Bandelier Historic Structure Report: CCC Buildings

THE WAR, THE ARMY, AND "THOSE ATOMIC PEOPLE"

Travel diminished at Bandelier during June 1941. The road from Santa Fe was in terrible condition from the hard winter and spring. Difficult passage over a rough road discouraged the hardiest of visitors, even though the new lodge was open. Business at the lodge was so bad that Mrs. Frey considered increasing rates for the following season. In the late fall of 1941 the lodge shut down for the winter. [117] The park staff and Mrs. Frey drained the pipes of the buildings not in use. In November, custodian Chester A. Thomas closed the monument until March of the following year with the justification that "closing will enable the regular ranger force to perform necessary maintenance and repair to roads, buildings and grounds thus effecting economies consistent with the President's wish to hold spending in non-defense activities to a minimum during the National Emergency." [118]

The new monument had not yet undergone a period of normal operations when the onset of war changed its direction. The old power plant was dismantled for scrap iron. [119] In response to later calls to aid the war effort, the park staff assembled 50 pounds of scrap rubber, 500 pounds of copper, 300 pounds of brass, and 6 tons of miscellaneous scrap metal from old car parts and worn-out machinery. [120] They planted a victory garden in the old Frey orchard, but the bears liked the melons, the wild turkeys loved the raspberries, and the deer seemed to like everything else. In one of his monthly reports custodian Thomas noted, under the subheading "Wild Life Protection," that "the deer are going to need it if they don't stay out of my Victory Garden! They seem to prefer strawberries and cabbage plants; eat them off as fast as I can plant them. They also seem to be very fond of peas, beets, spinach and lettuce. An 8' fence doesn't seem to discourage them in the least." [121] Winter sports during the war consisted of hauling people out of the mud and snow on the approach road coming up from Otowi and sometimes on the entrance road. [122]

The tire and gas shortages and rationing further depleted visitation. However, decreased visitation did allow the monument staff more time to maintain the buildings. The staff lacked materials but managed to hold things together through hard work and ingenuity. Leaky roofs were the most frequent problems. Besides work on the buildings, the men also had trail work. A heavy storm that hit the area on April 30, 1942, brought high winds that blocked 56 miles of trail with downed timber. A rockslide that spring also poured hundreds of tons of rock into the canyon and almost destroyed the lower falls. [123]

The lodge opened for the summer season of 1942 but closed early in September. The custodian noted: "There seems to be a question as to the possibility of the lodge opening at all next season and for the duration." [124] But the war had had only small effects on the monument so far, bigger changes were yet to happen.

In December 1942, the army quietly acquired the Los Alamos Ranch School, about 12 miles from Bandelier. [125] The army had chosen the site as the home for top secret Project Y of the Manhattan Engineer District and the place where "the solution of specific problems in production of a nuclear weapon" would be found. In short, Los Alamos was the place where the most brilliant nuclear physicists in the world would develop the atom bomb. The army top brass chose the site because it met their criteria: (1) the area was isolated, and real estate prices would be relatively low; (2) they could start work immediately in the existing buildings; (3) adjacent lands were government owned and could be taken over immediately; (4) little clearing would be necessary for future construction; and (5) roads could be improved quickly, and railroad transportation was available nearby. [126]

When the new neighbors began to move in, Custodian Thomas paid a visit to "the Hill" in December 1942 to establish contact between the agencies and find out what he could for his superiors. [127] He was given no information and very rudely turned away. He reported to the Coolidge and Santa Fe offices that a secret project undoubtedly connected with the war effort was under way and that he had heard rumors about the construction of phone lines and overhead power lines. Yet no one he spoke to knew exactly what was going on, and he was not allowed in. [128]

Thomas was even more irked when the army opened up a borrow pit in the Otowi section of his monument. The army representatives profusely apologized to him, saying that they knew what their responsibilities were but that their contractor had made the mistake. They assured him that they would cooperate better with his agency in the future. The army also began informing him of things that would soon be obvious: they would be doing a massive improvement project on the road and building a telephone line through there. [129]

The army secretly began moving people into the area. Under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the newly forming laboratory began assembling a cadre of scientists and technical experts from universities, private industry, and branches of the armed forces. The influx of personnel to the top secret project on the Hill created a severe housing shortage. People simply were arriving faster than housing could be built. To alleviate that problem, the Governing Board of the Los Alamos Laboratory searched for temporary housing alternatives nearby. Among the facilities proposed for use was Frijoles Canyon Lodge.

