The Elwha Ranger Station is a historic district in

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

, originally built in the 1930s for the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

. The complex of fourteen buildings is divided in two by Olympic Hotsprings Road. To the east lie the ranger station and three residences, with nine maintenance buildings on the west side of the road. The complex was turned over to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

in 1940 when the land was added to Olympic National Park from

Olympic National Forest Olympic National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in Washington. With an area of , it nearly surrounds Olympic National Park and the Olympic Mountain range. Olympic National Forest contains parts of Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, ...

. Construction is typical of USFS practice, and reflects the Forest Service's preference of the time for

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

and

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. ...

style architecture. and The Elwha area was designated as one of fifteen areas in Olympic National Forest to be used for public recreation. The "Cleator Plan," named after Forest Service recreation engineer Fred W. Cleator, envisioned the construction of appropriate structures to support these activities, including a ranger station. In the mid-1930s a

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

camp was established nearby, contributing labor for forest construction projects. When the area was taken over by the National Park Service in 1940 the complex continued in use virtually unchanged, retaining its Forest Service character.

Buildings

The

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

comprises 13 contributing buildings, built between 1930 and 1936. The Elwha Ranger Station Office () was built in 1932. The one-story wood-frame structure is covered with half-log siding on the lower walls in two widths and shingles on the gables. The building is irregular in shape, with porches on the south and west sides, supported by log columns. The Ranger Station Residence () was also built in 1932. The -story frame structure is similar in construction and materials, located a little distance away from the office. The Mechanic's House () had previously been built in 1930. This -story building is similar to the others. A matching woodshed is nearby (). The Bunkhouse () was built in 1932, measuring by . The -story structure is of similar construction to the others, with its own woodshed (). The maintenance area across the road includes the 1930 fire cache building (), equipment shed (), equipment repair shop () and horse barn (), all of wood-frame construction. The two-story barn is covered with board-and-batten siding and has a distinctive Forest Service character. 1936 buildings include the gas and oil building (), constructed by the

, an equipment shed () that was moved in 1948 from the Elwha CCC camp, and a smaller lean-to shed (). The oil and grease building has a residential character, with stylized pine tree cut-outs in the gables and curved support brackets on the front porch. The equipment sheds are large gabled -story buildings with exposed rafter tails and prominent gable dormers. The Elwha Ranger Station complex was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on July 13, 1997. The district is located between the NRHP-listed Elwha and Altair community kitchens.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Washington Ranger stations in Olympic National Park Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Clallam County, Washington Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington (state) United States Forest Service ranger stations Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Clallam County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Olympic National Park