Thousands Cabins Determination of Eligibility and National Register Update

While developing a Cultural Landscape Report for Yosemite Lodge, the team came across a small cluster of seven cabins used as seasonal employee housing, just across the road from the popular tourist destination at the heart of Yosemite Valley. What were they, when did they get there? No one knew. It was immediately clear that the cabins pre-dated the Mission 66-era Lodge (a period of Park modernization from 1956 to 1966). We needed much more information about history and significance of the cabins to be able to recommend a thoughtful preservation approach for the whole property.

The Yosemite Valley Historic District National Register Nomination, which outlined the earlier development and significance of the park, didn’t identify the cabins. It mistakenly stated that there were no buildings or structures dating to the valley’s early 20th-century within the Lodge area, because the area was redeveloped during the 1950s and 1960s. But MIG’s re-examination of historic maps, photos, and tourist brochures confirmed that what had been known as the Thousands Cabins were in fact constructed between 1915 and 1925 as part of a much larger complex that included hundreds of one-room tourist cabins built before motor lodges became popular.

Using the national register criteria and established historical themes and contexts for both the Yosemite Valley and Yosemite Lodge historic districts, MIG determined that the Thousands Cabins did not retain sufficient integrity of materials, setting, or association to convey either period of history and that they were therefore not eligible as contributing resources to the districts. This determination of eligibility allowed the authors of the CLR to move forward with a solid and comprehensive understanding of the property’s significance and park staff to initiate compliance for any future demolition or relocation of the Thousands Cabins.