North Cascades

STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:
GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH CASCADES

UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE ERA

Guard Stations: Skagit District
Reflector Bar

Later view of Reflector Bar Ranger Station. The gable-roofed residence
has been replaced by a new hip-roofed structure.
(Callahan Collection, Seattle, Washington)

Several miles upstream from Newhalem was Reflector Bar Ranger Station. Now incorporated into present-day Diablo, Reflector Bar was ". . . named for the small reflector shelter built there . . ." It served as one of the early and important stations for USFS personnel heading into the upper Skagit region. [41] A sandy flat along a bend in the river was selected and surveyed for the site in 1907, and two years later a 4-room house was constructed. A split cedar barn (built 1910) and a small storeroom were built shortly thereafter. [42] In 1930 a new house and barn were built by Seattle City Light (SCL) in reparation for land flooded by the construction of Diablo Dam. [43] This second house is believed to be the one standing today at Reflector Bar. [44] A new barn/warehouse was built by SCL to replace other facilities taken over by the company at Diablo. The USFS noted in a memo dated January 21, 1954: "This is a gain and an attractive building." [45] No doubt this is the large barn which stands today to the northeast of the USFS residence.

Early view of Reflector Bar Ranger Station, n.d.
(NOCA-Sedro Woolley photo file)