Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis announced the designation of the Lake Yellowstone Hotel as a National Historic Landmark. The Lake Hotel now joins more than 2,500 other sites across the country that carry this distinction. National Historic Landmarks possess the highest level of historic significance—there are approximately 90,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places and less than 3% of these sites are designated as landmarks.

Initially designed by architect N.L. Haller of Washington, D.C. and constructed in 1891, the Lake Yellowstone Hotel was entirely reconceived in the first decades of the 20th century by noted architect Robert C. Reamer as a grand resort hotel displaying the Colonial Revival style. Currently the park’s oldest hotel in existence, the building sits within a magnificent natural landscape overlooking the north shore of Yellowstone Lake. For photos of the hotel, please visit YellowstoneNPS Flickr site.

The Lake Yellowstone Hotel is owned by the National Park Service and operated by Xanterra Parks & Resorts®. Through their concessions contract with the park, Xanterra recently completed a $28 million renovation of the hotel, which will ensure that this spectacular piece of history continues to delight visitors for years to come.

“This designation is an excellent example of a public-private partnership between Yellowstone National Park and Xanterra,” said Acting Superintendent Steve Iobst. “Xanterra was a champion for the nomination of the hotel and funded its preparation.”

“This recognition of the Lake Yellowstone Hotel will help protect this irreplaceable example of historic architecture in the world’s oldest national park,” said Jim McCaleb, general manager of Yellowstone National Park Lodges and Xanterra’s vice president of parks north. “It also comes at the perfect time because the hotel will mark its 125th anniversary in 2016, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.”

Established in 1935, the National Historic Landmarks Program is administered by the National Park Service on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior. The agency works with preservation officials, private property owners, and other partners interested in nominating properties for National Historic Landmark designation. Completed nominations are reviewed by the National Park System Advisory Board, which makes recommendations for designation to the Secretary of the Interior. If selected, property ownership remains the same, but each site receives a designation letter and is eligible for technical preservation advice.

 

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