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Oregon Historic Sites Database

address: Clackamas Rd (approx) historic name:Olallie Meadows Guard Station
Unincorporated, Marion County current/other names:Olallie Meadows Cabin
assoc addresses:Lat E 121-46 Long N 44-51-30
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr:Township 8S, Range 8 East, Section 24 Willamette Meridian; 42 air miles southeast of Estacada. twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:8S 8E 24
resource type:Building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1910 second date: date indiv listed:05/26/2015
primary orig use: Camp orig use comments:Guard Station
second orig use: Outdoor Recreation
primary style: Rustic prim style comments:
secondary style: Late 19th/20th Amer. Mvmts: Other sec style comments:
primary siding: Log: Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding:
plan type: Single Cell architect:USDA Forest Service personnel
builder:USDA Forest Service personnel
comments/notes:
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
NR date listed: 05/26/2015
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date:
Gen file date: 09/24/2009
106 Project(s)
SHPO Case Date Agency Effect Eval
02/19/1999 no effect
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The 1910 Olallie Meadows Guard Station is located within the Mt. Hood National Forest on the Clackamas River Ranger District in Township 8S, Range 8 East, Section 24 Willamette Meridian, 42 air miles southeast from Estacada, Oregon, and stands on the east side of a large meadow and north of Olallie Lake Scenic Area. The rectangular one-room rustic single-pen cabin was quickly and inexpensively constructed by Forest Service personnel from site-sourced materials, including rough-hewn peeled log foundation and walls, lodge-pole pine roof structure, hand-split cedar shake cladding the gabled ends and front-gabled roof with a wide overhang, and field stone steps. The cabin served as a guard station from 1910-1932, allowing rangers to stay overnight and to conduct forest patrols. The centered main entry is flanked by two square windows and covered by a full-width shed-roof porch supported by peeled-log columns. A single square window is set into each gable end. The single interior room encompasses a total of 352 square feet, not including a half attic at the west end of the building. The original flooring is replaced with appropriate tongue-and-groove wood decking. Since construction of the Olallie Meadows Guard Station, ongoing maintenance and changing needs have led to the replacement of the roofing, flooring, some purlins, and the front door; among other minor changes. However, the cabin still retains its key character-defining features, including log construction and simple, practical design and construction.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Olallie Meadows Guard Station is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance under Criterion A, Conservation, for its association with the early administration of the Mt. Hood National Forest, and Criterion C, Architecture, as an exceptionally intact example of the rustic buildings constructed by Forest Service personnel during the agency’s early history. Constructed quickly and inexpensively by Forest Service personnel in 1910, the rustic single-pen cabin served as guard station to house forest rangers that patrolled the Olallie Lakes Scenic Area and Mount Jefferson. Field rangers carried out a number of duties from their posts, including managing small timber sales, monitoring range, fighting fires, and building roads and trails. The Cabin’s simple design, peeled-log construction, and use of site-sourced materials is typical of buildings constructed during this period by Forest Service rangers, and reflect the limited budgets provided for constructing buildings. The period of significance ends in 1932 when operations were relocated to the newly-constructed Olallie Lake Guard Station, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:USDA Forest Service, National Park Service
Bibliography:
Andrus, Patrick W. How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. National Register Bulletin. National Park Service: Washington DC, 1990. Atwood, Kay, Sally Donovan, Dennis Gray and Ward Tonsfeldt. Utility and Service Combined With Beauty- A Contextual and Architectural History of the USDA Forest Service Region 6: 1905-1960. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, 2005. Bomberger, Bruce D. Preservation Brief 26: The Preservation and Repair of Historic Log Buildings. US Department of Interior National Park Service, Preservation Services. US Government Printing Office, 1991 Crist, Raymond L. National Register Nomination Form: Independence Prairie Ranger Station. USDA Forest Service, Willamette National Forest, 1979. Dennis, Marilyn D. National Register Nomination Form: Allison Ranger Station. US Forest Service, Ochoco National Forest, 1976. 2 Mt. Hood National Forest, Heritage Resources Department Files. Cultural Resources: File Name: Olallie Meadows Cabin Evaluation, Olallie Meadows Cabin Site File. McAlester, Virginia and Lee. Field Guide to American Houses. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group: New York, 1984.