Longmire, Washington
Encyclopedia
Longmire, which is effectively encompassed by the Longmire Historic District, is a visitor services center in Mount Rainier National Park
, located 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east of the Nisqually Entrance. The area is in the Nisqually River
valley at an elevation of 2761 feet (842 m)
between The Ramparts Ridge and the Tatoosh Range
. Longmire is surrounded by old-growth douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock
.
. It is home to the largest concentration of National Park Service Rustic
–style structures in the park, and one of the most notable groups of such structures in any U.S. national park. The district lies on either side of the Paradise-Nisqually Road, with the Longmire Meadows area on the north side and the park concession and administration facilities on the south side of the road.
Individually-listed structures on the National Register include the Longmire Buildings
, a National Historic Landmark
comprising the park's former headquarters, the Longmire Cabin, and three comfort stations, L-302, L-303 and L-304
. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1991. Longmire is also the location of Mount Rainier's National Park Inn, the Longmire Museum. These buildings are constructed in rustic style. The National Park Inn is the only accommodation in the park open all year round. The Longmire Historic District is in turn part of the Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District
, which encompasses the entire park and which recognizes the park's inventory of Park Service-designed rustic architecture.
Longmire is the second most popular destination for visitors to Mount Rainier National Park after Paradise. Of the more than 1.3 million people who visited the park in 2000, 38% visited Longmire.The Cougar Rock Campground
is about 2 miles (3 km) north west of Longmire.Longmire is one of the starting points of the Wonderland Trail
.
In 1883 James Longmire built a trail from Succotash Valley in Ashford
13 miles (21 km) to the hot springs where he built cabins in the area which now bears his name. John Muir
described staying there on the way to his ascent of Mount Rainier in 1888.The oldest surviving structure in the National Park is a cabin built by Longmire's son Elcaine Longmire at the springs in 1888. It is located north of the road in the area now called Longmire Meadows.
From 1899 to 1904 approximately 500 people a year visited Longmire Springs in the summer months. They reached the area by train to Ashford and then on Longmire's wagon
trail. They enjoyed the mineral springs and the view of Mount Rainier. They could also hike to Paradise or Indian Henry's Hunting Grounds, both about 6 miles (10 km) from Longmire Springs on trails built by the Longmire family.
In 1890, Longmire built a 5-room hotel, which was later expanded. By 1906, the Longmire's hotel with assorted tents and cabins totaled 30 rooms. In that year, the Tacoma and Eastern Railroad built the original National Park Inn at Longmire, a three-story building with accommodation for 60 guests. Having a competitor establish in the Longmire area soured relations between the National Park and the Longmire family. There followed some legal disputes between the Longmires and park officials including the opening of a saloon by Robert Longmire (James' son) and its subsequent closure by Acting Superintendent Grenville F. Allen who thought it a "public nuisance."
Constructed in an early rustic style, a Hiker's Center was built in 1911 by the Tacoma and Eastern Railroad. It is now the Longmire general store.
The Longmires wearied of park pressures to improve their facilities, and after Elcaine's death in 1915, they leased their property to the newly formed Longmire Springs Hotel Company in 1916. The new operators promptly built an additional hotel structure along with 16 wood-frame cabins. Although the property was cleaned up and improved, operating as "The New Longmire Springs Hotel," it still did not meet the quality level of the National Park Inn across the road.
Steven T. Mather
, the first director of the National Park Service developed a policy which favored regulated monopolies
over competing concessioners
in the National Parks. Over a number of years the National Park Service worked to make the Rainier National Park Company the only concessionaire in the park. This was completed in 1919 when the Rainier National Park Company purchased the Longmire family buildings and a 20 year lease on the Longmire's private inholding for $12,000 in a three way deal which included J.B. Ternes and E.C. Cornell, owners of the Longmire Springs Hotel Company. They eventually bought the Longmire family property, after the lease expired in 1939.
Rainier National Park Company moved the 1916 Longmire Springs Hotel structure next to the next to the National Park Inn in 1920. Smaller than the existing inn, it became known as the National Park Inn Annex. A -story building with plain exteriors, it contained seventeen guest rooms. The Rainier National Park Company also demolished the original 1890 Longmire Springs Hotel and utility buildings in the area to "improve the appearance" of the area.
Once the road to Paradise and the Paradise Inn opened, visitors to the park preferred to stay at Paradise, making the Longmire hotel and annex unprofitable. The Rainier National Park Company intended to promote the area by advertising the medicinal qualities of the spring water. However, the Bureau of Chemistry's Hygienic Lab in Washington D.C. tested the waters and concluded that they didn't have any medicinal value. The National Park Service prohibited the Rainier National Park Company from making false claims about the waters. The springs were never redeveloped.
In the 1910s, as the number of visitors to the park increased, the Park Service moved the administration center from the Nisqually area to Longmire. The community kitchen was built in 1916 and is now the library. The park's first administration building was built in 1916 and now houses the Longmire Museum and Visitors Center.
