On June 11, 1936, at the brutal height of the Great Depression, ground was broken for a project unique in America. Timberline Lodge was built entirely by hand, inside and out, by unemployed craftspeople hired by the Federal Works Projects Administration. The building is a tribute to their skills and a monument to a government which responded not only to the physical needs of its people in a desperate time, but also to the needs of their spirits.
The initial survey was made on the site in 14 feet of snow during the spring of 1936. For three months during this spring, Forest Service workers labored to clear the snow from the primitive road that existed between US Highway 26 near Summit Meadows, to Phlox Point, about a half mile below the site. Construction workers lived in tent cities in Summit Meadows, and were trucked daily to the construction site. The conditions were extraordinarily difficult, but the workers were paid well, the food was good, and morale was high. Survivors of the project, and written records, indicate that those who participated felt that they were involved in something unusual and important, and so gave it extra best efforts.
The spring of 1936 was long and mild, and the workers were able to get the building enclosed before the worst of the cold weather. Some exterior stonework remained however, and in the late fall and early winter stone masons warmed their stiffened fingers at portable stoves hauled to the site. Most of the stone workers were skilled masons, many of them Italian immigrants whose beautiful work can be seen along the old Columbia River Highway as well as other Oregon highways.
The work was done in an amazingly short time - the intensity of the project being due not only to the weather but also to the uncertainty of the WPA's future. From the first drawings, made in early 1936, to the dedication of the completed Lodge by President Franklin Roosevelt in September, 1937 only 15 months elapsed. Despite the extreme conditions, fast-paced construction and the inexperience of some of the workers, there were no major accidents during the entire period.
In 1978, Timberline Lodge was declared a National Historic Landmark. It's evolution as a site of Northwest craft continues. Encouraged by the Friends of Timberline, the US Forest Service and the hotel and ski area operators, Northwest artists continue to contribute art and craftwork to the Lodge.
