About this property
The White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins are located in rural Ogle County, Illinois near the village of Mount Morris. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The Cabins are one of two Historic Places found in or near Mount Morris, the other is the Samuel M. Hitt House. The Lodge and Cabins are part of a National Register Multiple Property Submission, they were submitted with several other state park lodges, all designed by Joseph F. Booton. Separate entities from White Pines State Park, The Lodge and Cabins are privately managed as a "wilderness getaway," thus, they are privately owned and operated. With the Great Depression in full swing the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sought to relieve the work needs of unemployed Americans. The National Park Service sought to work with state governments in an effort to meet those ends. Many of the projects the CCC was involved with were construction projects. The project at White Pines was originally meant to be the construction of a lodge building. Two hundred men worked on the State Park construction project at one time, in the years 1933-1939, many of them World War I veterans. After the lodge was completed, it was decided to build a restaurant and breezeway onto the lodge building. Logs for most of the project were shipped via railroad from as far away as Oregon and Washington state, unloaded in Stratford, Illinois and dragged to the construction site by teams of horses. The CCC project also completed sixteen one room log cabins and three four-bedroom cabins. The work crews also built picnic shelters, trail shelters and foot bridges. Only the logs for the cabins came from another source. They were purchased from a salvage company that had purchased utility poles from a defunct utility company at the price of 30 cents a piece. As of 2007, the site was home to the sixteen one room cabins and the lodge building, which had been renovated and revamped. Modern amenities were available and the site is operated as a private lodge. The area that encompasses the National Register of Historic Places listing for the Lodge and Cabins at White Pines Forest State Park covers 7 acres (28,000 m2). The area is ringed by a perimeter road which forms the border of the site listed on the Register. In addition, the area fifty yards beyond the road, into the woods, is also included, to preserve the "woodland retreat" character of the site. The architecture of the lodge and cabins at White Pines was probably most influenced by the limitations on size instilled by the conservation effort underway at the southernmost stand of native white pines in the United States. When the site was under consideration for the lodge and cabins it had already seen extensive recreational use by the surrounding population. That use threatened to unhinge the delicate balance that existed within White Pines fragile ecosystem. As such, the Illinois State Park Plan, implemented at the time of the lodge's construction, already called for additional state recreational areas in the northern Illinois area to alleviate the burden on White Pines. Because of the concern for conservation at the site, the White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins is the smallest of the five sites on the Multiple Property Submission. Despite its relative small size, especially compared to the Starved Rock Lodge or the Pere Marquette Lodge, the complex remains faithful to Booton's vision of "fanciful forest retreats."
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins listed on the National Register?
White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 4, 1985.
What type of historic resource is White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins?
White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins?
The period of significance for White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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