The Old Faithful Museum of Thermal Activity was one of a series of four "trailside" museums built in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 in 1929. Funded by a grant of $118,000 from Laura Spelman Rockefeller

Laura Spelman Rockefeller

Laura Celestia Spelman Rockefeller, , , was a philanthropist, the namesake of Spelman College, founded to educate black women in the South, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, and the wife of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil...

, the museums interpreted park features for visitors, and represented an early version of the visitor information center concept that became widespread throughout the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

. The four museums were notable examples of the 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, and all were designed by Park Service architect Herbert Maier

Herbert Maier

Herbert Maier was an American architect and public administrator, most notable as an architect for his work at Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks. Maier, as a consultant to the National Park Service, designed four trailside museums in Yellowstone, three of which survive as...

. The surviving Norris Museum, Fishing Bridge Museum

Fishing Bridge Museum

The Fishing Bridge Museum is one of a series of "trailside museums" in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, designed by architect Herbert Maier in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic. It is one of three parts of a 1987-declared National Historic Landmark, the Norris,...

 and the Madison Museum

Madison Museum

The Madison Museum is one of a series of "trailside museums" in Yellowstone National Park designed by architect Herbert Maier in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is one of three parts of a...

 are collectively listed as 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...

s.

The Old Faithful museum, the first of the series, was built at a cost of $8,500 and was completed in 1929. The museum was a low T-shaped single-story structure of rustic log and stone construction. Two stepped sections of roof dominated the main portion of the building with deep overhangs supported by angled log brackets resting on a raised stone foundation sill. A perpendicular wing extended in the direction of the parking lot. The building resembled the Madison and Fishing Bridge museums. The museum's surroundings featured an amphitheater for ranger talks and a small garden of native botanical specimens.

The Old Faithful museum was demolished in 1971 to make way for a full-scale Mission 66

Mission 66

Mission 66 was a US National Park Service ten-year program that was intended to dramatically expand Park Service visitor services by 1966, in time for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Park Service....

 visitor center on the site, midway between the Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

-Sources:*Barringer, Mark Daniel. Selling Yellowstone: Capitalism and the Construction of Nature, Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2002. ISBN 978-070061167-3...

 and the Old Faithful Lodge

Old Faithful Lodge

Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park is located opposite the more famous Old Faithful Inn, facing Old Faithful geyser. The Lodge was built as a series of detached buildings through 1923 and was consolidated into one complex by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood in 1926-27...

, facing Old Faithful geyser. This visitor center was in turn demolished in 2006 and was replaced by the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, opened in August 2010.

External links

• Norris, Madison and Fishing Bridge Museums at the National Park Service