When the Mountain Went Dark: Trouble at Timberline Lodge in the Early 1950s

Abstract

Timberline Lodge, located on the south flank of Mount Hood, features stunning views of Mount Jefferson and the Cascade Mountains to the south, is one of Oregon's most popular tourist attractions. Completed in 1938, the lodge was the state's largest recreation project initiated by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In this research article, Joshua B. Fisher discusses how from its opening to the mid 1950s, “Timberline Lodge transitioned from a panacea for the burgeoning Oregon tourism and ski industry to a mismanaged and deteriorating white elephant,” which resulted from a series of private investors with dubious intentions. Timberline Lodge's history, Fisher describes, “sheds light on the interplay between public and private interests in controlling a key government property,” but calls attention to omissions in public records necessary to answer additional questions and draw further conclusions.