The
Star Ranger Station, located along Upper Applegate Rd, contains structures that were built at various times in the past 100 years. One of the structures is the Star Ranger Station, or 'Tack Room' that sits just north of the current ranger station. This structure has the significance of being the very-first admin headquarters for the Applegate Ranger District as well as being the oldest forest service building in southwestern Oregon. The National Register of Historic Places
datasheet describes this structure and mentions the 'oldest' claim in the following paragraph (references in bold):
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Significance: The Star Ranger Station Building, built in 1911 as the administrative headquarters on the Applegate Ranger District of the Rogue River National Forest, is significant for its association with the development of the Forest Service in southwest Oregon, and particularly in the Applegate Valley. Submitted as part of a multiple property submission, "U.S. Forest Service Historic Structures on the Rogue River National Forest, Oregon," Star Ranger Station Office represents its associated historic context, "Early Forest Service Administrative and Natural Resource Management on the Rogue River National Forest 1907 to 1932." The building meets the registration requirements outlined for vernacular agency structures in the registration document. Constructed in 1911, it was established near the beginning of the historic period. The Star Ranger Station Office retains its integrity of setting, design, and materials, and it evokes direct historic associations with its historic context. Although the building's location has shifted several times, including once within the historic period, it retains a prominent location on the site in proximity to the main road, reflecting its early status as an important Forest Service facility in the Applegate area. The Star Ranger Station Office embodies the characteristics of its type through its setting, design, and materials. The building has been declared eligible to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A as an important, tangible representative of early Forest Service administrative activities in southwest Oregon. One of the earliest Ranger Stations built within the Rogue River National Forest, it is one of the oldest Forest Service structures in continuous use in the nation. The Star Ranger Station Building is now the oldest Forest Service building extant in Southwestern Oregon (LaLande, August 2, 1999).
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There is a placard next to the 'tack room' that proves the 'first' claim and reads (references in bold):
The Old "Tack Room" ... a witness to change
This simple frame building - listed on the National Register of Historic Places - is one of the oldest Forest Service structures in the country. Known for many years as the "tack room," it has served a variety of purposes since its construction in 1911.
After President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed much of the Applegate River watershed as a National Forest in 1907, Forest Service rangers arrived to manage its resources. During the scorching summer of 1910, Ranger Horace Whitney made do with a miner's long-abandoned log cabin for shelter at nearby Star Gulch. The following spring, he returned with his new bride and found "two carpenters just completing a one-room, combined office and living quarters in the middle of the alfalfa patch on the District's new compound. Whitney's one-room building - the one standing before you now - was the first administrative headquarters for the new Applegate Ranger District.
The little building proved too cramped to serve as a year-round home. During the next few summers, the District Ranger and his family preferred to "rough it" in a tent; in the winter, they resided in town. In 1914 a two-story ranger's residence was built on the slope across the Upper Applegate Road. This home also served as the office until the Civilian Conservation Corps built a new ranger station in the 1930s (visible directly across the road from you).
Because of its small size, the original building - demoted from "office" to storage shed - was easily moved to several locations within the station compound over the years. From Word War I until the mid-1940s, long-time District Ranger Lee Port kept his saddles and other horse "tack" in it. Long after the day of the horse-mounted ranger had passed, the structure held tree-marking paint and other supplies to lay out the District's timber sales.
The Applegate Ranger District as witnessed a great deal of change since 1910, when a ranger spent most of his time riding the range in the high country, building trail, and fighting fire. In a small but real way, the old "tack room" has been part of that transformation. Today it serves as a tangible reminder of the early years and of the many changes that have come to the area since then.
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I was able to track down a profile of the individual noted for making the 'oldest' claim:
Lalande Archaeology and History Services
Mr. Jeffrey LaLande PhD, RPA
495 Chestnut Street #8
Ashland OR 97520
541-778-3257
e-mail: archandhistoryservices@gmail.com
archaeology (survey, site evaluation); history (research, writing, oral-history, NRHP evaluation/nomination); historic preservation and cultural resource management (planning, overviews, context statements, HABS/HAER); heritage interpretation