Wawona Hotel

Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio

Wawona Hotel in 1985
Location On CA 41 in Yosemite National Park, Wawona, California
Coordinates 37°32′11″N 119°39′13″W / 37.53639°N 119.65361°W / 37.53639; -119.65361Coordinates: 37°32′11″N 119°39′13″W / 37.53639°N 119.65361°W / 37.53639; -119.65361
Area 16.5 acres (6.7 ha)
Built 1876
Architect Washburn Brothers
Architectural style Late Victorian
NRHP Reference # 75000223[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 1, 1975[1]
Designated NHL May 28, 1987[2]

The Wawona Hotel is a historic hotel located within southern Yosemite National Park, in California. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, and is on the National Register of Historic Places .[2][3][4] On March 1, 2016, the Wawona Hotel was renamed Big Trees Lodge[5] due to a legal dispute between the US Government, which owns the property, and the outgoing concessionaire, Delaware North, which claims rights to the trademarked name.[6]

History to present

The Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park, 2005

The Wawona Hotel is one of the oldest mountain resort hotels in California, and a classic of Victorian era resort design. The Victorian style hotel was built in 1876 to serve tourists visiting the nearby Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). As tourism increased, through 1916, the hotel built additional rooms and facilities. In addition, it cut more forest trails, as well as paths along the south fork of the Merced River.

Nighttime view of the Wawona Hotel, 2009

The Wawona Hotel is located 4 miles (6.4 km) from the park's south entrance, between the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees and the Yosemite Valley. It is one of the few historical period hotels still standing within Yosemite National Park's boundaries.

Most of the hotel's 104 guestrooms open onto one of the Wawona Hotel's deep verandas, which wrap around the first and second floors; they have open views of the gardened and natural landscapes. The hotel includes six historically distinctive buildings, built between 1876 and 1916. The rooms are furnished with antiques, period pieces, and vintage elements. The hotel has no telephones or televisions in the guestrooms. Outdoor recreation choices include quiet nature walks or scenic drives, and when snow arrives, nearby cross-country and downhill skiing and snowshoe routes.

Across from the hotel is a nine-hole 3,035 yards (2,775 m), par 35 golf course, Yosemite Park's only such facility. It is one of the few within any U.S. National Park. The course is open daily from spring to fall, weather permitting. In operation since 1918, the golf course is the oldest in the Sierra Nevada.

Thomas Hill studio

"Yosemite Valley" oil painting by Thomas Hill

Thomas Hill (1829–1908), a renowned landscape painter of the Hudson River School, stayed at the Wawona Hotel toward the end of his life. He used the hotel pavilion as his painting studio and completed numerous works of the region.[2][3] This is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "Wawona Hotel and Thomas Hill Studio". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-25.
  3. 1 2 "Wawona Hotel and Studio, 1985, by Laura Soullière Harrison" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination. National Park Service. 1985.
  4. ↑ "Wawona Hotel and Studio--Accompanying 43 NPS photos by Laura Soullière Harrison, exterior and interior, from 1985." (PDF). National Park Service. 1985.
  5. ↑ Alexander, Kurtis. "No longer the Ahwahnee: new names for Yosemite landmark sites". SF Chronicle. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-yosemite-ahwahnee-hotel-20160114-story.html
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