View Full List of National Register: Wyoming Listings

The Jenny Lake Ranger Station Historic District is significant because it remains as a clear statement of the local interpretation of the National Park Service rustic building philosophy of the 1930s at Grand Teton National Park. The district contains the only clearly dateable examples of the local rebuilding of acquired structures into ones to fit park needs and design standards in the Park. It is also significant in that it was built by the National Park Service as one of the first ranger stations and visitor centers in the Park. It remained the center of visitor activity until 1960 when new buildings specifically built for that purpose were completed. Finally, the district contains examples of three types of rustic architecture, all from the 1930s, that represent many other buildings both extant and now removed in the Park. The district has a building built by the Service using recycled parts (ranger station), a concessioner rebuilt building of the 1930s fitting the rustic mold, and the two comfort stations representing the Civilian Conservation Corps work to improve visitor facilities in the Park. The ranger station itself was rebuilt from a cabin first built by Lee Mangus about 1925 and acquired by the Park Service about 1930. The cabin originally was located north of Moose a few miles. The building was moved to Jenny Lake in 1930 and served as a visitor center and ranger station for thirty years.