Filed Under Hungry Horse

Spotted Bear Ranger Station

Flathead National Forest Backcountry Administrative Facilities Historic District

In 1921, the U.S. Forest Service USFS moved the original Spotted Bear headquarters compound, established in 1908 near Spotted Bear Lake, to this site. The Ranger District managed timber sales and was very successful in fire suppression. Following the establishment of the South Fork Primitive Area in 1931, and the Pentagon Primitive Area in 1933, recreation also became a focus. The station was home base for packers and their pack strings, typically eight mules tied behind a “bell mare”. Everett M. Hart and Victor Holmlund, skilled carpenters who often worked summers for USFS, built the station’s 1923 office, 1926 warehouse, and 1927 ranger’s cabin. These well-constructed log-bearing buildings feature full dovetail notches at the joints and unique half-story walls, which extend about five feet beyond the edge of the ground floor at front and rear. Besides creating additional interior space, the overhangs effectively shelter the entrances in bad weather. A fourth historic building, moved here in the 1950s, is a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps CCC bunkhouse. It bears the characteristics of the “temporary” construction typical of that era.

Images

Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Building No. 2008. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Building No. 1051. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Building No. 1051. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Building No. 2010. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Building No. 2008. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Rear to side view of Building No. 2010. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Building No. 2010. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Shower House. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of a Residence, Kiebler. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Residence, Bennett. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of Generator House No. 2. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Hay Barn. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Barn. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Men's Bunkhouse #1. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Kitchen building. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front view of the Residence, Flint. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Pumphouse building. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front to side view of the Generator House No. 1. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Front view of the New Residence house. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Side view of the Bunkhouse building. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: June 1982
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. Overview of Buildings No. 2008 and 2010. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986
Spotted Bear Ranger Station
Spotted Bear Ranger Station Spotted Bear Ranger Station. View of Building No. 2010 in the foreground, Building No. 2008 in the middle-ground, and Building No. 1051 in the background. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1986

Location

8975 Highway 2 East, Hungry Horse, Montana | Public

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Spotted Bear Ranger Station,” Historic Montana, accessed March 29, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2344.