Madison Museum
Encyclopedia
The Madison Museum is one of a series of "trailside museums" in Yellowstone National Park
designed by architect
Herbert Maier
in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982, and is one of three parts of a 1987-declared National Historic Landmark
, the Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums
. Built in 1929, the Madison Museum is the smallest of the three. It is sited on a small rise that overlooks the meadows and canyon of the Madison River
, and still fulfills its function as an informal interpretive center.
rubble base and is of frame construction, covered with shingles. The transition between stone and frame is marked by a log that serves as a transitional element. The roof is supported by heavy log columns and is itself framed in logs. The building was renovated in 1971 and converted to a single-room layout.
The museum was designed by National Park Service architect Herbert Maier
and was funded by a portion of a $118,000 grant from Laura Spelman Rockefeller
for educational projects in Yellowstone. Maier was assisted by Carl Parcher Russell, a Park Service field naturalist, and the president of the American Association of Museums
, Hermon Carey Bumpus
.
and the Madison site thus became something of a shrine to the creation of the national park
idea. A south-facing window was fitted with a transparency depicting the imagined event, created by local photographer Jack Haynes. Annual re-enactments commemorated the Washburn creation event. By 1960 research by park historian Aubrey Haines made it clear that this "creation myth" was not accurate. The Park Service resisted the new research, putting up signs directing visitors to the Madison "Historic Shrine" and continuing to interpret the area as fundamental to the national park concept. Haines was transferred to another park and retired early. A twenty-year internal debate ended with Haines' vindication and the Madison museum became a visitor information station, stripped of its shrine status.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Herbert Maier
Herbert Maier
Herbert Maier was an American architect and public administrator, most notable as an architect for his work at Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks. Maier, as a consultant to the National Park Service, designed four trailside museums in Yellowstone, three of which survive as...
in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service Rustic
National Park Service rustic, also colloquially known as Parkitecture, is a style of architecture that arose in the United States National Park System to create buildings that harmonized with their natural environment. Since its founding, the National Park Service consistently has sought to provide...
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1982, and is one of three parts of a 1987-declared National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, the Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums
Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums
The Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums is a conglomeration of three separate "trailside museums" within Yellowstone National Park which together make up one National Historic Landmark of the United States....
. Built in 1929, the Madison Museum is the smallest of the three. It is sited on a small rise that overlooks the meadows and canyon of the Madison River
Madison River
The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana form the Missouri River....
, and still fulfills its function as an informal interpretive center.
Design
The T-shaped structure housed a ranger-naturalist in one wing and a small exhibit area in the other. The building rests on a rhyoliteRhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
rubble base and is of frame construction, covered with shingles. The transition between stone and frame is marked by a log that serves as a transitional element. The roof is supported by heavy log columns and is itself framed in logs. The building was renovated in 1971 and converted to a single-room layout.
The museum was designed by National Park Service architect Herbert Maier
Herbert Maier
Herbert Maier was an American architect and public administrator, most notable as an architect for his work at Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks. Maier, as a consultant to the National Park Service, designed four trailside museums in Yellowstone, three of which survive as...
and was funded by a portion of a $118,000 grant from Laura Spelman Rockefeller
Laura Spelman Rockefeller
Laura Celestia Spelman Rockefeller, , , was a philanthropist, the namesake of Spelman College, founded to educate black women in the South, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, and the wife of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil...
for educational projects in Yellowstone. Maier was assisted by Carl Parcher Russell, a Park Service field naturalist, and the president of the American Association of Museums
American Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...
, Hermon Carey Bumpus
Hermon Carey Bumpus
Hermon Carey Bumpus was the fifth president of Tufts College from 1915 to 1919.-Early life and education:...
.
The "Campfire Myth"
The Madison site was claimed by Bumpus to be the site where "the Washburn Party, in 1870... resolved that this part of the public domain should be preserved inviolate." The building, neighboring National Park MountainNational Park Mountain
National Park Mountain is in Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming. National Park Mountain rises above the confluence of the Firehole River and the Madison River and is just west of Madison Junction....
and the Madison site thus became something of a shrine to the creation of the national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
idea. A south-facing window was fitted with a transparency depicting the imagined event, created by local photographer Jack Haynes. Annual re-enactments commemorated the Washburn creation event. By 1960 research by park historian Aubrey Haines made it clear that this "creation myth" was not accurate. The Park Service resisted the new research, putting up signs directing visitors to the Madison "Historic Shrine" and continuing to interpret the area as fundamental to the national park concept. Haines was transferred to another park and retired early. A twenty-year internal debate ended with Haines' vindication and the Madison museum became a visitor information station, stripped of its shrine status.
See also
- Fishing Bridge MuseumFishing Bridge MuseumThe Fishing Bridge Museum is one of a series of "trailside museums" in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, designed by architect Herbert Maier in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic. It is one of three parts of a 1987-declared National Historic Landmark, the Norris,...
- Norris Museum
- Old Faithful Museum of Thermal ActivityOld Faithful Museum of Thermal ActivityThe Old Faithful Museum of Thermal Activity was one of a series of four "trailside" museums built in Yellowstone National Park in 1929. Funded by a grant of $118,000 from Laura Spelman Rockefeller, the museums interpreted park features for visitors, and represented an early version of the visitor...
External links
- Madison Museum
- Madison Museum, North of Old Faithful & Grand Loop Road, West Thumb vicinity, Teton County, WY: 3 photoS, 1 photo caption page, 2 data pageS, at Historic American Building Survey
- Norris, Madison and Fishing Bridge Museums National Historic Landmarks at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office