Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums
National Historic Landmark

Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums

Yellowstone National Park, Park County, Wyoming
Listed
May 27, 1987
Type
District
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
87001445

About this property

The Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums are three "trailside museums" within Yellowstone National Park in the western United States. Built in 1929 to designs by Herbert Maier, they are preeminent early examples of the National Park Service Rustic style of architecture, and served as models for the construction of park buildings elsewhere in the park system in the 1930s. They were collectively designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The three landmarked museums are the Norris Museum (44°43′35″N 110°42′12″W), the Madison Museum (44°38′32″N 110°51′43.7″W), and the Fishing Bridge Museum (44.563028°N 110.377694°W / 44.563028; -110.377694). The Madison and Norris Museums are separated by a distance of 14 miles (23 km), while the Fishing Bridge Museum is more than 40 miles (64 km) away from the other two by road. All three were designed by architect Herbert Maier in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic. A fourth museum, the Old Faithful Museum of Thermal Activity, also designed by Maier, was built at the same time. It was demolished in 1971 to make way for a new visitor center, which has itself been replaced. The architecture of these buildings is characterized by rubble stone and shingle-clad walls, gabled roofs with clipped ends, flagstone floors some places, and peeled log posts as internal supports. The three surviving museums, along with the now-demolished Faithful Museum of Thermal Activity, were designed by Herbert Maier, an architect employed by the American Association of Museums and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation. In addition to designing the Yosemite museums, he also designed buildings at the Grand Canyon, and the National Park Service Southwest Regional Office, also a National Historic Landmark. Maier was influential, both personally and through these early works, in spreading this type of architecture throughout national and state parks and forests, particularly in works created by Depression-era jobs of the 1930s. National Register of Historic Places listings in Park County, Wyoming Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums National Historic Landmark Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine at the Wyoming state Historic Preservation Office Architecture in the Parks: A National Historic Landmark Theme Study: Norris, Madison and Fishing Bridge Museums, by Laura Soullière Harrison, 1986, at National Park Service.

Location

Yellowstone National Park, Park County, Wyoming
44.66420, -110.66173

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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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Nearby Historic Sites

Grand Loop Road Historic District
Listed
4.3 mi
Norris Museum/Norris Comfort Station
Industrial
4.8 mi
Madison Museum
Civil War
10 mi
Obsidian Cliff
Industrial
10.4 mi
Obsidian Cliff Kiosk
Industrial
11.5 mi

Nearby Battles

Nez Perce War — Yellowstone National Park Attacks (August 1877)
1877Indian Wars
8.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums listed on the National Register?

Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1987.

What type of historic resource is Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums?

Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums?

The period of significance for Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1929.

Can I research the history near Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums?

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