Soda Springs Complex: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service

Schaible, Daniel

The Tuolumne Meadows Soda Springs Historic District is a component landscape of the parent Tuolumne Meadows Historic District. It comprises about 140 acres on the northern edge of Tuolumne Meadows. The Soda Spring Historic District is significant under National Register Criterion A for its association with the contextual theme of outdoor recreation and environmental preservation beginning with Jean Baptiste Lembert and ending with the Sierra Club; and under Criterion C for its association with architecture, landscape design, and the construction of the visitor experience as an early precursor to Park Service rustic style architecture and naturalistic landscape architecture. The period of significance for the district is 1885 to 1937. These dates reflect the period during which most development associated with the significance of the district occurred. This period begins with the year John Baptiste Lembert homesteaded the land and ends with the construction of the Bruin Baffle, the last substantial addition made by the Sierra Club. The period of significance does not include the construction of the Great Sierra Wagon Road, which occurred in 1883, because that structure is associated with a different contextual theme—the mining frontier—and should be documented separately. The most heavily developed part of the district lies on a granite bench slightly elevated above the meadow and overlooking the Tuolumne River from the north. Lodgepole pine forest covers a portion of this area. The district also extends south of the Tuolumne River, following the historic property boundaries of the original homestead. This part of the district lies within the lowland meadow but little physical development exists here. The Soda Springs Historic District derives its name from several mineral springs that lie on the edge of the bench just north of the river. These were enclosed in a log structure by the original homesteader, John Baptiste Lembert, in the late nineteenth‑century. Other contributing historic features stand nearby and include the McCauley Cabin and Parsons Memorial Lodge. All three structures are listed on the National Register. Parsons Memorial Lodge has also been designated a National Historic Landmark. The district also includes several structures and small‑scale features introduced by the Sierra Club, which owned the land from 1912 to 1973. A segment of the historic Great Sierra Wagon Road is still extant within the district, though it is used now only as a foot trail. Other segments of the district's circulation reflect the original alignment of this road but have been substantially altered in other respects and no longer retain historic integrity. The Soda Springs Historic District is currently owned and managed by the National Park Service, which bought the land from the Sierra Club in 1973. In 1976, only three years after this land transfer, the Park Service closed down the Sierra Club campgrounds and allowed the landscape on which this historic use had occurred to naturalize. The Park Service has otherwise retained, preserved or restored the remaining contributing features within the historic district, and the district as a whole retains sufficient integrity to convey its significance in history. The principal character‑defining features embodied in the design, workmanship and materials of the district's architecture and landscaping remain intact and convey its significance under Criterion C. The district's location overlooking Tuolumne Meadows, its setting as a place of outdoor recreation and scenic delight, its feeling of rustic development and informal community and its association with the western frontier all remain intact and convey its significance under Criterion A. The landscape features that contribute to the significance of the district include natural systems and features, spatial organization, circulation, buildings and structures, small‑scale features and archeological sites.

Soda Springs Complex: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Yosemite National Park, National Park Service

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