Ranch A
Ranch A | |
Location | Crook County, Wyoming, USA |
---|---|
Nearest city | Beulah, Wyoming |
Coordinates | 44°29′27″N 104°6′53″W / 44.49083°N 104.11472°W |
Area | 410 acres (170 ha) |
Built | 1932 |
Architect | Ewing, Ray; Juso Bros. |
Architectural style | Rustic |
NRHP reference No. | 97000227[1] |
Added to NRHP | March 17, 1997 |
Ranch A, near
History
Annenberg bought the property around November 1927 from Frank LaPlante. Annenberg and his son Walter were going to Yellowstone National Park and stopped to eat in Beulah. Impressed with the trout he was served, Annenberg inquired after the property where the trout was raised. He bought the 650-acre (260 ha) ranch from LaPlante on the spot the next day for $27,000 [today worth around $303,000 in 2010 dollars] in cash, which Annenberg produced from his pocket.[3] Annenberg added more parcels to bring total acreage to more than 2,000 acres (810 ha). Moses and Walter Annenberg were the chief users of the ranch; Sadie Annenberg and her daughters came to the ranch only once. Guests arrived by rail at Aladdin, Wyoming, where the tracks ended, on private railcars owned by Annenberg. As publisher of the Daily Racing Form, Annenberg had a telephone communication center installed in the basement for coordination of horse racing information.[3]
The design work was done by South Dakota architect Ray Ewing, who hired the Juso Brothers to build the structures. The Jusos were Finnish immigrants who used traditional Finnish log building practices to fell, trim and erect the logs for the lodge and supporting structures. Work took place during the Great Depression, employing sixty to seventy workers, a significant project for the local economy.[3] Site planning and landscape architecture were done by South Dakota landscape architect J.R. McKay.[4]
Annenberg came under Federal investigation for his business practices in the late 1930s and was convicted of income tax evasion in 1940, was imprisoned, and died shortly after his release in 1942. Annenberg's heirs sold the ranch to Wyoming governor
Description
Sand Creek is a spring-fed stream with a consistent water temperature that is ideal for raising fish. The complex is located on the floor of the canyon with sandstone cliffs rising to either side. The lodge is sited near the northern canyon wall. Square in plan, the two-story lodge measures about 74 feet (23 m) by 75 feet (23 m). The second story overhangs the first, creating a long veranda across the front of the building, supported by stone piers with standing log sections as columns. The entrance is a knotty pine double door with iron strap hardware. The second story is a side gable dominated by shed dormers extending nearly the full width of the building, front and back. A small cross gable marks the center of the second story. A walkway extends directly from the rear of the second floor to the hillside behind. The interior features an atrium extending to the roof, surrounded by living spaces on both levels, framed in log construction.[4]
The garage is also of log construction, measuring 44 feet (13 m) by 44 feet (13 m), with three bays for vehicles, one of which has since been closed in. The second floor is framed as a smaller version of the lodge, and houses a three-bedroom caretaker's apartment.[4]
The barn was built about 1935 and measures about 63 feet (19 m) by 43 feet (13 m). The peeled log walls rest on a concrete foundation. A
Additional buildings include the fish hatchery lab, a 1967 brick building, the distinctive Sawtooth Building (ca. 1964) or Wet Laboratory, another hatchery building with a sawtooth roof profile, and several apartments.[5]
Ranch A presently comprises 645 acres (261 ha), owned by the state of Wyoming.[5] It is managed by the Ranch A Restoration Foundation as an education center.[2] It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[1]
Legislation
On April 23, 2013, Congresswoman
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Ranch A". National Register of Historic Places. Wyoming State Preservation Office. August 18, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "History". Ranch A Education Center. Ranch A. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Starr, Eileen; Guenin, Phyllis (1997). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Ranch A". National Park Service. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- ^ a b "Foundation". Ranch A Education Center. Ranch A. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- ^ "H.R. 1684 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ Hancock, Laura (August 5, 2013). "Lummis-supported bills move forward". Casper Star-Tribune Online. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ "Historic Ranch A Granted More Flexibility through Lummis Bill". Real Estate Rama. April 24, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
- ^ "Legislative Digest H.R. 1684". House Republican Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
External links
- Ranch A Education Center website
- Ranch A at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office