Indian Garden Trail Caretaker's Residence: Historic Structure Report

Built in 1932, the fonner trail caretaker's residence at Indian Garden on the Bright Angel Trail of the Grand Canyon National Park is an excellent example ofthe classic rustic style architecture developed by the Landscape Division of the National Park Service, under the direction of Thomas Chalmers Vmt, in concert with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Originally built as a one-story, two-room stone and wood-frame cabin for the trail caretaker, the building .exhibits fine craftsmanship and incorporates familiar materials from the landscape. The cabin's simple design was enhanced visually and fortified by monumental stone comer piers, two of which are extant. A small-scale rustic building, the fonner residence is in perfect alignment with the historical precedence of construction at Indian Garden and it compares favorably with Western tourist-oriented buildings that have come before: small-scale temporary structures, tents, cottages, mule-barns, cabins, and cabanas. The building's significance is derived as much from its location at Indian Garden, a site rich in history, as from its construction. The inner canyon site has been long associated with native American tradition and nineteenth century explorers and entrepreneurs who settled in the area. The Bright Angel Trail is one of the most well-kno,w n footpaths in the world, used by over 150,000 hikers and mule riders annually. In addition, the building is significant as a remnant of the Civilian Conservation Corps building campaigns of the 1930s. Now known as the SAR Cache Building, and used principally for storage of equipment, the structure sits within a cluster of mature trees to the west of the Bright Angel Trail, and is paire'd with another residential small-scale building, the Pump Caretaker's residence of 1943. Indian Garden is distinguished as one of the few sites within the canyon that is naturally visitor-friendly providing shade and its own water source from underground springs. At four-and-a-half miles below the South Rim, the site is a natural stopping point for hikers and for mule trains, a long familiar symbol of the tourist industry at the Grand Canyon. Though the area surrounding Indian Garden benefits from amenities both natural and NPS-provided, such as unparalleled scenery and convenient rest stops, it is, in general, somewhat haphazardly organized and lacks focus. The rehabilitation of this underut

Indian Garden Trail Caretaker's Residence: Historic Structure Report

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