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{{About|the building|the ski area|Timberline Lodge ski area}}
== Timberline Lodge National Historic Landmark ==
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Timberline Lodge
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Timberline Lodge 2014.jpg
| caption = Timberline Lodge in 2014
| nearest_city = ]
| coordinates = {{coord|45|19|52|N|121|42|36|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin =USA Oregon
|map_caption=Location in ] | area =
| built = 1936–1938
| architect = ], ], ], Howard L. Gifford, Dean R. E. Wright
| architecture = Rustic Cascadian Neovernacular
| added = November 12, 1973
| designated_nrhp_type = December 22, 1977<ref name=nhl-list>{{cite web|title=Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Oregon |publisher=]|url=http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/or/OR.pdf |access-date=June 29, 2014}}</ref>
| refnum = 73001572<ref name="nris">{{NRISref |refnum=73001572|2007a}}</ref>
}}


'''Timberline Lodge''' is a mountain lodge on the south side of ] in ], about {{convert|60|mi|km}} east of ]. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 by the ], it was built and furnished by local artisans during the ]. Timberline Lodge was dedicated September 28, 1937, by President ].
Timberline Lodge was constructed as a ] (WPA) project during the Great Depression and completed in 1937. Talented workers used huge timbers and native stone as building materials, and placed intricately carved decorative elements throught the building. It is located about 95 km (60 mi) east of ], at 9,600 m. (6,000 ft.) on the south side of ].


The ] sits at an elevation of {{convert|6,000|ft|m|0}}, within the ] and is accessible through the ].<ref name="nsbp">{{cite web| url = http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/61400/travel.html | title = Mt. Hood Scenic Byway | publisher = National Scenic Byways Program | access-date = 2009-12-23 }}</ref> Publicly owned and privately operated, Timberline Lodge is a popular tourist attraction that draws two million visitors annually.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timberlinelodge.com/ethos/historic-preservation/ | title=Historic Preservation | publisher=Timberline Lodge | access-date=2016-01-26 }}</ref> It is notable in film for serving as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in ] (1980).
It is known for having the longest skiing season in North America, and is open for skiiers and snowboarders every month of the year.


The lodge and its grounds host a ], also known as ]. It has the longest skiing season in the U.S., and is open for skiers and ] all 12 months of the year. Activities include skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, hiking, biking, and climbing.
Activities include skiing, snowboarding, walking, hiking and climbing.


== Design and construction ==
] above the head house]]
{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->| align = right
| direction = vertical
| width = 220
<!-- Image 1 -->| image1 = Timberline-Lodge-Newel-Post.jpg
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Purchased for $2.10 each, discarded cedar utility poles were repurposed as newel posts—19 of them crowned with carvings of area wildlife.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>{{Rp|142}}
<!-- Image 2 -->| image2 = Timberline-Lodge-Fire-Screen.jpg
| alt2 =
| caption2 = Fire screen made from tire chains and irons forged from old railroad rails
<!-- Image 3 -->| image3 = Operation and Information WPA Camp-1936.jpg
| alt3 =
| caption3 = WPA workers lived in a nearby tent city while building Timberline Lodge (1936).
}}
{{quotation|Each workman on Timberline Lodge gained proficiency in manual arts. He was a better workman, a better citizen, progressing by infinitely-slow steps to the degree above him.|''The Builders of Timberline Lodge'', ]<ref name="Builders">{{cite web |url=http://newdeal.feri.org/art/art07.htm |title=The Builders of Timberline Lodge |last=Federal Writers' Project |author-link=Federal Writers' Project |website=Federal Art Project Documents |publisher=Essay for the proposed Federal Art Project report to Congress, Art for the Millions (unpublished) |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>}}
Timberline Lodge, a mountain lodge and resort hotel, is a four-story structure of about {{Convert|40,000|ft2|m2}}. The ground-level exterior walls are heavy rubble masonry, using boulders from the immediate area, and heavy timber is used from the first floor up. The central head house section is hexagonal and {{Convert|60|ft|m|spell=in}} in diameter, with a six-sided stone chimney stack {{Convert|90|ft|m|spell=in}} high and {{Convert|14|ft|m|spell=in}} in diameter. Each of the six fireplace openings—three on the ground floor, three on the first floor—is {{Convert|5|ft|m|spell=in}} wide and {{Convert|7|ft|m|spell=in}} high. Two wings, running west and southeast, flank the head house. Oregon woods used throughout the building include ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="Nomination Form">{{cite web |url=http://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/73001572 |title=Timberline Lodge, National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form |date=November 12, 1973 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2016-01-24}}</ref>