In 1927, the Landscape Engineering Division of the National Park Service San Francisco office created a development plan to give "a sense of order" to the buildings the government and concessionaires had built in the Longmire Plaza area south of the road. Three particularly significant buildings came about as a result of this plan, each of which demonstrated the National Park Service efforts to construct structures "that harmonized with the rugged slopes of Mount Rainier". The Community Building (1927) is a good example of early National Park Service Rustic
style. The use of pairs of columns rather than the notched corner technique shows a particular skill in using natural minerals.. The Administration Building (1928) is said to be the most architecturally significant of the buildings from this period. Features such as the heavy masonry first floor and timber second story were influenced by the 1924 administration building at Yosemite. Careful selection of local boulders was important in achieving a building that matches the surrounding landscape. The Service Station, built in 1929, is the last of these three buildings. It was designed to be unobtrusive in its natural setting.
The original National Park Inn burned to the ground in 1926, leaving only the National Park Inn Annex, now the National Park Inn. This building was remolded in 1936 and was essentially rebuilt again in 1990.
The administrative center was moved outside the park to Tahoma Woods near the Nisqually entrance in 1977 as a result of the 1972 master plan, which restrained new development within the park.
In 1987, the Longmire Buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark
.
rainstorm when 18 inches (457 mm) of rain fell in a 36 hour period, causing extensive flood damage and road closures. State Route 706
(the Nisqually entrance to Paradise road) which serves Longmire was closed due to flood damage until May 5, 2007.
Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park is a United States National Park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. It was one of the US's earliest National Parks, having been established on March 2, 1899 as the fifth national park in the United States. The park contains...
, located 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east of the Nisqually Entrance. The area is in the Nisqually River
Nisqually River
The Nisqually River is a river in west central Washington in the United States, approximately long. It drains part of the Cascade Range southwest of Tacoma, including the southern slope of Mount Rainier, and empties into the southern end of Puget Sound....
valley at an elevation of 2761 feet (842 m)
between The Ramparts Ridge and the Tatoosh Range
Tatoosh Range
The Tatoosh Range is a mountain range located in Mount Rainier National Park and the adjacent Tatoosh Wilderness in the state of Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The range runs roughly east–west, beginning with the southeastern Tatoosh Peak and concluding with the...
. Longmire is surrounded by old-growth douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock
Western Hemlock
Tsuga heterophylla. the Western Hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California.-Habitat:...
.
Historic District
The Longmire Historic District comprises the former headquarters district of the park and its chief developed area. The district includes 58 contributing buildings and structures, including four structures individually listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It is home to the largest concentration of National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service rustic, also colloquially known as Parkitecture, is a style of architecture that arose in the United States National Park System to create buildings that harmonized with their natural environment. Since its founding, the National Park Service consistently has sought to provide...
–style structures in the park, and one of the most notable groups of such structures in any U.S. national park. The district lies on either side of the Paradise-Nisqually Road, with the Longmire Meadows area on the north side and the park concession and administration facilities on the south side of the road.
Individually-listed structures on the National Register include the Longmire Buildings
Longmire Buildings
The Longmire Buildings in Mount Rainier National Park comprise the park's former administrative headquarters, and are among the most prominent examples of the National Park Service Rustic style in the national park system. They comprise the Longmire Community Building of 1927, the Administration...
, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
comprising the park's former headquarters, the Longmire Cabin, and three comfort stations, L-302, L-303 and L-304
Longmire Campground Comfort Stations
The Longmire Campground Comfort Stations were built in the early and mid-1930s in Mount Rainier National Park to provide toilet facilities to automobile tourists camping in the park at Longmire. Essentially the same in design, the facilities were designed by the National Park Service Branch of...
. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1991. Longmire is also the location of Mount Rainier's National Park Inn, the Longmire Museum. These buildings are constructed in rustic style. The National Park Inn is the only accommodation in the park open all year round. The Longmire Historic District is in turn part of the Mount Rainier National Historic Landmark District
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, which encompasses the entire park and which recognizes the park's inventory of Park Service-designed rustic architecture.
Longmire is the second most popular destination for visitors to Mount Rainier National Park after Paradise. Of the more than 1.3 million people who visited the park in 2000, 38% visited Longmire.The Cougar Rock Campground
Campsite
A campsite or camping pitch is a place used for overnight stay in the outdoors. In British English a campsite is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using tents or camper vans or caravans; this British English use of the word is synonymous with the...
is about 2 miles (3 km) north west of Longmire.Longmire is one of the starting points of the Wonderland Trail
Wonderland Trail
The Wonderland Trail is an approximately 93 mile hiking trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. The trail goes over many ridges of Mount Rainier for a cumulative of elevation gain. The trail was built in 1915...
.
History
Ashford, Washington
Ashford is a census-designated place in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 217 as of the 2010 census. Located just a few miles west of the main entrance to Mount Rainier National Park, it features numerous shops and accommodations for visitors...
13 miles (21 km) to the hot springs where he built cabins in the area which now bears his name. John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
described staying there on the way to his ascent of Mount Rainier in 1888.The oldest surviving structure in the National Park is a cabin built by Longmire's son Elcaine Longmire at the springs in 1888. It is located north of the road in the area now called Longmire Meadows.
