Big Elk Guard Station - Jackson County, OR - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The following text is taken from the NRHP Nomination Form to describe this former forest service guard station's history:

The Big Elk Guard Station, with its central building erected in 1929 as a seasonal administrative headquarters on the Ashland Ranger District of the Rogue River National Forest, has previously been determined eligible to the National Register of Historic Places. The Guard Station is significant for its association with the agency's administrative development, particularly in the area of the Forest south of Fish Lake. Submitted as part of a multiple property submission, "U.S. Forest Service Historic Structures on the Rogue River National Forest, Oregon," the Big Elk Guard Station represents its associated historic context, "Early Forest Service Administrative and Natural Resource Management on the Rogue River National Forest, 1907 to 1932." The cabin meets the registration requirements outlined for "rustic"-style agency structures in the registration document. With its major component constructed in 1929, it was established during the historic period. The Guard Station retains its integrity of setting, design, and materials, and it evokes direct historic associations with its historic context. The building is eligible to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A as an important, tangible representative of early Forest administrative activities in southwest Oregon. The oldest administrative site built within the Rogue River National Forest, the Big Elk Guard Station is now the oldest one in continuous use (LaLande, August 2, 1999).

Additionally eligible to the National Register under Criterion C as an excellent representative of early "rustic"-style Rogue River National Forest administrative buildings, the Big Elk-Guard Station cabin employs native materials and was constructed by Forest Service personnel before the agency developed standardized plans for its buildings. The Guard Station exemplifies projects undertaken by the Forest prior to 1933 and the arrival of the CCC in the area. As historian Gail Throop explains:

Prior to the Depression, the Forest Service building program was limited. Buildings were erected when and where they were needed, with little advance planning and minimal consideration of future needs or expansion of facilities (Throop 1979: 28-29)

The Big Elk Cabin represents one of three remaining examples of Forest Service log construction within the Rogue River National Forest. Willow Prairie Cabin, located a relatively short distance north of the Big Elk Guard Station is in good condition. The other, Fir Glade Guard Station, is totally collapsed and deteriorated. The Big Elk Guard Station cabin is among the five oldest Forest Service structures on the National Forest. The Big Elk site as a whole, has local significance due to its early and continuous association with Forest Service activities in the southern Cascade Range.

County / Borough / Parish: Jackson County Year listed: 2000 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Politics/Government, Conservation, Architecture Periods of significance: 1925-1949 Historic function: Government Current function: Camping residential use Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Street address: Not listed Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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