The architect of Timberline Lodge is ], noted for the ] and other lodges in the U.S. national park system.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>{{Rp|338}} He produced the designs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/sontag/underwood.htm |title=Gilbert Stanley Underwood |last=Wheaton |first=Rodd L. |website=National Park Service: The First 75 Years |publisher=] |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> Then, his central head house was modified from an octagon to a hexagon by U.S. Forest Service architect ] and the team of ], Howard L. Gifford and Dean R. E. Wright.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>{{Rp|338}} A recent graduate of the ],<ref name="Forest Service History">{{cite web |url=http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Publications/architecture/chap2c.htm |title=Timberline Lodge: A Legacy from the WPA|date=June 8, 2008 |website=A History of the Architecture of the USDA Forest Service |publisher=] |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> forest service engineer Ward Gano was structural designer.<ref>{{cite news |last=Associated Press |author-link=Associated Press |date=April 26, 1998 |title=Timberline Lodge engineer dies at 84 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19980426&id=205WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zusDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6874,7012753&hl=en |newspaper=] |location=Eugene, Oregon |access-date=2016-01-13 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Oral history interview with Ward Gano|last=Munro |first=Sarah |publisher=] |oclc = 58919408}}</ref>
]

Timberline Lodge was constructed between 1936 and 1938 as a ] project during ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dorner |first=Sydney |date=2024-04-19 |title='Structure anywhere in the country that is like Timberline': Timberline Lodge pivotal in Oregon History |url=https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/timberline-lodge-pivotal-oregon-history-landmark-fire/283-6ec5890f-4ffa-4312-a5a1-49e07a79d122 |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=KGW8 |language=en-US}}</ref> Eighty percent of the WPA's $695,730 total expenditure on building costs went toward labor. Skilled building trade workers received ninety cents an hour; unskilled laborers received fifty-five cents an hour. Some of the skilled stonemasons on the project were Italian immigrants brought in after working on The Historic Columbia River Highway and other roads in Oregon. About a hundred ] were on site at a given time, and lived at a nearby tent city. Jobs were rotated to provide work.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>{{Rp|338}}

Materials costs were minimized by the skillful use of recycled materials. Women wove draperies, upholstery, and bedspreads. Hooked rugs were made from strips of old ] camp blankets. Discarded cedar utility poles became newel-posts with their crowns hand-carved into birds, bears, and seals. Fireplace screens were fashioned from tire chains. Andirons and other iron work were forged from railroad tracks. WPA workers used large timbers and local stone from the site.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>{{Rp|338}}

"All classes, from the most elementary hand labor, through the various degrees of skill to the technically-trained, were employed," reported the WPA's ]. "Pick and shovel wielders, stonecutters, plumbers, carpenters, steam-fitters, painters, wood-carvers, cabinet-makers, metal workers, leather-toolers, seamstresses, weavers, architects, authors, artists, actors, musicians, and landscape planners, each contributed to the project, and each, in his way, was conscious of the ideal toward which all bent their energies."<ref name="Builders"/>

===Federal Art Project===
] contributions to the project were directed by ], Oregon Arts Project administrator. Smith created many designs for textiles and rugs. She designed the iconic "snow goose", the {{Convert|750|lb|kg|adj=on}} bronze weather vane above the head house. Smith based the abstract forms incised into the lodge chimney on the art of the local ]. Likely-acquainted with ], a fellow resident of Portland, Smith saw the ] aesthetic carried through in tables, chairs, sectional sofas, columns, bedspreads, draperies, lampshades, and pendant lighting fixtures. She commissioned murals, paintings and carvings from Oregon's WPA artists.<ref name="When Art Worked"/>{{Rp|338–339}}

==Dedication==
{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->| align = right
| direction = vertical
| width = 220
<!-- Image 1 -->| image1 = Timberline-Lodge-Plaque-HABS.jpg
| alt1 =
| caption1 = Dedication plaque
<!-- Image 2 -->| image2 = FDR-Dedicating-Timberline-Lodge-1937.jpg
| alt2 =
| caption2 = ] at lectern, dedicating Timberline Lodge (September 28, 1937)
}}

