Paulina Lake Guard Station
Encyclopedia
The Paulina Lake Guard Station is a Forest Service
building located in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument
in Central Oregon
. The guard station was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
to house the seasonal assistant ranger responsible for patrolling the forest around Paulina Lake
. Because of its rustic
architecture, the guard station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1986.
, the Forest Service greatly expanded its road network, allowing employees to get to most National Forest
areas within a few hours. As a result, many guard stations were no longer needed. The Forest Service found new uses for some stations, but most were demolished or abandon.
The Paulina Lake Guard Station was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. It was originally constructed to house a seasonal assistant ranger working for the Fort Rock Ranger District. Today, it is located within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument area of the Deschutes National Forest
. The guard station was named after nearby Paulina Lake, a large lake inside the caldera
of Newberry Crater. Paulina Lake
is, in turn, name for Chief Paulina
, a Paiute
leader of the Walpapi band during the Snake War
in the 1860s.
The guard station was originally built as a residence for the forest guard responsible for patrolling the campgrounds and forest around the Paulina Lake during the summer wildfire
season. From 1942 through the summer of 1959, John P. Robins was the forest guard assigned to the Paulina Lake Guard Station. Robins and his family lived at the guard station for seventeen summers. Robins' two sons later wrote a book about their experience at the guard station.
The Paulina Lake Guard Station exemplifies rustic architectural style developed by the Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest
during the early 20th century. Because of its rustic architecture and the cabin’s unique historic value as an early Forest Service guard station, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 11 April 1986. In 1990, the United States Congress
established the 50000 acres (202.3 km²) Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Because of its location, the guard station became part of the National Monument. Today, the guard station building is the home of the Paulina Visitor Center.
. The structure rests of a concrete foundation. There is an interior stone chimney
off center from the roof ridge. The exterior walls are horizontal clapboard
with vertical board and batten covering the gable ends. Windows are either a nine or twelve pane light sash type. The main front window is a group of three twelve pane windows set below a front gabled bay
. A garage
with hinged two-leaf doors is built into one end of the structure.
The main entrance is at the centered on the front façade. It has a recessed porch, enclosed on three sides. The porch has a flagstone
platform floor. The entryway is framed by heavy timber beams. The outer posts are vertical and flush with the exterior wall while the two inner posts are angled inward. All four posts support a heavy, square lintel beam.
, Oregon
. The elevation at the site is 6350 feet (1,935.5 m) above sea level. The forest around the guard station is dominated by ponderosa pine
with a few lodgepole pine
in the area as well.
To get to the Paulina Lake Guard Station from Bend, travel south on Highway 97
twenty-three miles then turn right onto Forest Service Road 21. Follow Road 21 for thirteen mile (19 km) to Paulina Lake campground and the guard station. There is a vehicle fee charged within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument to help cover the cost of operating and maintaining the facilities in the area. There are additional fees for camping inside the monument.
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
building located in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument
Newberry National Volcanic Monument
Newberry National Volcanic Monument was designated on November 5, 1990, to protect the area around the Newberry Volcano in the United States. It was created within the boundaries of the Deschutes National Forest and is managed by the U.S. Forest Service...
in Central Oregon
Central Oregon
Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the Columbia River, eastward towards Burns, or south...
. The guard station was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
to house the seasonal assistant ranger responsible for patrolling the forest around Paulina Lake
Paulina Lake
Paulina Lake is one of the twin crater lakes , located above sea level in Newberry Crater, Central Oregon, United States. It is in the Deschutes National Forest near La Pine. The crater was built from 500,000 years of volcanic eruptions. The lake's main inflow is from snow melt, hot springs, and...
. Because of its 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...
architecture, the guard station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National 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...
in 1986.
History
In the 1920s and 1930s, Forest Service employees often traveled many miles from local ranger stations to forest work sites. Since the forest road networks were not well developed, getting to a job site meant a long trek, carrying all the equipment need to perform the field work. This made it impractical for employees to make daily round-trips. To facilitate work at remote sites, the Forest Service built guard stations at strategic locations throughout the forest to house fire patrols and project crews. After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Forest Service greatly expanded its road network, allowing employees to get to most National Forest
United States National Forest
National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...
areas within a few hours. As a result, many guard stations were no longer needed. The Forest Service found new uses for some stations, but most were demolished or abandon.
