Cultural Landscape Report: Lake McDonald Lodge Historic District, Glacier National Park, Montana

Renewable Techonologies, Contractor; Hufstetler, Mark

Lake McDonald Lodge is an historic hotel complex, located along the shore of its namesake lake in Glacier National Park, Montana. The lodge and its predecessors have been focal points for Glacier tourism since the 1890s, offering a variety of lodging and other services in a diverse assemblage of buildings in a unique lakeside setting. The centerpiece of the property is Lake McDonald Lodge itself, a rustic, chalet-style facility constructed in 1914 as “Lewis Glacier Hotel.” The lodge and its associated buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the complex is also a designated National Historic Landmark. This Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) is intended as a reference document describing the history of land use and development in the immediate vicinity of Lake McDonald Lodge. The report identifies historic building patterns at the site; the evolution of the area’s natural and human-created setting; and circulation and travel patterns within the property over time. As such, this report can be used to help evaluate the impact of proposed future undertakings on historic resources or landscape elements. This information is provided in three primary sections, as follows: 1. An overall history of the lodge itself, including both general background information and an introduction to the evolution of the property’s landscape (Chapter 2); 2. A description of existing conditions at the lodge area (Chapter 3); and 3. An analysis and evaluation of the significant cultural landscape qualities surviving at the site (Chapter 4). The information contained in this report is intended to be used in conjunction with other planning documents that exist for this location. A number of such documents have been prepared over the years, but the two of greatest relevance to Lake McDonald Lodge and its cultural landscape are the park’s General Management Plan (GMP) (1999) and Commercial Services Plan (CSP) (2004). The GMP committed the park to retaining “historic visitor lodging experiences” in Glacier, and to the rehabilitation of the park’s historic visitor lodging facilities. The CSP outlines in greater detail recommended options for fulfilling GMP goals relating to commercial visitor services.

Cultural Landscape Report: Lake McDonald Lodge Historic District, Glacier National Park, Montana

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