During an inspection tour of government activities in the western U.S., President ] dedicated Timberline Lodge on September 28, 1937.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/daybyday/daylog/september-28th-1937/ |title=September 28, 1937 |website=Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day |publisher=] |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> In his speech, he said:

<blockquote>This Timberline Lodge marks a venture that was made possible by WPA, emergency relief work, in order that we may test the workability of recreational facilities installed by the Government itself and operated under its complete control.<br />
Here, to Mount Hood, will come thousands and thousands of visitors in the coming years. Looking east toward eastern Oregon with its great livestock raising areas, these visitors are going to visualize the relationship between the cattle ] and the summer ranges in the forests. Looking westward and northward toward Portland and the ], with their great lumber and other wood using industries, they will understand the part which ] timber will play in the support of this important element of northwestern prosperity.<br />
Those who will follow us to Timberline Lodge on their holidays and vacations will represent the enjoyment of new opportunities for play in every season of the year. I mention specially every season of the year because we, as a nation, I think, are coming to realize that the summer is not the only time for play. I look forward to the day when many, many people from this region of the Nation are going to come here for ] and ]ing and various other forms of ]."<ref>{{cite web | title = Works of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Address at Timberline Lodge | publisher = New Deal Network |date=September 28, 1937 | url = http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1937d.htm | access-date = 2007-01-01}}</ref></blockquote>

He dedicated the lodge, saying, "I am here to dedicate the Timberline Lodge and I do so in the words of the bronze tablet directly in front of me on the coping of this wonderful building: 'Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood National Forest dedicated September 28, 1937, by the President of the United States as a monument to the skill and faithful performance of workers on the rolls of the Works Progress Administration'".

FDR and ] enjoyed a celebratory luncheon including salmon and huckleberry pie.<ref name="When Art Worked">{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Roger G. |author-link1=Roger G. Kennedy|last2=Larkin |first2=David |date=2009 |title=When Art Worked: The New Deal, Art, and Democracy |location=New York |publisher=]|isbn=978-0-8478-3089-3 }}</ref>{{Rp|339}} In her '']'' column, Mrs. Roosevelt praised the lodge's architectural features: "It is built exclusively of native products and by WPA labor. The interesting central fire place with its many openings is a feature I have seen in no other building of its kind and no where have I seen such big timbers used. All the furniture, all the hangings, all the iron work as well, were made by WPA workers. Here is a group of workers who have the makings of a handcraft organization, and I hope their work will be appreciated. Mr. Griffith, the state WPA administrator, must be happy over the work done here."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1937&_f=md054760 |last=Roosevelt |first=Eleanor |author-link=Eleanor Roosevelt |date=September 30, 1937 |title=My Day |website=Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project |publisher=] |access-date=2016-01-13 }}</ref>

Most work was complete at the time of the dedication. After some interior details were finished,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftimberline.org/about-the-lodge/ |title=About the Lodge |publisher=Friends of Timberline |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> the lodge opened to the public February 4, 1938.<ref name="Forest Service History"/>

==Operation==
{{main|Timberline Lodge ski area}}
Franklin Roosevelt's vision of winter sports at Timberline Lodge took hesitant steps the following year. A portable rope tow was installed, and construction began on the ] chairlift, which opened November 1939.

], Timberline Lodge fell into decline.]]
In the lodge's early years, none of its four operators were willing or able to maintain it. By 1955, Timberline Lodge was closed.<ref name="ln">{{cite web | first = Janie | last = Nafsinger | title = The man who rescued Timberline Lodge | publisher = Lifestyles Northwest |date=February 21, 2005 | url = http://lifestylesnorthwest.com/article/6435 | access-date = 2005-12-19 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051219180642/http://lifestylesnorthwest.com/article/6435 |archive-date = 2005-12-19}}</ref>

Richard Kohnstamm, the next operator, recalled difficulties due to financing problems because the government claimed they owned it. Kohnstamm decided to maintain the place as if he owned it; he lost money during his first five years of operation, but his timing was fortuitous. He took over only a few years before skiing exploded in popularity in the late 1950s. That popularity helped the family generate a profit starting in 1960. Kohnstamm, "the man who saved Timberline",<ref>'']'' April 25, 2006</ref> died at the age of 80 on April 21, 2006. Kohnstamm's son Jeff is the Area Operator of Timberline Lodge.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

