Historic Nisqually Entrance Area

Visitors outside of the Oscar Brown Cabin, which served as the park‘s first check-in station at the Nisqually Entrance, in 1912.

Mount Rainier National Park Archives Photo

The Nisqually Entrance Area, in the southwest corner of the park, was originally listed as a National Historic Landmark District in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Three of the buildings in the developed area pre-date the park service; four were added by park service planners, and there is one non-contributing structure. The area embodies the complimentary styles of rustic architecture and naturalistic landscape architecture and is also significant for its association with early National Park Service (NPS) master planning.

The Nisqually Entrance has been the main entrance to the park at least since the Nisqually Road, originally called the “Government Road”, was first surveyed in 1903 and went as far as Longmire. Significant site development took place during the initial period of federal management of the park before the formation of the National Park Service in 1916. Until 1917, the entrance also served as park headquarters and first ranger station. Nisqually Entrance is the longest operating entrance station in the National Park Service and remains the busiest entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. The park was also the first in the NPS to allow visitor-driven vehicles, and the first to collect fees in 1907.

During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) rehabilitated the entrance station, built paths between the buildings, installed culverts and other drainage features, stabilized slopes, and planted vegetation around the buildings.

National Register of Historic Places: Nisqually Entrance Historic District

 

Contributing Structures

• Comfort Station Cul-de-sac Road

  • Date Constructed: 1915-1930s
  • Builder: Bureau of Public Roads/National Park Service

• Nisqually Entrance Arch

  • Date Constructed: 1973
  • Builder: National Park Service
  • While a 1973 reconstruction of a 1930s reconstruction of the original 1911 arch at the same location, the workmanship, materials, and feeling of the reconstruction are completely consistent with the original arch located at the site. The arch was restored in 2005.

 

Contributing Buildings

• Oscar Brown Cabin

  • Date Constructed: 1908
  • Builder: Department of the Interior
  • Named for an early ranger who helped build it, this is the oldest remaining government structure in the park. The small building served as a ranger residence and check-in station until 1926. It was rehabilitated in 1987.

• Ranger's Residence

  • Date Constructed: 1915
  • Builder: Department of the Interior

• Superintendent's Residence

  • Date Constructed: 1915
  • Builder: Department of the Interior

• Ranger Checking Station & Residence

  • Date Constructed: 1927
  • Builder: National Park Service
  • Architect: Daniel Hull
  • The porte-cochere (a roof extending out over the road) was added by the CCC in 1937. The building’s interior was rehabilitated in 1966 and 2013.

• Men's & Women's Comfort Stations

  • Date Constructed: 1927
  • Builder: National Park Service
  • Closed to public use in 1998.

• Equipment Building

  • Date Constructed: 1934
  • Builder: National Park Service

 

 

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