The governing board considered the housing alternatives in mid-May 1943, and on May 24, Oppenheimer "announced that permission had been given to the project to operate Frijoles Lodge and that he hoped it would be open by June 15." [130] The monument staff found out at the beginning of June and quickly made property inventories. On June 3, Mrs. Frey signed over the right-of-entry, allowing "army and personnel connected with the Los Alamos Base to use the Lodge." [131] As far as the monument staff knew, everyone connected with Los Alamos was army, because all the negotiations for use of the lodge were conducted by the army. The army representatives did nothing to discourage that view.

The staff for managing the lodge arrived on June 7, and more people began arriving June 12. Fifty "army" people moved in at first, and the Park Service was ready to accommodate 50 more, although doing so would have stretched the available space to the limit. The Park Service furnished the "army" with power, sewage, water, garbage disposal, and building maintenance. [132] The Los Alamos records mention that the army did some road repair and minor roof repairs for the monument. [133]

Dr. and Mrs. Richard Taschek of Los Alamos were among those who stayed in Frijoles Canyon during that summer. [134] Their experiences were typical of what the new families faced. Dr. Taschek was a nuclear physicist who had been recruited from Princeton University. They arrived in the area with their six-week-old baby in May and stayed for the first few weeks at Del Monte dude ranch (now Rancho Encantado) — another of the temporary housing alternatives. Conditions at Del Monte were far from ideal for them and the other families with small children. Miss Huntinghouse, the manager of the dude ranch, protested when her ranch ran out of water because the wives washed too many diapers. She allowed the Project Y wives to use her kitchen to heat baby formula only after her workers had finished for the day. For the scientists the commute up to the laboratory from the Rio Grande valley was a long one. The proprietors also caused concern to the army. Miss Huntinghouse could not agree with the stipulation that she turn away other guests, presenting a major security problem to the laboratory. [135]

Frijoles Canyon Lodge was a much better place for housing the scientists and their families. The monument was isolated, and visitation was minimal because of gas and tire rationing. Water was plentiful. Because the army was in control of the lodge, no additional overnight guests could stay there and security risks were lessened. And the commute was shorter.

The Tascheks were able to move into Frijoles Canyon Lodge in July, still awaiting construction of their new housing in Los Alamos. All of their group and other visitors from the laboratory received their meals in the lodge dining room (B-15), served by the staff that had been hired by the army. At Princeton, the Tascheks had become used to the strict rationing of food and other commodities, but at Bandelier they ate army rations, which meant meat every night. They and the other top secret guests enjoyed a few months of very congenial evenings around the fireplace in the lodge lobby (B-17). They also held small dances there. The Tascheks lived in the southeastern half of B-28, sharing the building with another family. All the group members did their laundry in the sinks in their rooms. Mrs. Taschek remembers the women gathering at the "kiva" (B-21) and getting to know one another well while they heated baby food over a hot plate. [136]

In short, those who lived at the lodge enjoyed their stay (see figure 7). From June through October 1943, it was a social meeting place not only for those who lived there, but also for those who already had housing in Los Alamos and would often come for dinner with the others. "Those atomic people," as Mrs. Frey referred to them, who were not allowed to socialize outside the very tight security of the Project Y personnel, could at least enjoy one another's company in a comfortable setting away from the intensity of the Hill. [137] The Tascheks still speak of the wonderful layout and architectural design of the buildings, the attention to detail, and the "good feeling" and human scale of the structures.

The housing shortage in Los Alamos was temporarily relieved in October 1943 and, as the custodian stated, "Just as suddenly as they decided to occupy the Lodge, the Army engineers decided to vacate it. All Army personnel except cooks, waitresses and chamber maids was removed October 15." When they left, the custodian noted that all buildings, furniture, and equipment were in excellent condition. [138] There had been minimal interchange between the monument staff and the guests; the Bandelier staff still referred to them as the army.

After the "army" moved out of the lodge, the monument staff closed the vacant buildings for another winter. They were not to remain closed for long, though. McKee Construction Company of El Paso contacted custodian Thomas in January 1944, asking if it could rent the lodge for a couple of months to house crews who were working on "a contract for construction of an important project at Los Alamos." Mrs. Frey quickly flew into Albuquerque from Washington, D.C., one evening, and the McKee trucks began rolling into the canyon the day after the contract was signed.