=== As a shooting location ===
==== Film ====
]
Exterior views of Timberline Lodge were used in '']'' (1980), ]'s film adaptation of ]'s ] set at the fictional Overlook Hotel. The staff and owners were concerned that guests would be reluctant to stay in Room 217 if it were featured in a horror movie; the management requested the room number be changed to the fictional Room 237, which Kubrick granted.<ref name="Munro Timberline Lodge">{{cite book |last=Munro |first=Sarah Baker |date=2009 |title=Timberline Lodge: The History, Art, and Craft of an American Icon |location=Portland |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-0-88192-856-3}}</ref>{{Rp|162}}<ref name="approd">{{cite web|title=Feature Films and Made for TV Movies Made in Oregon|publisher=Asia-Pacific Productions|year=2006|url=http://www.approd.com/Oregon%20Movies%20Web.htm|access-date=2006-09-15|archive-date=September 27, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223033/http://www.approd.com/Oregon%20Movies%20Web.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timberlinelodge.com/the-shining/ |title=The Shining |publisher=Timberline Lodge |access-date=2016-01-28}}</ref>
]

Other feature films shot at or around Timberline Lodge include ''Jingle Belles'' (1941),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-22 |title=RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARCHIVE: Snowtime Serenade (1949; originally released as Jingle Belles, 1941) |url=https://oregonconfluence.com/2017/12/22/raiders-of-the-lost-archive-snowtime-serenade-1949-originally-released-as-jingle-belles-1941/ |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=The Confluence |publisher=Oregon Film |language=EN}}</ref> '']'' (1952), '']'' (1960), '']'' (1973), '']'' (1991), '']'' (1993), and '']'' (2014).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.outsideonline.com/1928701/behind-scenes-wild |title=Behind the Scenes of ''Wild'' |last=Neville |first=Tim |date=November 7, 2014 |website=] |access-date=2016-01-28}}</ref>

==== Television ====
Brief exterior views of a snowy Timberline Lodge were used as a stand-in for a "Bavarian Ski Resort" in multiple episodes of '']''. Director ] was killed in an accident on the third day of filming the NBC-TV miniseries '']'' (1982), after he walked into the tail rotor blades of a helicopter in Timberline Lodge's parking lot.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Shawn G. |date=May 24, 1981 |title=Boris Sagal, 58, Movie Director, Dies After a Helicopter Accident |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/24/obituaries/boris-sagal-58-movie-director-dies-after-a-helicopter-accident.html |newspaper=] |access-date=2016-01-28 }}</ref>

==Events==
In 2017, the inaugural ] was held at Timberline Lodge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/3/15530786/overlook-film-festival-immersive-horror-game-shining|title=How the Overlook Film Festival Turned Itself into a Living, Breathing Horror Movie|last=Bishop|first=Bryan|date=May 3, 2017|website=]|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/overlook-film-festival-2018-new-orleans-horror-1201893138/|title=America's Most Exciting New Horror Film Festival Is Moving to New Orleans|last=Kohn|first=Eric|date=November 1, 2017|website=]|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref> The following year, the festival moved to ], Louisiana.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3558238/overlook-film-festival-heads-back-new-orleans-21-features/|title=The Overlook Film Festival Heads Back to New Orleans with 21 Features|last=Miska|first=Brad|date=April 26, 2019|website=]|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/spirits-were-high-for-the-overlook-film-festivals-drugg-1835257442|title=Spirits were high for the Overlook Film Festival's druggy, devil-worshipping return to New Orleans|last=Rife|first=Katie|date=June 7, 2019|website=]|access-date=May 31, 2020}}</ref>

On April 18, 2024 a fire broke out at the lodge requiring multiple fire agencies to respond.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2024/04/19/shining-timberline-lodge-fire-oregon-kubric/d3085540-fe72-11ee-87ac-20f7e67cbe29_story.html|title=Firefighters douse a blaze at a historic Oregon hotel famously featured in 'The Shining'|newspaper=]|date=April 19, 2024|accessdate=April 19, 2024}}</ref>

