The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley: A Great American’s Dream

The history of the celebrated Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley is particularly notable because of its status in US National Park history, but also because its very existence is a tribute to a man who had an ambitious dream for America. He wanted to build a National Park System that would be the envy of the world, and the Ahwahnee Hotel helped him do it. That is how.

The first director of the US National Park Service.

A wealthy Stephen T. Mather agreed to head the Park Service in 1915, at a time when there were only 16 national parks and the public was indifferent to the concept. Today there are 58 magnificent parks, and over the years much of the success of the National Parks program was due to the careful planning and inspiration of Mr. Mather.

Everyone is welcome

Mather envisioned national parks as places of beauty and relaxation and accessible to all. At Yosemite, he led the creation of three distinct levels of comfort to cater to the full spectrum of national park visitors.

The highest level of accommodation would be a first-class hotel providing all the necessary amenities to attract and satisfy the wealthy and influential. A second level of accommodation would provide year-round tents with a central area for services such as a restaurant and sanitary facilities. He also reserved space for frugal visitors who preferred to camp with their own tents and camping gear. Today, the national park system follows more or less Mather’s plan.

How Mather grew the park system

Mather thought that if he built a grand hotel in his favorite national park in Yosemite Valley, it would appeal to rich and powerful people. They would come to enjoy the many amenities and, in return, provide support for his plan to grow the National Park System and public trust wilderness in the United States.

Simultaneously with Stephen Mather’s appointment, the automobile was revolutionizing tourism and travel across the country. By 1926, an all-weather highway opened Yosemite Valley to year-round access. Thanks to both of them, Mather’s plan was more successful than his wildest dreams.

History of the Ahwahnee site

Millions of years of crushing glaciers smoothed the towering granite walls of Yosemite Valley into the impressive and majestic monuments we know today.

Thirty thousand years ago, there was a large lake at the location of the Ahwahnee Hotel. The water left a fertile plain that was later inhabited by Native Americans.

The Miwoks lived in Yosemite for thousands of years before the white man discovered it in the mid-19th century.

Memories of the first people.

The Ahwahneechee tribe lived on the land where the Ahwahnee Hotel stands today. His diet included a basic porridge made from acorns. Visitors to the hotel can explore the large granite formations and pockets made in the rock by Indian workers who grind acorns into flour. Any hotel employee will be happy to show you the location.

kennyville

After the white man discovered Yosemite, it wasn’t long before word spread about the wonderful desert with its 3,000 foot granite walls and waterfalls.

In the 1850s, the first tourists entered Yosemite on horseback. A small town, Kennyville quickly established itself to provide visitors with livery services and minimal amenities during their stay in the valley.

With the advent of the automobile at the turn of the 20th century, the Kennyville utility quickly and the land seemed a perfect candidate for reuse. Mather wanted the beautiful site with abundant trees and views of Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Glacier Point for his hotel. He got his wish.

the building begins

In 1925, the Park Service commissioned the Yosemite and Curry Company (YP&CC) to build the Yosemite Grand Hotel. Gilbert S. Underwood was chosen as the architect. His assignment was to be one of the greatest challenges and achievements of his career.

A fireproof hotel

Fire is always a major concern in the wild, and many hotels in the park have been victims of natural fires in the forests. Mather wanted a fireproof hotel. To that end, the Ahwahnee is a true masterpiece of design genius.

The structure of the Ahwahnee Hotel appears to be made of rock and wood, but in reality the primitive siding, balconies, and beams that appear to be wood are actually built from slabs of cement gorgeously stained to match the redwoods and pines. surrounding. We have visited the Ahwahnee Hotel many times over the years, but until we did the research for this article, we were unaware that the exterior walls were made of cement.

The construction of the Ahwahnee Hotel was a monumental undertaking.

It was the largest task of its kind for the booming American trucking industry of the 1920s. Trucks drove over dusty roads day and night, seven days a week for more than a year to get materials to the jobsite of Ahwahnee.

All construction materials for the six-story hotel were imported from outside the park. That meant hauling nearly 700 tons of steel I-beams along with 5,000 tons of building stone and 30,000 feet of lumber and logs with early-model trucks along rutted dirt roads. Add to that the many shades of hotel and kitchen furnishings and the maintenance crew required to run a luxury hotel. It was quite a task for more than 250 drivers, workers and craftsmen to create the masterpiece of timeless accommodation that we now so revere.

Stephen T. Mather made himself and America proud.

The hotel had its grand opening on July 14, 1927.

If you go

There are several entrances to Yosemite Park and you can choose your route from the park’s website.

As you drive through the park, watch for signs to the Ahwahnee Hotel. A natural stone gateway at the hotel entrance gives the visitor an exhilarating sense of arrival. The lush tree-lined driveway beyond the front door builds anticipation, and the redwood-lined parking area provides a warm welcome to all visitors.

You have the privilege of being about to enter one of the greatest parkland lodges in the world.

Happy travels.

We will be writing more about the great Ahwahnee Hotel in the very near future. If you liked this story, don’t miss the continuation. We’ll explore the remarkable interior of the Ahwahnee and the role Ansel Adams and the Navy played in the hotel’s history.

We would like to thank Lisa Cesaro of DNC Parks and Resorts in Yosemite and Tami von Isakovics of Ellipses Public Relations for helping us with information about the Ahwahnee Hotel and Yosemite Valley.

If you want to read more about the Ahwahnee Hotel, there are two excellent short books on the subject. The Ahwahnee – Yosemite’s Grand Hotel, by Keith Walklet and The Ahwahnee – Yosemite’s Classic Hotel, by Shirley Sargent. Both books are available on Amazon.com.