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Identification:
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Preferred Structure Name:
| Moraine Park Museum
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Structure Number:
| HS-0217
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Other Structure Name(s):
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Other Structure Name(s)
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1.
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Moraine Park Visitor Center
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2.
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Moraine Park Lodge
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Park:
| Rocky Mountain National Park
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Historic District:
|
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Historic District
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1.
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Moraine Park Museum & Amphitheater
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Structure State:
| Colorado
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Structure County:
| Larimer
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Region:
| Intermountain
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Cluster:
| Rocky Mountain
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Administrative Unit:
| Rocky Mountain National Park
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LCS ID:
| 010503
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Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
| Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
| 10/08/1976
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National Historic Landmark?:
| No
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Significance Level:
| State
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Short Significance Description:
| Significant under criterion A for its association with the Ranching and Resort Industries and the development of Federal Conservation efforts. Dates listed as 1923 to present (then 1975).
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Long Significance Description:
| Moraine Park Museum is significant for two reasons: its association with early resort development and its association with early Rocky Mountain National Park conservation efforts. Residents settled in Moraine Park as early as 1875, recognizing the sublime beauty. The park quickly developed into a tourist destination. Imogene Green homesteaded the property in 1899, and gradually constructed cabins to accommodate visitors. Built in 1923, the Assembly Hall served until 1931 as the social center of Imogene (Green) McPherson's summer resort because it housed a business office, tea room, and assembly hall.
When Congress passed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act in 1915, Moraine Park was filled with lodges and privately owned cabins. In an effort to return it to its "natural" environment, the National Park Service began to purchase properties and demolish buildings. It purchased McPhearson's assembly hall in 1931, and proceeded to demolish the surrounding cabins between 1932 and 1937. The park remodeled the building for a museum, adding pine display cases and an amphitheater. The museum opened in June 1937. Rocky Mountain National Park remodeled the museum several more times to accommodate increasing visitation and to modernize exhibits. The last rehabilitation, in 1991, again altered the interior to better serve the guests visiting Moraine Park.
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Construction Period:
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Construction Period:
| Historic
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
| Begin Year
| Begin Year AD/BC
| End Year
| End Year AD/BC
| Designer
| Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1923
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AD
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McPherson, Imogene
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Other
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2.
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Altered
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1931
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AD
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NPS
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3.
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Designed
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1934
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AD
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1934
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AD
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Albers, Robert W.
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Architect
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4.
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Designed
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1934
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AD
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1934
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AD
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Baker, Howard W.
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Landscape Architect
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5.
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Designed
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1934
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AD
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1934
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AD
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NPS Branch of Plans and Design
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Landscape Architect
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6.
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Designed
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1934
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AD
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1934
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AD
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NPS Branch of Plans and Design
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Architect
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7.
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Altered
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1935
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AD
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1936
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AD
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ECW/CCC
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Other
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8.
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Designed
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1935
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AD
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1935
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AD
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JRJ
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Engineer
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9.
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Designed
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1935
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AD
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1935
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AD
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NPS Office of the Chief Engineer
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Engineer
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10.
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Designed
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1941
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AD
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1941
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AD
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Wilkie, R. E.
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Architect
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11.
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Designed
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1941
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AD
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1934
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AD
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NPS Branch of Plans and Design
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Architect
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12.
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Altered
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1941
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AD
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1941
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AD
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NPS
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Other
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13.
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Altered
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1943
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AD
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NPS
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14.
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Altered
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1978
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AD
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1978
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AD
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NPS
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15.
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Rehabilitated
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1990
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AD
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1992
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AD
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NPS
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Function and Use:
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Primary Historic Function:
| Clubhouse (Social/Garden)
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Primary Current Use:
| Museum (Exhibition Hall)
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Structure Contains Museum Collections?:
| Yes
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Other Functions or Uses:
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Other Function(s) or Use(s)
| Historic or Current
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1.
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Museum (Exhibition Hall)
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Historic
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2.
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Historic Furnished Interior
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Current
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3.
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Visitor Contact (Visitor Center)
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Current
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Physical Description:
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Structure Type:
| Building
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Volume:
| 20,000 - 2,000,000 cubic feet
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Square Feet:
| 5420
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Material(s):
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Structural Component(s)
| Material(s)
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1.
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Foundation
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Concrete
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2.
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Roof
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Shingle
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3.
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Framing
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Log
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4.
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Foundation
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Fieldstone
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5.
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Walls
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Log
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Short Physical Description:
| Two-and-a-half story, log and frame building. The roof is a gable with shed dormers. Another gable covers the enclosed porch to the front. The stone chimney and foundation give it a rustic character.
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Long Physical Description:
| Two-and-a-half story building has a gable roof with shed dormers covered in wood shingles that double every fifth course. The upper stories are log. The basement story, partially excavated into the hillside, is concrete veneered in uncoursed fieldstone. The enclosed south facing porch serves as a view platform to Moraine Park and Longs Peak. A log balustrade porch surrounds the fieldstone chimney on the west façade. Wood sash and picture windows punctuate the façades. Although the park remodeled the Museum several times, the building retains its rustic character.
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