==Climate==
{{Weather box
|location = Timberline Lodge 45.3319 N, 121.7102 W, Elevation: {{cvt|6001|ft}} (1991–2020 normals)
|single line = y

|Jan high F = 33.4
|Feb high F = 34.1
|Mar high F = 36.5
|Apr high F = 39.6
|May high F = 47.9
|Jun high F = 54.2
|Jul high F = 64.9
|Aug high F = 65.4
|Sep high F = 59.1
|Oct high F = 47.3
|Nov high F = 37.2
|Dec high F = 32.4

|Jan mean F = 28.1
|Feb mean F = 27.8
|Mar mean F = 29.2
|Apr mean F = 32.0
|May mean F = 39.2
|Jun mean F = 45.0
|Jul mean F = 54.3
|Aug mean F = 54.8
|Sep mean F = 49.7
|Oct mean F = 39.9
|Nov mean F = 31.7
|Dec mean F = 27.3

|Jan low F = 22.8
|Feb low F = 21.5
|Mar low F = 22.0
|Apr low F = 24.4
|May low F = 30.5
|Jun low F = 35.8
|Jul low F = 43.7
|Aug low F = 44.3
|Sep low F = 40.2
|Oct low F = 32.5
|Nov low F = 26.1
|Dec low F = 22.1

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 16.37
|Feb precipitation inch = 12.36
|Mar precipitation inch = 12.78
|Apr precipitation inch = 10.13
|May precipitation inch = 6.77
|Jun precipitation inch = 5.36
|Jul precipitation inch = 1.22
|Aug precipitation inch = 1.75
|Sep precipitation inch = 4.17
|Oct precipitation inch = 9.70
|Nov precipitation inch = 16.27
|Dec precipitation inch = 16.72

|Jan snow inch = 95
|Feb snow inch = 102
|Mar snow inch = 89
|Apr snow inch = 59
|May snow inch = 20
|Jun snow inch = 5
|Jul snow inch = 0.1
|Aug snow inch = 0
|Sep snow inch = 6
|Oct snow inch = 21
|Nov snow inch = 40
|Dec snow inch = 106

|source=PRISM Climate Group<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/
|title= PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University
|publisher= PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University
|access-date= October 4, 2023
|quote= To find the table data on the PRISM website, start by clicking ''Coordinates'' (under ''Location''); copy ''Latitude'' and ''Longitude figures'' from top of table; click ''Zoom to location''; click ''Precipitation, Minimum temp, Mean temp, Maximum temp''; click ''30-year normals, 1991-2020''; click ''800m''; click ''Interpolate grid cell values''; click ''Retrieve Time Series'' button.}}</ref>
}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Oregon|National Register of Historic Places}}
* '''''<small>{{portal-inline|Pacific Northwest}}</small>'''''
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website}}
* from ] via ] (Internet Archive)
* (Internet Archive)
* Many photos of the Lodge and artwork.
* Documentary produced by ] (2012)
{{The Shining}}
{{National Register of Historic Places Oregon}}

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Latest revision as of 04:01, 19 November 2024

This article is about the building. For the ski area, see Timberline Lodge ski area.

United States historic place
Timberline Lodge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Timberline Lodge in 2014
Timberline Lodge is located in OregonTimberline LodgeLocation in Oregon
Nearest cityGovernment Camp, Oregon
Coordinates45°19′52″N 121°42′36″W / 45.33111°N 121.71000°W / 45.33111; -121.71000
Built1936–1938
ArchitectGilbert Stanley Underwood, W. I. Turner, Linn A. Forrest, Howard L. Gifford, Dean R. E. Wright
Architectural styleRustic Cascadian Neovernacular
NRHP reference No.73001572
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 1973
Designated NHLDecember 22, 1977

Timberline Lodge is a mountain lodge on the south side of Mount Hood in Clackamas County, Oregon, about 60 miles (97 km) east of Portland. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, it was built and furnished by local artisans during the Great Depression. Timberline Lodge was dedicated September 28, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The National Historic Landmark sits at an elevation of 6,000 feet (1,829 m), within the Mount Hood National Forest and is accessible through the Mount Hood Scenic Byway. Publicly owned and privately operated, Timberline Lodge is a popular tourist attraction that draws two million visitors annually. It is notable in film for serving as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining (1980).

The lodge and its grounds host a ski resort, also known as Timberline Lodge. It has the longest skiing season in the U.S., and is open for skiers and snowboarders all 12 months of the year. Activities include skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, hiking, biking, and climbing.

Design and construction

Bronze "snow goose" weather vane above the head house
Purchased for $2.10 each, discarded cedar utility poles were repurposed as newel posts—19 of them crowned with carvings of area wildlife.Fire screen made from tire chains and irons forged from old railroad railsWPA workers lived in a nearby tent city while building Timberline Lodge (1936).

