Glacier Park Headquarters Historic Walking Tour

For architecture and history fans, here’s something: a walking tour of Glacier National Park’s Headquarters Historic District, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Located near West Glacier, the headquarters area is a complex of office buildings, trade shops, and employee residences in the park’s forest. The buildings reflect the National Park Service’s distinctive use of architectural styles, from a simple Craftsman style in 1917, to the development of Park Service Rustic in the 1920s and 1930s, to Park Service Modern from 1956 to 1966.

Here’s what you do: simply dial 406-281-7023 on any cell phone. You will hear students from Whitefish Independent High School relate how these cultural resources reflect not only the architecture of the time, but also the changing needs of the national park. The students researched and wrote the tour with the assistance of park staff in 2011, thanks to a grant from the Montana Arts Council. The tour is about a mile long and will take approximately an hour. Download the Walking Tour Brochure (PDF) or the Walking Tour Script (PDF)

Park officials ask that visitors doing the tour be safe by walking on the left side of the road, facing traffic, and watch for park personnel working and driving. They also ask visitors to be respectful of the area’s working facilities and private residences by not approaching or entering structures.

Just dial the phone number above and enjoy a woodsy stroll back in time.

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