Wallace Pratt Lodge
Wallace Pratt Lodge | |
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| Location | At jct. of N and S branch of McKittrick Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas |
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| Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | 1930 |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000154 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 26, 1975 |
The Wallace Pratt Lodge was the summer residence of Wallace Pratt, the principal donor of the lands that would become Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Pratt was a petroleum geologist employed by the Humble Oil Company, scouting for oilfield leases in west Texas. Pratt visited the Guadalupe Mountains in 1921, and taking a liking to the place, he bought a quarter share of the McCombs Ranch. In 1929 Pratt bought out his partners, ending up owning a large portion of the canyon, which featured waterfalls flowing over travertine dams, a lush, quiet place in the high desert. In the winter of 1931-1932 Pratt started construction of a house in the canyon, designed by Houston architect Joseph Staub. The cabin was built by Staub's former employee Vance Phenix and Vance's brother Dean, a carpenter, with stonemason Adolph May. The cabin was built of local limestone and heart pine.[2]
The Pratt family spent summers at the cabin, which they called the Stone Cabin, and briefly lived at the cabin during Wallace Pratt's early retirement, while they built their final retirement home, the Ship On The Desert, outside of the canyon. The cabin accommodated the Ship on the Desert's architect during its construction. After the family moved to Tucson, Arizona, they donated the cabin, new house and surrounding lands of more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) to the National Park Service, the nucleus of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.[2]
The cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1975.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b "Pratt Cabin". National Park Service. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
External links
- Pratt Cabin at Guadalupe Mountains National Park