Each workman on Timberline Lodge gained proficiency in manual arts. He was a better workman, a better citizen, progressing by infinitely-slow steps to the degree above him.

— The Builders of Timberline Lodge, Federal Writers' Project

Timberline Lodge, a mountain lodge and resort hotel, is a four-story structure of about 40,000 square feet (3,700 m). The ground-level exterior walls are heavy rubble masonry, using boulders from the immediate area, and heavy timber is used from the first floor up. The central head house section is hexagonal and sixty feet (18 m) in diameter, with a six-sided stone chimney stack ninety feet (27 m) high and fourteen feet (4.3 m) in diameter. Each of the six fireplace openings—three on the ground floor, three on the first floor—is five feet (1.5 m) wide and seven feet (2.1 m) high. Two wings, running west and southeast, flank the head house. Oregon woods used throughout the building include cedar, Douglas fir, hemlock, western juniper and ponderosa pine.

The architect of Timberline Lodge is Gilbert Stanley Underwood, noted for the Ahwahnee Hotel and other lodges in the U.S. national park system. He produced the designs. Then, his central head house was modified from an octagon to a hexagon by U.S. Forest Service architect W. I. (Tim) Turner and the team of Linn A. Forrest, Howard L. Gifford and Dean R. E. Wright. A recent graduate of the University of Washington, forest service engineer Ward Gano was structural designer.

West Wing of Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge was constructed between 1936 and 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project during The Great Depression. Eighty percent of the WPA's $695,730 total expenditure on building costs went toward labor. Skilled building trade workers received ninety cents an hour; unskilled laborers received fifty-five cents an hour. Some of the skilled stonemasons on the project were Italian immigrants brought in after working on The Historic Columbia River Highway and other roads in Oregon. About a hundred construction workers were on site at a given time, and lived at a nearby tent city. Jobs were rotated to provide work.

Materials costs were minimized by the skillful use of recycled materials. Women wove draperies, upholstery, and bedspreads. Hooked rugs were made from strips of old Civilian Conservation Corps camp blankets. Discarded cedar utility poles became newel-posts with their crowns hand-carved into birds, bears, and seals. Fireplace screens were fashioned from tire chains. Andirons and other iron work were forged from railroad tracks. WPA workers used large timbers and local stone from the site.

"All classes, from the most elementary hand labor, through the various degrees of skill to the technically-trained, were employed," reported the WPA's Federal Writers' Project. "Pick and shovel wielders, stonecutters, plumbers, carpenters, steam-fitters, painters, wood-carvers, cabinet-makers, metal workers, leather-toolers, seamstresses, weavers, architects, authors, artists, actors, musicians, and landscape planners, each contributed to the project, and each, in his way, was conscious of the ideal toward which all bent their energies."

Federal Art Project

Federal Art Project contributions to the project were directed by Margery Hoffman Smith, Oregon Arts Project administrator. Smith created many designs for textiles and rugs. She designed the iconic "snow goose", the 750-pound (340 kg) bronze weather vane above the head house. Smith based the abstract forms incised into the lodge chimney on the art of the local Tenino people. Likely-acquainted with William Gray Purcell, a fellow resident of Portland, Smith saw the Prairie School aesthetic carried through in tables, chairs, sectional sofas, columns, bedspreads, draperies, lampshades, and pendant lighting fixtures. She commissioned murals, paintings and carvings from Oregon's WPA artists.

Dedication

Dedication plaqueFranklin D. Roosevelt at lectern, dedicating Timberline Lodge (September 28, 1937)

During an inspection tour of government activities in the western U.S., President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Timberline Lodge on September 28, 1937. In his speech, he said:

This Timberline Lodge marks a venture that was made possible by WPA, emergency relief work, in order that we may test the workability of recreational facilities installed by the Government itself and operated under its complete control.

Here, to Mount Hood, will come thousands and thousands of visitors in the coming years. Looking east toward eastern Oregon with its great livestock raising areas, these visitors are going to visualize the relationship between the cattle ranches and the summer ranges in the forests. Looking westward and northward toward Portland and the Columbia River, with their great lumber and other wood using industries, they will understand the part which National Forest timber will play in the support of this important element of northwestern prosperity.

Those who will follow us to Timberline Lodge on their holidays and vacations will represent the enjoyment of new opportunities for play in every season of the year. I mention specially every season of the year because we, as a nation, I think, are coming to realize that the summer is not the only time for play. I look forward to the day when many, many people from this region of the Nation are going to come here for skiing and tobogganing and various other forms of winter sports."