That same day, the custodian, the ranger, and the general mechanic on the monument staff each headed up a crew of the contractor's men and began opening the buildings. They turned on water, gas, electricity, and oil and made sewer connections. They also ran into a considerable amount of unanticipated maintenance. Custodian Thomas wrote: "90% of the Lodge roofs proved to be leaky as soon as heat was placed in the buildings and caused some of the ice and snow to melt. Quick repairs were made. A large part of the water pipes in the Lodge apparently did not drain properly when they were drained last fall and frozen lines, some of them broken, had to be dug up from beneath cement and stone floors and repaired." Also, they brought in an additional power plant to supplement the existing small capacity outfit at the monument. They set up stoves, moved out the hand-carved furniture, moved in government-issued furniture, found some bedding, and "by 9:30 p.m. the cooks served dinner to fifty men and the men went to sleep in comfortable beds." [139]

They managed to house 108 men in the lodge and even converted the lobby (B-17) into a dormitory for 30 men. The contractor reported that he was saving the government $100,000 by housing the men in Frijoles rather than at Santa Fe. The monument staff seemed quite proud to assist in contributing so much to the "direct war effort." [140]

McKee Construction Company moved out of Frijoles Canyon lodge in mid-March, and custodian Thomas had already heard that the army would probably lease the lodge for another summer. The army formally notified him of its intentions in May but did not move in any people. Regular visitors who came to the monument without calling ahead went away furious that they could get neither food nor lodging, and they also were dissatisfied with the meager explanation they received. [141] The Park Service knew as little about the secret project as the general public did.

Finally, on July 11, 1944, Mrs. Frey and the army signed a contract, and the Park Service signed another special use permit. The army moved a 50-kilowatt diesel electric generator into the monument, along with 12 managers, chefs, and chambermaids. The custodian's frustration came out in his monthly report: "The lodge was opened with fanfare on the 15th for four guests. The four guests are the only ones to use the Lodge so the army shut down and moved out on the 30th. Cooperating Governmental Agencies: None. Non-Cooperating Governmental Agencies: The Army." [142] The custodian's patience with the army's attitude was wearing thin.

When the army opened the lodge that summer, it did so on a simpler basis than the previous year. Breakfast and dinner were the only meals served. With the construction of a new dormitory under way in Los Alamos, the Hill's administrative board expected to close down the lodge as soon as dormitory space became available but to keep the lodge "in such shape that it can be opened again on short notice." [143] Consequently, the use was much less intense. Although the army officials reassured custodian Thomas that the buildings would get more use, they sent appraisers in on August 15, 1944, to inventory all the lodge property back to Mrs. Frey. The "army" occupation of the canyon was at an end. [144]

Thomas's dealings with the army continued. A few months later in the fall of 1944, Thomas caught the army engineers at work on the Otowi section of the monument. They had cleared the right-of-way for power lines, built two buildings, and "had four bulldozers clearing a route for a superhighway across the monument — all without Park Service permission." The two parties worked out a solution more mutually acceptable after the custodian chased the "bulldozers, armored cars, Tommy-gunning MPs, and a captain of artillers" off the monument and stopped work. They held several meetings and decided that the use of the two buildings and the improvement of an existing road would be allowed under a special use permit. The army promised to behave in the future. [145]

The army retained permission to use the lodge during 1945 but never did. The lodge remained closed to the public during the summer of 1945, and the visitors' complaints kept pouring in as in the previous years. The Southwestern Monuments office in Coolidge had requested that custodians include in their monthly reports a summary of visitor reactions to the various monuments during the war. [146]

The overwhelming complaints at Bandelier continued to be the lack of food and lodging in the canyon and the condition of the approach road.

