A Brief History of LeConte Memorial Lodge

Here, lraveler, pause upon thine upwurd woy, enter ond rest, und seurch

Thy soul to-day. High ure the moantuins where thyfeet wouldfareLel wistlom leatl, that pefice muy bless thee there.

Harriet Monroe, lnscription for LeConte Memorial Lodge

Built by the Sierra Club in 1903, LeConte Memorial Lodge honors Dr. Joseph LeConte,

noted geologist, founding faculty member at the University of California, and founding

member of the Sierra Club. John White, draftsman and architect, brother-in-law ofBernard Maybeck, a renown Bay Area architect, is considered to be the architect of LML.

In 1902, when the Sierra Club approached Maybeck, he was opening his oflice at 307

Sansome Street, San Francisco, and designing Wyntoon on the McCloud River for

Phoebe Hearst. Therefbre, it stands to reason, that he may have quickly sketched a

design tbr LML and then turned it over to White, who worked fbr Maybeck, to complete

the design which was donated to the Sierra Club.

White supported Maybeck's principles of building design. First: a site should determine

tl're design of the building. Second: native building materials should be used in the

structure. Further, Maybeck f-elt that a building should evoke a mood and be its own

ornamentation--exposing beams and stone. He fbvored sharply pitched roof's, high

central spaces, and a massive fireplace that dominated a focal wall. White captured these

elements in LML, adopting the verticality, color, and texture of Yosemite Valley-lending it to lofty thoughts and inspiration.

LML features: rough-hewn granite masonry/steep-pitched wooden gabled roofexposed hammer beams/scissor trusses/massive fireplace

Constructed out of "river rock" and coastal redwood at the base of Glacier Point in Curry

Village, the $4,500 necessary to fund the construction of LML was contributed by UC

Berkeley students, alumni, and taculty; taculty tiom Standtbrd University; prominent San

Francisco merchants; geologists and mining engineers; and LeConte relatives and

personal tiiends. In addition, the Sierra Club levied a $1.00 assessment on each of its

764 members. Dedicated on July 3, 1904, the ceremony was presided over by WilliamColby, the Secretary of the Sierra Club, in the absence of John Muir, returning to the

tlnited States from a world tour.

LML remained in Curry Village until 1919, at which time Mother Curry, proprietress ofCamp Curry, approached the Sierra Club with an inquiry to move LML to a new location.

In the p.o.is oiexpanding Cuny Village, Curry planned to build a small cabin fbr her

tamily near the site of LML. Curry covered the $3,500 necessary to move LML. The

Gutleben Brothers Construction Company, dismantled the roof and much of the original

river rock, and rebuilt LML according to the original plan, incorporatingquarried granite

fiom Raymond, Califbrnia into the structure to stabilize the building. [Please note: riverrocks are quite visible in the new structure.] Electricity replaced gas light and a concrete

tloor was poured to replace the wooden floor. LML reopened in l919 with, fiom the

porch. spectacular views of Glacier Point, Yosemite Falls, and Half Dome.

LML was the tirst permanent public infbrmation center in Yosemite Valley. The LMLlectures and naturalist and environmental education activities sponsored at LML, inconjunction with the University of Califbrnia (Berkeley), were the first oftered in anyState or Federal Park at the time; and, predate the development of the NPS programs inYNP. The interpretive programs at LML were the model the NPS would universallyadopt.

Through the decades LML has been guided by the efforts of a caretaker, now a curator.The tirst caretaker was Robert L. McWilliam. Ansel Adams served as caretaker tiom1920-1923. The first chair of the LML Committee was Edward T. Parsons. Joseph N.

LeConte, LeConte's son, also served as chairman, and Marion Randall Parsons. wit'e ofE. T. Parsons, was an early member of the Commitiee. In the mid-1950s LML hosted an

exhibit of photographs by Ansel Adams and other noted American photographers,

accompanied by text written by Nancy Newhall fiom the Museum of Modem Art in NewYork. This exhibit launched the "Exhibit Format" book series, with the publication ofThis Is the American Eurth under the direction of David Brower, first executive directorof the Sierra Club.

As a symbol of the Sierra Club's ongoing connection to Yosemite National Park, LMLremains open to the public operating as an infbrmation and environmental educationcenter. A visit to LML provides visitors with an opportunity to grow deep environmentaland historical roots and connect with the vision of the Sierra Club "lo enjoy, explore, ancl

protect the planet." Programs at LML hope to inspire an abiding conservation ethic, a

love of wilderness and aesthetic appreciation of the natural beauty of the world, wise-useof natural resources, saf-e hiking and climbing, and a desire to preserve wild places

everywhere.

The Sierra Club's LeConte Memorial Lodge, a National Historic Landmark, designated

in 1987, celebrates the National Park "ldea," serves as a beacon of national pride, and

strives to awaken connection with the natural world. A t'ull-time, seasonal curator, andoverl00 Sierra Club member volunteers, who each spend a week camping in YosemiteValley while serving as docents at LML, who represent the 1.4 million members anddonors to the Sierra Club, guarantees each visitor has access to a multitude of infbrmationabout the rich history of LML, the Sierra Club, and Yosemite National Park.Opportunities arise fbr discussion with visitors about their visit to YNP, the exhibits and

infbrmation presented at LML, and about current environmental issues. Sierra Club LMLvolunteers assist visitors in maximizing their visit to YNP.

LML is open May 1 through September 30, Wednesday through Sunday fiom l0 am until4 pm. Evening programs are scheduled tbr Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm,doors open at 7:45 pm. The building is able to seat a total of 50 guests fbr eveningprograms (including children). Visitors to evening programs may not stand in thedoorway or sit on the floor.

Inquires about volunteering and program opportunities are always welcome and shouldbe directed to the curator. BJGl29t5