He dedicated the lodge, saying, "I am here to dedicate the Timberline Lodge and I do so in the words of the bronze tablet directly in front of me on the coping of this wonderful building: 'Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood National Forest dedicated September 28, 1937, by the President of the United States as a monument to the skill and faithful performance of workers on the rolls of the Works Progress Administration'".

FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt enjoyed a celebratory luncheon including salmon and huckleberry pie. In her My Day column, Mrs. Roosevelt praised the lodge's architectural features: "It is built exclusively of native products and by WPA labor. The interesting central fire place with its many openings is a feature I have seen in no other building of its kind and no where have I seen such big timbers used. All the furniture, all the hangings, all the iron work as well, were made by WPA workers. Here is a group of workers who have the makings of a handcraft organization, and I hope their work will be appreciated. Mr. Griffith, the state WPA administrator, must be happy over the work done here."

Most work was complete at the time of the dedication. After some interior details were finished, the lodge opened to the public February 4, 1938.

Operation

Main article: Timberline Lodge ski area

Franklin Roosevelt's vision of winter sports at Timberline Lodge took hesitant steps the following year. A portable rope tow was installed, and construction began on the Magic Mile chairlift, which opened November 1939.

Closed during the winter of 1942–43 because of World War II, Timberline Lodge fell into decline.

In the lodge's early years, none of its four operators were willing or able to maintain it. By 1955, Timberline Lodge was closed.

Richard Kohnstamm, the next operator, recalled difficulties due to financing problems because the government claimed they owned it. Kohnstamm decided to maintain the place as if he owned it; he lost money during his first five years of operation, but his timing was fortuitous. He took over only a few years before skiing exploded in popularity in the late 1950s. That popularity helped the family generate a profit starting in 1960. Kohnstamm, "the man who saved Timberline", died at the age of 80 on April 21, 2006. Kohnstamm's son Jeff is the Area Operator of Timberline Lodge.

As a shooting location

Film

Timberline Lodge in the summer of 2006

Exterior views of Timberline Lodge were used in The Shining (1980), Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Stephen King's 1977 novel set at the fictional Overlook Hotel. The staff and owners were concerned that guests would be reluctant to stay in Room 217 if it were featured in a horror movie; the management requested the room number be changed to the fictional Room 237, which Kubrick granted.

Timberline Maintenance and Transport Tractors

Other feature films shot at or around Timberline Lodge include Jingle Belles (1941), Bend of the River (1952), All the Young Men (1960), Lost Horizon (1973), Ski School (1991), Hear No Evil (1993), and Wild (2014).

Television

Brief exterior views of a snowy Timberline Lodge were used as a stand-in for a "Bavarian Ski Resort" in multiple episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Director Boris Sagal was killed in an accident on the third day of filming the NBC-TV miniseries World War III (1982), after he walked into the tail rotor blades of a helicopter in Timberline Lodge's parking lot.

Events

In 2017, the inaugural Overlook Film Festival was held at Timberline Lodge. The following year, the festival moved to New Orleans, Louisiana.

On April 18, 2024 a fire broke out at the lodge requiring multiple fire agencies to respond.

Climate

Climate data for Timberline Lodge 45.3319 N, 121.7102 W, Elevation: 6,001 ft (1,829 m) (1991–2020 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 33.4
(0.8) 		34.1
(1.2) 		36.5
(2.5) 		39.6
(4.2) 		47.9
(8.8) 		54.2
(12.3) 		64.9
(18.3) 		65.4
(18.6) 		59.1
(15.1) 		47.3
(8.5) 		37.2
(2.9) 		32.4
(0.2) 		46.0
(7.8)
Daily mean °F (°C) 28.1
(−2.2) 		27.8
(−2.3) 		29.2
(−1.6) 		32.0
(0.0) 		39.2
(4.0) 		45.0
(7.2) 		54.3
(12.4) 		54.8
(12.7) 		49.7
(9.8) 		39.9
(4.4) 		31.7
(−0.2) 		27.3
(−2.6) 		38.3
(3.5)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 22.8
(−5.1) 		21.5
(−5.8) 		22.0
(−5.6) 		24.4
(−4.2) 		30.5
(−0.8) 		35.8
(2.1) 		43.7
(6.5) 		44.3
(6.8) 		40.2
(4.6) 		32.5
(0.3) 		26.1
(−3.3) 		22.1
(−5.5) 		30.5
(−0.8)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 16.37
(416) 		12.36
(314) 		12.78
(325) 		10.13
(257) 		6.77
(172) 		5.36
(136) 		1.22
(31) 		1.75
(44) 		4.17
(106) 		9.70
(246) 		16.27
(413) 		16.72
(425) 		113.6
(2,885)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 95
(240) 		102
(260) 		89
(230) 		59
(150) 		20
(51) 		5
(13) 		0.1
(0.25) 		0
(0) 		6
(15) 		21
(53) 		40
(100) 		106
(270) 		543.1
(1,382.25)
Source: PRISM Climate Group