President Truman made public the secret of Los Alamos on August 6, 1945, [147] 16 hours after Hiroshima was destroyed and three days before the bombing of Nagasaki. Other than a statement on the great increase in visitation following V-J Day, custodian Thomas's only comment was, Bandelier received considerable publicity concurrent with the news release of the details of the atomic bomb." [148]

Figure 7. For security reasons, photographs of Los Alamos Laboratory employees were not permitted during their stay at Bandelier. This rare 1943 photo of employee Ken Jensen may be the only visual documentation of the 1943-44 use of the lodge by the "army." Note the weathering adobe plaster. (Photo: Courtesy of the Los Alamos Historical Society)

POSTWAR CHANGES

Mrs. Frey received control of Frijoles Canyon Lodge from the army on January 10, 1946. The director's office in Washington quickly allotted $8,700 for repair of the buildings. Although the buildings were in good structural condition, they needed considerable cosmetic work. The lodge buildings, as well as the NPS administrative buildings, needed painting, calcimiing, and reroofing. [149] The custodian noted: "From the fallen plaster and cracks in our buildings, the Atomic Bomb fell on us just about as hard as it did on Hiroshima. Only we withstood three years of bombing." [150] The explosive testing a few miles away had undoubtedly contributed to some of the problems, but rain and melting snow seeping in through the roofs certainly did more damage.

Contracts for repair of the buildings went out for bid that spring, but all the proposals came in too high. When the Washington office delayed the approvals for additional funding, the maintenance program was hopelessly bogged down for the spring and summer. Mrs. Frey went ahead and opened the lodge that summer to meet the demand of the visitors, but her operation was hampered by the disrepair of the buildings, lack of power for refrigeration and lighting, and difficulty in obtaining food and other commodities. The hot-water system for the lodge, in the "kiva" (B-21), was unpredictable at best. The monument's small electric generator could not handle the load of increased visitation, and it continually broke down. The automatic controls of the gas range in the kitchen (B-15) malfunctioned and caused frequent explosions. Maintenance was difficult that season because of lack of funds, personnel, and materials. [151]

Approval for increasing the $8,700 repair allotment to $14,000 came through in July, but all decided to put off the work until autumn, when the lodge would close again for the season. The initial rush of visitors to the monument in May had dropped off considerably later that summer because of bad roads and only intermittent phone service. [152] Those conditions also eased the push for immediate rehabilitation.

Although regular visitation was down, Los Alamos Laboratory scheduled a special event in the canyon. On August 21, 1946, 55 Ph.D.s descended on the monument for tours and dinner. The custodian noted that among those were four Nobel Prize winners "including Dr. Lawrence and Dr. Fermi of Atomic Bomb fame." He also mentioned that they enjoyed the tours, and that "Dr. Fermi bought the book, Fading Trails, sat down in the lobby to read it — became so interested hd (sic) could not be persuaded to visit the ruins; was two hours late for dinner." Others in the group (figures 8 and 9) were Edward Teller, Julian Schwinger, David Inglis, and I.I. Rabi. [153] This special event was the first in a series of formal get-togethers at Bandelier sponsored by the laboratory; but most of the use of Bandelier was less formal. Scientists and their families frequented the dining room for the fine cuisine and flocked to the canyon on weekends to begin day hikes there. [154]

So that long-overdue maintenance work could be done, the lodge closed early that fall of 1946. The contract for repairs was let to McKee Construction Company — the same company that occupied the lodge during the first months of 1944. [155] The men began painting, repairing, and reroofing the lodge, and when additional funding became available, they reroofed the administrative structures. This type of basic repair work formed the core of the maintenance program in future years.

Figure 8. Scientists from Los Alamos frequently visited Frijoles Canyon Lodge. In this 1946 photograph Ernest Lawrence, Enrico Fermi, and I.I. Rabi sit in front of the fireplace in the lodge lobby. (Photo: Courtesy of Los Alamos Laboratory)

Through the late 1940s and 1950s, the lodge did good but erratic business. Changes in weather quickly altered the condition of the approach road and had a devastating effect on visitation. During one year, fire damage from natural burns was so great that most people thought the monument was closed. Mrs. Frey continued to open the lodge in the spring and close it during the winter. Usually she sublet the dining room and saddle horse concessions so she could concentrate her tireless efforts on running the lodge and taking care of her guests properly. [156]

Visitor use patterns changed after the war. The visitors who came usually stayed for shorter periods. More people camped and cooked their own meals. [157] On weekends, even as early as 1947, the canyon was becoming so congested that the custodian complained it was turning into a small Coney Island. He blamed the problem on Los Alamos people, many of whom regarded the park as their own. [158] The very limited canyon space was again becoming too small for the numbers of activities taking place there.

