Glacier Park Lodge facts for kids
Glacier Park Lodge is a famous hotel. It is found right next to Glacier National Park. The lodge is in a small village called East Glacier Park, in Montana, United States.
The Great Northern Railway built this lodge in 1913. It was the first of many hotels they built near Glacier National Park. The railway wanted to give visitors a nice place to stay.
History of Glacier Park Lodge
Louis W. Hill was the president of the Great Northern Railway. His father was James J. Hill. Louis Hill wanted to make train travel better for passengers. He also wanted to compete with other railroads. These other railroads took tourists to Yellowstone National Park.
Hill worked hard to make Glacier Park a national park. Congress agreed in 1910. After that, the railway started building Glacier Park Lodge. Hill called the park an "American Alps." Many buildings were designed to look like Swiss hotels.
The lodge is at the base of the Rocky Mountain Front. This was a perfect spot for visitors to stop. It was also right across from the train station. Building the lodge started in April 1912. It was finished in just 15 months. So many people wanted to stay there that they quickly added more rooms. This expansion was done in 1914. It almost doubled the lodge's size.
Design of the Lodge
The Great Northern Railway hired Samuel L. Bartlett as the architect. But Louis Hill was very involved in the design. He even stepped down from his job for a while to focus on the hotel projects.
Hill bought land from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. This was made possible by a special law in 1912. The lodge's design was inspired by the Forestry Building. This building was at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon. Both Hill and his father liked that building.
The lodge has a huge main lobby. It is three stories tall. The lobby is lined with tall Douglas-fir columns. These columns are 40 feet (12 meters) high. They are also very wide, about 3 to 3.5 feet (91 to 106 cm) across. These giant trees were brought by train from the Pacific Northwest. Trees in Montana usually do not grow that big.
About 60 large trees were used. Douglas-fir was used inside the lobby. Cedar trees were used for the outside. The logs in the main hall look like ancient Greek columns. The lodge was built in a style like a Swiss chalet. This was similar to other hotels the Great Northern built. The first part of the lodge had 61 guest rooms. It also had the lobby and a dining room. The new addition added 111 more rooms.
Building and Features
The huge logs for the hotel arrived by train in April 1912. They were cut before the sap rose in the trees. This helped the bark stay on. The company that built it was Evensta & Company. They used a special train track to bring materials right to the site.
Louis Hill chose all the decorations and furniture. Over time, many original items have been changed. The lobby floor has also been rearranged. There is a lounge on the west side. It looks out at the mountains. There is also an outdoor porch. Another lounge is in the basement. This space used to have a small swimming pool.
The addition is a four-story building. It is south of the main lodge. A covered walkway connects the two parts. This walkway has cozy seating areas. By 1915, the lodge and its addition cost $500,000.
The outside of the main lodge has a porch with log columns. It has a long roof with windows sticking out. The sides of the porch have gabled sections. Each floor sticks out a bit more than the one below it. The roof is wide with deep overhangs, like a chalet. The lodge is covered with wooden siding and log details. The addition is almost the same size as the main lodge. It has balconies made of logs.
A nine-hole golf course was added to the lodge in 1928. It was the first golf course in Montana. In 1960, the railroad sold the hotels to Glacier Park, Inc. Later, the Dial Corporation bought the company in 1981. Then, Viad Corporation took over in 1996. The lodge is only open during the summer. This is usually from late May to late September.
Amtrak still promotes the park as a place to visit. Many visitors still arrive by the Empire Builder passenger train. Many national parks used to have hotels connected to railroads. The Glacier Park lodges are some of the last ones with a real train connection.
The lodge is right next to the national park. It is on private land. It has not been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also has not been named a National Historic Landmark. However, other buildings from the Great Northern Railway Buildings, like the Many Glacier Hotel, have received these honors.
See also
In Spanish: Glacier Park Lodge para niños