See also

References

  1. "National Register Information System – (#73001572)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Oregon" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  3. "Mt. Hood Scenic Byway". National Scenic Byways Program. Retrieved December 23, 2009.
  4. "Historic Preservation". Timberline Lodge. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  5. ^ Kennedy, Roger G.; Larkin, David (2009). When Art Worked: The New Deal, Art, and Democracy. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8478-3089-3.
  6. ^ Federal Writers' Project. "The Builders of Timberline Lodge". Federal Art Project Documents. Essay for the proposed Federal Art Project report to Congress, Art for the Millions (unpublished). Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  7. "Timberline Lodge, National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form". National Park Service. November 12, 1973. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  8. Wheaton, Rodd L. "Gilbert Stanley Underwood". National Park Service: The First 75 Years. National Park Service. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  9. ^ "Timberline Lodge: A Legacy from the WPA". A History of the Architecture of the USDA Forest Service. United States Forest Service. June 8, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  10. Associated Press (April 26, 1998). "Timberline Lodge engineer dies at 84". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  11. Munro, Sarah. Oral history interview with Ward Gano. WorldCat. OCLC 58919408.
  12. Dorner, Sydney (April 19, 2024). "'Structure anywhere in the country that is like Timberline': Timberline Lodge pivotal in Oregon History". KGW8. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  13. "September 28, 1937". Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  14. "Works of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Address at Timberline Lodge". New Deal Network. September 28, 1937. Retrieved January 1, 2007.
  15. Roosevelt, Eleanor (September 30, 1937). "My Day". Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project. The George Washington University. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  16. "About the Lodge". Friends of Timberline. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  17. Nafsinger, Janie (February 21, 2005). "The man who rescued Timberline Lodge". Lifestyles Northwest. Archived from the original on December 19, 2005. Retrieved December 19, 2005.
  18. The Oregonian April 25, 2006
  19. Munro, Sarah Baker (2009). Timberline Lodge: The History, Art, and Craft of an American Icon. Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-856-3.
  20. "Feature Films and Made for TV Movies Made in Oregon". Asia-Pacific Productions. 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2006.
  21. "The Shining". Timberline Lodge. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  22. "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARCHIVE: Snowtime Serenade (1949; originally released as Jingle Belles, 1941)". The Confluence. Oregon Film. December 22, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  23. Neville, Tim (November 7, 2014). "Behind the Scenes of Wild". Outside. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  24. Kennedy, Shawn G. (May 24, 1981). "Boris Sagal, 58, Movie Director, Dies After a Helicopter Accident". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  25. Bishop, Bryan (May 3, 2017). "How the Overlook Film Festival Turned Itself into a Living, Breathing Horror Movie". The Verge. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  26. Kohn, Eric (November 1, 2017). "America's Most Exciting New Horror Film Festival Is Moving to New Orleans". IndieWire. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  27. Miska, Brad (April 26, 2019). "The Overlook Film Festival Heads Back to New Orleans with 21 Features". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  28. Rife, Katie (June 7, 2019). "Spirits were high for the Overlook Film Festival's druggy, devil-worshipping return to New Orleans". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  29. "Firefighters douse a blaze at a historic Oregon hotel famously featured in 'The Shining'". Washington Post. April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  30. "PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University". PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University. Retrieved October 4, 2023. To find the table data on the PRISM website, start by clicking Coordinates (under Location); copy Latitude and Longitude figures from top of table; click Zoom to location; click Precipitation, Minimum temp, Mean temp, Maximum temp; click 30-year normals, 1991-2020; click 800m; click Interpolate grid cell values; click Retrieve Time Series button.

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