Congestion in the canyon and shifting visitor use patterns brought about changes in operations. The first activity to shut down, in the fall of 1960, was the saddle horse concession. The man to whom Mrs. Frey sublet the concession decided that he did not want to run it anymore. The monument maintenance staff took over the stable and corrals for the stock it used in backcountry work. The monument staff conceded that it might allow the horse concession to continue "after the proposed new development is constructed on the Mesa." [159] This "new development" was Bandelier's Mission 66 program, which improved and augmented the monument's existing facilities. The program included construction of additional residences and a campground on the mesa top above the canyon. The old campground in the canyon was then turned into a picnic area, eliminating some congestion.

The expansion of the park staff through the 1960s taxed not only the limited housing but also the available office space. Visitor needs were changing, too; visitors were seeking quick snacks rather than sit-down dinners, eliminating the need for the large dining room. The people working for the concessioner had no need for housing, because either they were members of NPS families and thus had housing or they lived outside the monument. The administrative offices were very cramped inside the visitor center building (B-2). In 1968, architects and designers in the Southwest Regional Office drew up a set of plans to change the lodge dining room and kitchen (B-15) and lodge employee dormitory (B-16) into administrative offices for their work. They drew plans turning the lodge lobby (B-17) into a curio shop, and the small salesroom there into a snack bar. They also turned the old administrative offices in the visitor center (B-2) into an audiovisual room. [160]

When asked about the closing date of the lodge, Mrs. Frey responded "1968," [161] and for her the heart of the lodge was gone after that. A limited operation did continue afterward, but in 1977 the new master plan called for a definite end to Frijoles Canyon Lodge. [162] What little demand there was for lodging in the area could be met by local motels. The concessions agreement between Mrs. Frey and the Park Service was ready to run out in 1978, and the time was right. Mrs. Frey did not seem to mind. She admitted that she was getting on in years, and running the lodge was difficult for her. Former lodge units B-19, B-24A and B-24B, B-27, and B-28 became seasonal housing after the monument staff added kitchenettes. B-23, B-24C and B-24D, and B-29 became the library and storage. The other lodge buildings became park storage facilities, with the exception of B-18, the operator's residence, where Mrs. Frey lived while doing volunteer work for the monument.

Despite all the changes in use, the overall visual effect on the buildings was negligible. The original Pojuaque mud plaster coating the buildings' exteriors weathered off through the years, but it partially washed into the mortar joints as intended. This effect softened the visual break between the stone and mortar and kept the buildings' lines fluid. Interior painting most often followed the original in pattern and color. Enough of the Spanish colonial design furniture and most of the electrical fixtures and hardware remained in the buildings to emphasize the original architectural intent. To make the buildings more energy efficient, a few changes have come about in recent years. Most of the multilight wood casement windows in the residences (B-7, B-8, B-10, B-11, and B-32) were replaced with single-light thermal casements. The roofs, a constant problem, were replaced with sprayed, elastomer-coated, urethane foam roofing. Some of the residences had skylights — which were the object of so much protest in the 1930s — added to illuminate the dark interiors. Vegetation grew up around the structures, but their basic character was not marred.

Figure 9. This photograph, like figure 8, was most likely taken at a special event at Frijoles Canyon Lodge on August 21, 1946. Here scientists Julian Schwinger, David Inglis, and Edward Teller (with his son) stand in the portal of the Frijoles Canyon Lodge dining room (B-15). (Photo: Courtesy of Los Alamos Laboratory)

SUMMARY

After the administrative dust settled and the boundaries of Bandelier National Monument were decided, Frijoles Canyon emerged as the monument's principal visitor attraction. To provide better access the NPS, under the direction of Superintendent Boss Pinkley of the Southwestern Monuments, built a road into the canyon beginning in 1933. The road was funded from CWA and CCC work relief programs. The road ended near a small hotel run by George and Evelyn Frey, who had settled in the area in 1925.

With the onset of greater flexibility in projects funded by ECW programs, monument development proceeded quickly. Even before the road was constructed, NPS architects and landscape architects had decided on Bandelier's architectural destiny: pueblo revival. Using principles of NPS rustic architecture that revolved around the use of on-site materials and local cultural building traditions, the architects designed most of the Bandelier development around three sides of a plaza. The administrative offices and museum were at one end, the enclosing walls of the maintenance yard at the other end, and the buildings of the new Frijoles Canyon Lodge on a connecting side. The fourth side bordered Frijoles Creek, enhancing the picturesque setting that the designers had sought. Additional structures — park residences — were tucked away out of public view against the cliff to the southeast of the maintenance yard. Steps, walls, terracing, and native plantings completed the overall design scheme.

