In addition to the roads in a National Park, the buildings are the most visible manifestation of humans and their impact on the surroundings. In Yellowstone, that is not any different. As of January, 2010, there are 1,931 +/- buildings in the park. That includes everything from the old log Mail Carrier’s Cabin across from the Clinic in Mammoth to the brand new, not yet opened, Old Faithful Visitor’s Center. It also includes the vault toilets, mobile trailers used as residences, and sheds used to store everything from firefighting equipment to signage to explosives to hazardous waste. And of course it includes the huge number of historical structures and icons of the National Park System – Old Faithful Inn, Lake Hotel, Albright Visitor Center and similar facilities.
This section of the web site shows off some of those buildings and shows off how they’re used. The breakout of the building distribution is as follows:
- North Entrance, including the town of Gardiner: 31 buildings
- Stephen’s Creek Area: 13 buildings
- Mammoth Hot Springs, including the park’s headquarters, commercial areas, and middle and lower housing areas: 288 buildings
- The Young Adult Conservation Corps (YACC) Camp, located south of Mammoth: 59 buildings
- Tower Junction Area, including Roosevelt, Tower Falls, and Yancy’s Hole areas: 210 buildings
- Lamar Valley/Buffalo Ranch: 26 buildings
- Northeast Entrance, including a camp at Beartooth Pass: 26 buildings
- Canyon Village Area, including the Commercial and Government areas: 199 buildings
- Fishing Bridge: 35 buildings
- East Entrance, including Sylvan Pass: 16 buildings
- Lake Area, including the Village, Administrative and Incinerator areas: 273 buildings
- Bridge Bay Marina: 31 buildings
- West Thumb: 3 buildings
- Grant Village Area, including the Commercial, Maintenance and Incinerator areas: 127 buildings
- South Entrance: 29 buildings
- Bechler Area: 7 buildings
- Old Faithful, including the Commercial and Administrative areas: 215 buildings
- Madison Junction: 49 buildings
- West Entrance: 34 buildings
- Norris Junction, including the Geyser Basin, Administrative Area, Water & Wastewater Treatment area, the Hot Mix Plant, and the Power Substation: 43 buildings
- Backcountry Patrol Cabins and related buildings: 76 buildings
- Miscellaneous locations, including the Queen’s Laundry Building; the Lewis, Slough Creek, Pebble Creek, and Indian Creek Campgrounds; Fire lookouts; radio repeater buildings not in developed areas; etc.: 23 buildings
- Vault Toilets & Outhouses: 118 buildings (not included in the totals for each area listed above)
You can find information about specific types of buildings by visiting the links below:
