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The three museums, designed by Herbert Maier, an American Association of Museums and Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation architect, are located at separate areas in Yellowstone National Park. Fishing Bridge Museum (1930-31) is on the north shore of Yellowstone Lake near the center of the Park, the Madison Museum (1929) is in the northwest quadrant of the Park, and the Norris Geyser Basin Museum (1929) is located between the two others. These museums represent nationally significant architecture for two reasons. First, the buildings are the best structures of rustic design in the National Park System. Second, because of their exaggerated architectural features and organic forms, the buildings served as models for hundreds of other buildings constructed throughout the nation in state, county, and local parks under the auspices of the National Park Service during the work relief programs of the 1930s. They have also played an important role in the history of the National Park Service by epitomizing the concept of ''trailside museums'' where visitors received orientation to the resources of an area through the Park Service's interpretive and educational programs.