The large scheme was readily fabricated, using a technique of dividing the buildings or development sections into small units to keep costs low. For example, the small administrative office (one project) and museum building (another project) were later expanded and joined into one large structure (a third project). The lodge units were constructed one building at a time around landscaped interior courtyards. By building many small pieces — each listed as a separate project on the CCC ledgers — and connecting them with a seemingly endless series of portals, courtyards, and walls, the architects were able to construct a cohesive and pleasing development with a very human scale. The way the construction progressed and the end product were totally consistent with the additive quality of pueblo revival architecture.

The CCC workers brought in materials from nearby. Ponderosa pine and aspen came from the adjacent Santa Fe National Forest. After the men hauled the wood to the canyon, they worked the wood into beams, vigas, lintels, posts, corbels, and latias. Stone for the walls and clay for some of the plaster and mortar were brought down from the mesa top. The men most often worked the materials with traditional techniques, such as broadaxes and adzes, and they added a few modern materials, such as portland cement, to improve the final products.

The buildings were designed and executed with careful attention to detail. The stone walls were gently battered, then washed with a thin coat of mud plaster to make them look older and more used. The projecting viga ends were cut with an axe, emphasizing the rustic appearance. Sawn ends would have looked too smooth and neat. Ceilings were peeled vigas that supported aspen latias laid in perpendicular or herringbone patterns. Rooms had corner fireplaces, bancos (benches), and built-in shelves. Interior walls were most often smooth plaster with a painted finish. The museum was graced with paintings by Pablita Velarde and Chris Jorgensen and pastels by Helmut Naumer — among the best of local artists. The furniture for each building was designed by architects Lyle E. Bennett, Lyle N. Barcume, and Charles D. Carter. The CCC furniture-makers built desks, beds, wood boxes, and chairs for the lodge cabins. They built the couches, chairs, and coffee tables for the lobby, and dining tables and chairs for the dining room, all of Spanish colonial design. Even the curtain rods picked up the architectural theme. Light fixtures and switchplates were cut-and-hammered tin, also of Spanish colonial design.

The placement of the buildings on the land created more fine architectural spaces, the spaces between the buildings. The landscaping in these spaces enclosed by the buildings' exterior walls finished the development even more by tying it all together. Flagstone walkways connected the buildings and directed pedestrian traffic along gentle routes carefully planted with native vegetation. The vegetation looked as if it had always been there. Changes in grade were gradual, and groups of small stone steps and walls were interspersed among the flagstone landings. Even the parking lot was edged with stone. The guardrail and stone gutters on the entrance road visually connected the road with the rest of the development.

The thoroughness of the designers and the skill of the builders combined to create a unified development. Taken individually, each structure was a well-detailed, solid piece of work. Collectively, the development was a masterpiece, combining fine architecture, landscape architecture, and arts and crafts. The unity of design threaded throughout the landscaping, the buildings, and their contents, even to the hardware on the doors. This unity of design created a sense of place so strong that it predominates today. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

The buildings' primary significance lies in the overlapping categories of architecture, landscape architecture, and arts and crafts. Those categories are inseparable in this instance because of their basis in principles of NPS rustic design. The buildings harmonized with their natural setting through the use of on-site materials, small scale, color, texture, massing, and placement on the existing topography. The buildings harmonized with their cultural setting through their pueblo revival style, appropriate for that area of the Southwest, and through the materials and techniques with which they were executed. The cultural connection carried through the interior of the buildings in paint schemes and room configurations and in the details of exposed vigas and latias, hewn lintels, carved corbels, handmade furniture, and light fixtures. Constructed by the CCC, the development became a monument to its hard work and the high level of craftsmanship it achieved in the building trades.

The changes that have been made to the buildings over the years have been necessitated mainly by changing uses. Most of the changes were made to the interiors and are reversible. Despite these changes, the buildings remain the largest and most unified collection of buildings designed by the NPS and executed by the CCC in the entire park system. The buildings became a national historic landmark in June 1987.

On a secondary level of significance, the buildings played a minor supportive role to a pivotal event in global history during World War II. The buildings temporarily housed people connected with Project Y of the Manhattan Engineer District — the builders of the atom bomb. Frijoles Canyon Lodge was also a place where they had small gatherings or congenial dinners in a comfortable, low-key setting just a few miles away from their work on "the Hill."