The Paulina Lake Guard Station was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. It was originally constructed to house a seasonal assistant ranger working for the Fort Rock Ranger District. Today, it is located within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument area of the Deschutes National Forest
Deschutes National Forest
The Deschutes National Forest is a United States National Forest located in parts of Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties in central Oregon. It comprises 1.8 million acres along the east side of the Cascade mountains. In 1908, the Deschutes National Forest was established from parts...
. The guard station was named after nearby Paulina Lake, a large lake inside the caldera
Caldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
of Newberry Crater. Paulina Lake
Paulina Lake
Paulina Lake is one of the twin crater lakes , located above sea level in Newberry Crater, Central Oregon, United States. It is in the Deschutes National Forest near La Pine. The crater was built from 500,000 years of volcanic eruptions. The lake's main inflow is from snow melt, hot springs, and...
is, in turn, name for Chief Paulina
Chief Paulina
Chief Paulina was a Northern Paiute war leader.During the late 1850s and 1860s, Northern Paiute bands attacked both settler communities and Native American reservations in central and eastern Oregon, as well as the Klamath Basin. Chief Paulina became the most notorious war leader in those raids...
, a Paiute
Paiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
leader of the Walpapi band during the Snake War
Snake War
The Snake War was a war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians", the settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock and western Shoshone bands who lived along the Snake River. Fighting took place in the states of Oregon, Nevada, and California, and in Idaho Territory...
in the 1860s.
The guard station was originally built as a residence for the forest guard responsible for patrolling the campgrounds and forest around the Paulina Lake during the summer wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
season. From 1942 through the summer of 1959, John P. Robins was the forest guard assigned to the Paulina Lake Guard Station. Robins and his family lived at the guard station for seventeen summers. Robins' two sons later wrote a book about their experience at the guard station.
The Paulina Lake Guard Station exemplifies rustic architectural style developed by the Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
during the early 20th century. Because of its rustic architecture and the cabin’s unique historic value as an early Forest Service guard station, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 11 April 1986. In 1990, the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
established the 50000 acres (202.3 km²) Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Because of its location, the guard station became part of the National Monument. Today, the guard station building is the home of the Paulina Visitor Center.
Structure
The Civilian Conservation Corps built the guard station residence in 1938. It is rectangular one-story, wood-frame structures with gabled roofGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
. The structure rests of a concrete foundation. There is an interior stone chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
off center from the roof ridge. The exterior walls are horizontal clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
with vertical board and batten covering the gable ends. Windows are either a nine or twelve pane light sash type. The main front window is a group of three twelve pane windows set below a front gabled bay
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
. A garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
with hinged two-leaf doors is built into one end of the structure.
The main entrance is at the centered on the front façade. It has a recessed porch, enclosed on three sides. The porch has a flagstone
Flagstone
Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...
platform floor. The entryway is framed by heavy timber beams. The outer posts are vertical and flush with the exterior wall while the two inner posts are angled inward. All four posts support a heavy, square lintel beam.
Location
The Paulina Lake Guard Station is located in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument area of the Deschutes National Forest. It is approximately 36 miles (57.9 km) southeast of BendBend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. The elevation at the site is 6350 feet (1,935.5 m) above sea level. The forest around the guard station is dominated by ponderosa pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
with a few lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
in the area as well.
To get to the Paulina Lake Guard Station from Bend, travel south on Highway 97
U.S. Route 97
U.S. Route 97 is a major north–south United States highway in the western United States. It begins at a junction with Interstate 5 at Weed, California, and travels north, ending in Okanogan County, Washington, at the Canadian Border, across from Osoyoos, British Columbia, becoming British...
twenty-three miles then turn right onto Forest Service Road 21. Follow Road 21 for thirteen mile (19 km) to Paulina Lake campground and the guard station. There is a vehicle fee charged within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument to help cover the cost of operating and maintaining the facilities in the area. There are additional fees for camping inside the monument.