint Mary Lake's wate ...

. The oldest administrative structures in the park., it features an architecture that foreshadows the

National Park Service Rustic National Park Service rustic – sometimes colloquially called Parkitecture – is a style of architecture that developed in the early and middle 20th century in the United States National Park Service (NPS) through its efforts to create buildings ...

style.

History

The Saint Mary Ranger Station was built in 1913 by the district's first resident ranger, with the assistance of local residents, three years before the

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 ...

was established while the park was being directly administered by the

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. The present ranger station complex comprises two buildings standing by themselves in a small sloping meadow just to the east of the lake. The ranger station cabin is on its original site, with the former Lubec Ranger Station barn nearby. The barn, built in 1926, was moved to Saint Mary in 1977, where both structures were used as a living history exhibit. The Lubec barn replaces the site's original barn, built in 1915 and demolished in the early 1960s. The barn, as a building moved from its original site, is not included under the historic designation. The cabin was stabilized in 1972 and placed on a new concrete foundation. Further restoration was undertaken in 1975 in preparation for the 1976

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

. The interior was restored to its presumed original configuration, and interior sheathing was replaced. Restoration guidance and furnishings were provided by Mrs. Chance Beebe, who lived at the station 1918-1919 when her husband Chance was a ranger at Saint Mary.

Description

The ranger station is a by cabin, 1-1/2 stories high with a front gable and a lean-to porch across the front. The cabin originally rested on wood piles. The walls are of rounded log construction, squared on the inside and then sheathed with beaded panels for the interior finish. There are three rooms on the cabin's main level: a living room in the front and a bedroom and kitchen in the back. The attic is an unfinished space, reached by an enclosed stairway from the living space below. An excavated root cellar is under the kitchen. The 1-1/2 story high log construction at the gable ends is unusual in a building of this type, where the triangular gable areas are usually filled in with framing and shingles. A 1932 lean-to addition containing a bathroom and storage area was demolished in the 1977 renovation. A number of outbuildings that formerly existed around the cabin were removed during the 1970s. The Lubec barn, that presently stands as an outbuilding on the Saint Mary Ranger Station site, came from the Lubec Ranger Station formerly located in the proximity of the Lubec trailhead about 7 miles south of East Glacier. In summer 1977, the barn was deconstructed at the Lubec Ranger Station site as part of an historical restoration project led by

Montclair State College Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

faculty member, Harrison Goodall, two family members, and 15 students. The disassembled barn was transported to and reassembled piece-by-piece on a new stone/concrete foundation at the Saint Mary Ranger Station site. The project took two weeks for disassembly, tagging and recording, and transportation of logs and other original construction materials. Only hand tools were used for reconstruction, which took about four weeks.J. Wujek, a former MSC student and project recorder Approximately eight replacement logs were tagged with "1977" plates. The Lubec barn is larger than the original Saint Mary barn, by versus by . The Saint Mary Ranger Station was placed 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 February 14, 1986.

References

{{NRHP in Glacier County, Montana Ranger stations in Glacier National Park (U.S.) Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Houses completed in 1913 Log cabins in the United States Rustic architecture in Montana 1913 establishments in Montana National Register of Historic Places in Glacier County, Montana Log buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana National Register of Historic Places in Glacier National Park