Lake Crescent Lodge: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Olympic National Park, National Park Service

Dolan, Susan

Lake Crescent Lodge is an early 20th‑century wilderness resort located on Barnes Point, a level area of land that projects into Lake Crescent. Initiated in 1915, Lake Crescent Lodge has operated as a resort to the present day. The lodge and remaining cabins are located in a clearing surrounded by forests and mountains, with prominent views of Pyramid Mountain to the northwest, Storm King to the northeast, and Happy Lake Ridge and Aurora peak to the south. Lake Crescent provides a physical boundary on the western edge of the resort district, while the surrounding forest provides boundaries on the northern, southern, and eastern edges. Within the resort landscape, the arrangement of the lodge and cabins create a private courtyard that opens onto Lake Crescent. A recreation field exists east of the cabins. The landscape characteristics that remain at Lake Crescent Lodge are representative of turn‑of‑the‑century wilderness resort development at Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula. Singer’s Lake Crescent Tavern (Lake Crescent Lodge) is locally significant for its design and construction as it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type and method of construction and possesses high artistic values. Singer’s Lake Crescent Tavern remains one of only two examples of early 20th‑century wilderness resorts on Lake Crescent. As a rare example of this type of development, Singer’s Tavern continues to reflect a distinctive style of design and construction through its remaining landscape characteristics and features. The lodge and seven reconstructed cabins incorporate the period’s Craftsman style features such as gable roofs, broad overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails, full‑façade porches, and rustic exterior sheathing. The lodge is a contributing building within the district, and retains its broad, expansive wrap‑around porch, distinctive multi‑light muntined windows, and original shake sheathing. Additionally, Singer’s Tavern is locally significant for its association with the events of recreation and resort development at Olympic National Park. Recreation and resort development began in 1895 with Admiral Leslie Beardslee’s discovery of a large, blue‑backed trout in Lake Crescent’s waters. The variety of trout later became known as Beardslee Trout, and became the centerpiece of Lake Crescent’s reputation as a haven for sport fishermen. America’s growing idealization of the healthful, restorative qualities of wilderness resorts at the turn of the century also prompted Lake Crescent’s development as an outdoor recreation and resort area. Of the eleven resorts that were built around the lake before the 1920s, only two remain today: Lake Crescent Lodge (Singer’s Lake Crescent Tavern) and Rosemary Inn. Singer’s Lake Crescent Tavern is locally significant for its association with individuals important in Olympic National Park’s history. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the Olympic Peninsula in the fall of 1937, the president, Washington State political leaders, and Forest and Park Service administrative staff gathered at Singer’s Tavern to discuss the proposal to establish Olympic National Park. Present at these meetings were Washington Senators Mon Wallgren and Homer T. Bone, and such well‑known journalists as Drew Pearson and William Allen. Less than one year later the U.S. Congress approved a bill to establish Olympic National Park. Singer’s Tavern has been visited by other prominent guests, including inventor and philanthropist Henry Ford, singer Frank Sinatra, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and his wife, and U.S. Senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The period of significance is 1915 – 1947 and encompasses the early resort development by Avery and Julia Singer, and the later resort years when the last improvements were made by private owners. The significant date is 30 September 1937, the day of President Roosevelt’s visit.

Lake Crescent Lodge: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Olympic National Park, National Park Service

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