The Sunrise Historic District, also known as the community of Sunrise, Washington, is located at approximately on a ridge overlooking the northeast side of

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in southeast Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County and northeast Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County in Washington (sta ...

. The district comprises seven individual structures designed in accordance with the principles of 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 building ...

style. The area is inhabited and open to the public only during a brief period in the summer season.

Planning

The area was originally known as Yakima Park, and became accessible with the construction of a new road in the northeastern portion of the park, planned by Ernest A. Davidson of 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 ...

Landscape Division and the

Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

. Davidson prepared a master plan for Yakima Park, by way of contrast to development in the southern portion of the park at

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

and Longmire, where haphazard development had become a significant management problem. Davidson's plan included a large hotel supporting a community of housekeeping cabins, an automobile service station, toilet facilities, and the unique blockhouses and stockade. Initial construction was completed in 1932 with the first phase of the Sunrise Lodge, the Sunrise Comfort Station, the service station, the South Blockhouse and the Stockade. The North Blockhouse and Community Building were completed in 1944.

Structures

Sunrise Lodge

The Sunrise Lodge is a large shingled structure with a steeply-pitched roof, built by the Rainier National Park Company in 1931. The 2-1/2 story building was intended to be the first wing of a resort hotel. It was built in about six weeks, serving as the centerpiece of a complex of 200 tourist cabins. The lodge accommodated dining facilities and staff dormitories. The cabins were removed through the late 1930s and 40s, sold to Eastern Washington farmers for migrant labor housing, or for housing around

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

. Foundations for another wing of the planned U-shaped hotel were excavated, but never completed. The incomplete hotel continued in its original function, and is open on a seasonal basis in the present day.

Designation

The area 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 March 31, 1991. The Yakima Park Stockade Group was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

on May 29, 1987. The Sunrise Comfort Station was individually listed on the NRHP on March 13, 1991. The Sunrise Historic District is in turn part of the Mount Rainier

National Historic Landmark District A National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) is a geographical area that has received recognition from the United States Government that the buildings, landscapes, cultural features and archaeological resources within it are of the highest signific ...

, which encompasses the entire park and which recognizes the park's inventory of Park Service-designed rustic architecture.

Climate

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Mount Rainier National Park Buildings and structures in Pierce County, Washington National Park Service rustic in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Mount Rainier National Park Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Historic American Buildings Survey in Washington (state) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) National_Park_lodges