From 1899 to 1904 approximately 500 people a year visited Longmire Springs in the summer months. They reached the area by train to Ashford and then on Longmire's wagon
Wagon
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....
trail. They enjoyed the mineral springs and the view of Mount Rainier. They could also hike to Paradise or Indian Henry's Hunting Grounds, both about 6 miles (10 km) from Longmire Springs on trails built by the Longmire family.
In 1890, Longmire built a 5-room hotel, which was later expanded. By 1906, the Longmire's hotel with assorted tents and cabins totaled 30 rooms. In that year, the Tacoma and Eastern Railroad built the original National Park Inn at Longmire, a three-story building with accommodation for 60 guests. Having a competitor establish in the Longmire area soured relations between the National Park and the Longmire family. There followed some legal disputes between the Longmires and park officials including the opening of a saloon by Robert Longmire (James' son) and its subsequent closure by Acting Superintendent Grenville F. Allen who thought it a "public nuisance."
Constructed in an early rustic style, a Hiker's Center was built in 1911 by the Tacoma and Eastern Railroad. It is now the Longmire general store.
The Longmires wearied of park pressures to improve their facilities, and after Elcaine's death in 1915, they leased their property to the newly formed Longmire Springs Hotel Company in 1916. The new operators promptly built an additional hotel structure along with 16 wood-frame cabins. Although the property was cleaned up and improved, operating as "The New Longmire Springs Hotel," it still did not meet the quality level of the National Park Inn across the road.
Steven T. Mather
Stephen Tyng Mather
Stephen Tyng Mather was an American industrialist and conservationist. As the president and owner of the Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company, he became a millionaire...
, the first director of the National Park Service developed a policy which favored regulated monopolies
Government-granted monopoly
In economics, a government-granted monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly by which a government grants exclusive privilege to a private individual or firm to be the sole provider of a good or service; potential competitors are excluded from the market by law, regulation, or other mechanisms of...
over competing concessioners
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
in the National Parks. Over a number of years the National Park Service worked to make the Rainier National Park Company the only concessionaire in the park. This was completed in 1919 when the Rainier National Park Company purchased the Longmire family buildings and a 20 year lease on the Longmire's private inholding for $12,000 in a three way deal which included J.B. Ternes and E.C. Cornell, owners of the Longmire Springs Hotel Company. They eventually bought the Longmire family property, after the lease expired in 1939.
Rainier National Park Company moved the 1916 Longmire Springs Hotel structure next to the next to the National Park Inn in 1920. Smaller than the existing inn, it became known as the National Park Inn Annex. A -story building with plain exteriors, it contained seventeen guest rooms. The Rainier National Park Company also demolished the original 1890 Longmire Springs Hotel and utility buildings in the area to "improve the appearance" of the area.
Once the road to Paradise and the Paradise Inn opened, visitors to the park preferred to stay at Paradise, making the Longmire hotel and annex unprofitable. The Rainier National Park Company intended to promote the area by advertising the medicinal qualities of the spring water. However, the Bureau of Chemistry's Hygienic Lab in Washington D.C. tested the waters and concluded that they didn't have any medicinal value. The National Park Service prohibited the Rainier National Park Company from making false claims about the waters. The springs were never redeveloped.
In the 1910s, as the number of visitors to the park increased, the Park Service moved the administration center from the Nisqually area to Longmire. The community kitchen was built in 1916 and is now the library. The park's first administration building was built in 1916 and now houses the Longmire Museum and Visitors Center.
National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service rustic, also colloquially known as Parkitecture, is a style of architecture that arose in the United States National Park System to create buildings that harmonized with their natural environment. Since its founding, the National Park Service consistently has sought to provide...
style. The use of pairs of columns rather than the notched corner technique shows a particular skill in using natural minerals.. The Administration Building (1928) is said to be the most architecturally significant of the buildings from this period. Features such as the heavy masonry first floor and timber second story were influenced by the 1924 administration building at Yosemite. Careful selection of local boulders was important in achieving a building that matches the surrounding landscape. The Service Station, built in 1929, is the last of these three buildings. It was designed to be unobtrusive in its natural setting.
The original National Park Inn burned to the ground in 1926, leaving only the National Park Inn Annex, now the National Park Inn. This building was remolded in 1936 and was essentially rebuilt again in 1990.
The administrative center was moved outside the park to Tahoma Woods near the Nisqually entrance in 1977 as a result of the 1972 master plan, which restrained new development within the park.
In 1987, the Longmire Buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
2006 Flooding
Longmire, along with Paradise, were among the most badly affected areas in the November 6, 2006 Pineapple ExpressPineapple Express
Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of atmospheric moisture and associated heavy rainfall from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands and extending to any location along the Pacific coast of North America...
rainstorm when 18 inches (457 mm) of rain fell in a 36 hour period, causing extensive flood damage and road closures. State Route 706
Washington State Route 706
State Route 706 is a state highway in Pierce County, in the U.S. state of Washington. It extends from SR 7 in the census-designated place of Elbe east to the Longmire gate of Mount Rainier National Park.The highway formerly was part of the Tacoma – Mount Rainier branch of Primary...
(the Nisqually entrance to Paradise road) which serves Longmire was closed due to flood damage until May 5, 2007.