Yakima Park Stockade Group

The Yakima Park Stockade Group is a historic building complex in the Sunrise area of Mount Rainier National Park composed of four log structures. The site includes two blockhouse-like buildings connected by a stockade wall and houses administrative offices, seasonal staff housing, and a visitor center with wide windows framing Mount Rainier views.

Construction began in 1930 with phases completed through 1943 under architects including Thomas Vint and Ernest Davidson. The complex developed as part of the National Park Service's early approach to integrating visitor facilities and administrative spaces into a single coordinated design.

The structures display the National Park Service rustic style, designed to blend practical needs with the surrounding landscape. Visitors can observe how local white pine and stone materials were used to create a visual harmony between human facilities and the natural environment.

The complex is easiest to explore from the Sunrise parking area, where the visitor center's wide windows offer excellent views of the mountain. The blockhouse structures can be viewed from outside, and the preserved stockade walls give a clear sense of the original settlement design.

The vertical logs of the stockade wall are deliberately arranged to conceal modern facilities behind them while maintaining the appearance of an early frontier settlement. This design choice was a clever National Park Service solution to blend contemporary comfort with historical atmosphere.

Location: Pierce County

Inception: 1930

Architects: Thomas Chalmers Vint, Ernest A. Davidson, National Park Service

Architectural style: National Park Service rustic

GPS coordinates: 46.91445,-121.64349

Latest update: December 14, 2025 18:20