Northern Side of Jewel Cave's Historic Ranger Cabin

Historic Cabin

NPS Photo/ Connor Joyce

Quick Facts

Location:

Custer, SD

Significance:

A part of Jewel Cave National Monument

Designation:

National Monument

Amenities

6 listed

Audio Description, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Picnic Table, Recycling, Restroom - Seasonal

Jewel Cave Corporation

In 1928, a group of small businessmen from Custer, South Dakota, and Newcastle, Wyoming, formed the Jewel Cave Corporation (JCC). The JCC raised money and paid the Michaud family $750 in 1928 to give their mining claim back to the government. The JCC then operated cave tours and managed Jewel Cave.

When originally established as a National Monument by former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Jewel Cave was initially under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. However, FDR transferred the management of several U.S. National Monuments, including Jewel Cave, to the U.S. National Park Service in 1933. The JCC continued to work jointly with the U.S. National Park Service until 1939, when the JCC dissolved, and Wind Cave National Park rangers began leading cave tours in the summertime.

Elwood and Shirley Wolfe 

By 1939, the cabin also doubled as the sole Visitor Center of Jewel Cave National Monument and also became the home of park rangers. By 1941, the monument’s first permanent ranger, Elwood Wolfe, and his wife, Shirley Wolfe, arrived.

Except for a brief period of closure during World War II, U.S. National Park Service rangers staffed the cabin and conducted cave tours. Then, in the late 1950s, significant discoveries were made within the cave, which led to plans to build a new Visitor Center and staff a new cave tour route. The cabin was continuously updated to accommodate increased visitation until the current Visitor Center, Scenic Tour, and Discovery Tour opened in 1972.

1972 Visitor Center

After the new Visitor Center was established, the original cabin built in 1935 by the CCC was no longer needed and fell into disrepair until it was restored in the year 2000. Restorationists strived to rebuild the cabin to look as it did back in 1935, even starting to replace the log front porch in 1982. The cabin itself is known to have five original artifacts and period historic items; these include the sink basin, the fireplace, the kitchen cabinets, the wood and coal stove, as well as the top kitchen window by the sink. Of note, the Drake Hardware Company stove is the same make, model, and color; however, it is not original to the cabin.

• Historic Ranger Cabin Northern Side

  
  

  Learn about the early history of Jewel Cave National Monument. From the Jewel Cave Corporation, the Wolfe's pink walls, and original artifacts and period historic items.

  Date created:

  09/16/2025

  Audio Transcript

  In 1928, a group of small businessmen from Custer, South Dakota, and Newcastle, Wyoming, formed the Jewel Cave Corporation (JCC). The JCC raised money and paid the Michaud family $750 in 1928 to give their mining claim back to the government. The JCC then operated cave tours and managed Jewel Cave.

  When originally established as a National Monument by former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Jewel Cave was initially under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. However, FDR transferred the management of several U.S. National Monuments, including Jewel Cave, to the U.S. National Park Service in 1933. The JCC continued to work jointly with the U.S. National Park Service until 1939, when the JCC dissolved, and Wind Cave National Park rangers began leading cave tours in the summertime.

  By 1939, the cabin also doubled as the sole Visitor Center of Jewel Cave National Monument and also became the home of park rangers. By 1941, the monument’s first permanent ranger, Elwood Wolfe, and his wife, Shirley Wolfe, arrived.

  Except for a brief period of closure during World War II, U.S. National Park Service rangers staffed the cabin and conducted cave tours. Then, in the late 1950s, significant discoveries were made within the cave, which led to plans to build a new Visitor Center and staff a new cave tour route. The cabin was continuously updated to accommodate increased visitation until the current Visitor Center, Scenic Tour, and Discovery Tour opened in 1972.

  Some of these adaptations include the painting the interior kitchen walls and ceiling pink from 1940 through 1943. This unique trait has direct ties to World War II. Prior to U.S. military involvement in the Second World War, FDR signed the Lend-Lease Act into law on March 11, 1941. This piece of legislation allowed the U.S. to lease, sell, or otherwise exchange vital military aid to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China, before America was fully brought into the conflict when Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Military aid available to U.S. allies through the Lend-Lease Act included, but was not limited to, food, military equipment, and all materials needed for camouflage. Therefore, due to paint being utilized as a war material in 1941, it is likely that this is why the cabin was painted pink instead of another color, such as blue or green. In the following months, as the U.S. fully entered World War Two, paint materials were needed for America’s own war effort in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters.

  Additional cabin adaptations include the installation of a cistern pump for drinking water in the 1950s and the implementation of a water fountain in the 1960s. Both water sources were located on the northeast corner of the front porch. Other adaptations include the establishment of the cabin gutters system in the 1960s, the installation of metal window coverings in 1965, and the relocation of the cabin’s Pepsi machine from outside the living room windows to just off the northeast corner of the front porch between 1965 and 1966.

  After the new Visitor Center was established, the original cabin built in 1935 by the CCC was no longer needed and fell into disrepair until it was restored in the year 2000. Restorationists strived to rebuild the cabin to look as it did back in 1935, even starting to replace the log front porch in 1982. The cabin itself is known to have five original artifacts and period historic items; these include the sink basin, the fireplace, the kitchen cabinets, the wood and coal stove, as well as the top kitchen window by the sink. Of note, the Drake Hardware Company stove is the same make, model, and color; however, it is not original to the cabin.

  Interestingly, oral history from Don Lytle claims ranger cabin bathrooms sported a toilet at the northern wall and a shower at the southern end of the room. The shower system was removed in 1982. Other plumbing fixtures were demolished in 1984 and 1987 during renovation work, except for the porcelain kitchen sink.