Ranch A
Encyclopedia
Ranch A, near Beulah, Wyoming
, was built as a vacation retreat for newspaper publisher Moses Annenberg
. The original log ranch structures in Sand Creek Canyon were designed in the rustic style
by architect Ray Ewing. The principal building, a large log lodge, was built in 1932. Other buildings constructed at the time included a garage with an upstairs apartment, a barn, a hydroelectric power plant, stone entrance arches and a pump house. The lodge was furnished with Western furniture and light fixtures made by noted designer Thomas C. Molesworth
. Many of these furnishings, among the first of Molesworth's career, are now the property of the state of Wyoming and are in the Wyoming State Museum
.
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 acres (263 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. Annenberg added more parcels to bring total acreage to more than 2000 acres (809.4 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.
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. Site planning and landscape architecture were done by South Dakota landscape architect J.R. McKay.
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 Nels Smith, Bill Walker (Cheyenne, Wyoming) and Sam Keener (Salem, Ohio). Ranch A was used as a dude ranch
for twenty years, and was featured in an October 1956 issue of National Geographic. In 1963 the Fish and Wildlife Service
bought the ranch, using it as a genetics laboratory for salmonid research under the name "Spearfish Fisheries Center Complex." After 1979 the genetic research was replaced by fish diet research. The ranch was deeded to the state of Wyoming in 1996 for educational purposes.
extending to the roof, surrounded by living spaces on both levels, framed in log construction.
The garage is also of log construction, measuring 44 feet (13.4 m) by 44 feet (13.4 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.
The barn was built about 1935 and measures about 63 feet (19.2 m) by 43 feet (13.1 m). The peeled log walls rest on a concrete foundation. A gambrel roof crowns the two story structure. Other contributing structures include the pump house (1932), built in stucco with applied half-timber detailing and a rolled roof edge. The 1933 hydroelectric plant is similar in style and construction. Dams are associated with each building. A root cellar, stone walls, a lily pond and its feeder canal all date from the historical period.
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.
Ranch A presently comprises 645 acres (261 ha), owned by the state of Wyoming. It is managed by the Ranch A Restoration Foundation as an education center. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1997.
Beulah, Wyoming
Beulah is an unincorporated community in eastern Crook County, Wyoming, United States, along a tributary of the Belle Fourche River. It lies along local roads near Interstate 90, northeast of the town of Sundance, the county seat of Crook County. Its elevation is 3,520 feet , and it is...
, was built as a vacation retreat for newspaper publisher Moses Annenberg
Moses Annenberg
Moses "Moe" Louis Annenberg was an American newspaper publisher, who purchased The Philadelphia Inquirer, the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States. in 1936. The Inquirer has the sixteenth largest average weekday U.S...
. The original log ranch structures in Sand Creek Canyon were designed in the rustic style
National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service rustic, also colloquially known as Parkitecture, is a style of architecture that arose in the United States National Park System to create buildings that harmonized with their natural environment. Since its founding, the National Park Service consistently has sought to provide...
by architect Ray Ewing. The principal building, a large log lodge, was built in 1932. Other buildings constructed at the time included a garage with an upstairs apartment, a barn, a hydroelectric power plant, stone entrance arches and a pump house. The lodge was furnished with Western furniture and light fixtures made by noted designer Thomas C. Molesworth
Thomas C. Molesworth
Thomas C. Molesworth was an American furniture designer who was a significant figure in the creation of a distinctly Western style of furniture and accessories, using hides, horn and natural wood. Molesworth's style drew from the Arts and Crafts Movement and from vernacular design characteristics...
. Many of these furnishings, among the first of Molesworth's career, are now the property of the state of Wyoming and are in the Wyoming State Museum
Wyoming State Museum
The Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is operated by the State of Wyoming as a repository for material concerning Wyoming history, art, natural history and fossils, industry, Native Americans, pioneers and its cultural heritage....
.
History
Annenberg bought the property around November of 1927 from Frank LaPlante. Annenberg and his son WalterWalter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat.-Early life:Walter Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 13, 1908. He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published The Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia...
were going to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
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 acres (263 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. Annenberg added more parcels to bring total acreage to more than 2000 acres (809.4 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
Aladdin, Wyoming
Aladdin is an unincorporated community in eastern Crook County, Wyoming, United States. It lies at the junction of WYO 24 and WYO 111 northeast of the town of Sundance, the county seat of Crook County. Its elevation is 3,688 feet , and it is located at...
, where the tracks ended, on private railcars owned by Annenberg. As publisher of the Daily Racing Form
Daily Racing Form
The Daily Racing Form is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States....
, Annenberg had a telephone communication center installed in the basement for coordination of horse racing information.
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
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
, employing sixty to seventy workers, a significant project for the local economy. Site planning and landscape architecture were done by South Dakota landscape architect J.R. McKay.
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 Nels Smith, Bill Walker (Cheyenne, Wyoming) and Sam Keener (Salem, Ohio). Ranch A was used as a dude ranch
Dude ranch
The guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.-History:...
for twenty years, and was featured in an October 1956 issue of National Geographic. In 1963 the Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
bought the ranch, using it as a genetics laboratory for salmonid research under the name "Spearfish Fisheries Center Complex." After 1979 the genetic research was replaced by fish diet research. The ranch was deeded to the state of Wyoming in 1996 for educational purposes.
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 (22.6 m) by 75 feet (22.9 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 atriumAtrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
extending to the roof, surrounded by living spaces on both levels, framed in log construction.
The garage is also of log construction, measuring 44 feet (13.4 m) by 44 feet (13.4 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.
The barn was built about 1935 and measures about 63 feet (19.2 m) by 43 feet (13.1 m). The peeled log walls rest on a concrete foundation. A gambrel roof crowns the two story structure. Other contributing structures include the pump house (1932), built in stucco with applied half-timber detailing and a rolled roof edge. The 1933 hydroelectric plant is similar in style and construction. Dams are associated with each building. A root cellar, stone walls, a lily pond and its feeder canal all date from the historical period.
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.
Ranch A presently comprises 645 acres (261 ha), owned by the state of Wyoming. It is managed by the Ranch A Restoration Foundation as an education center. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1997.
External links
- Ranch A Education Center website
- Ranch A at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office