Degnan’s Kitchen represents well over 100 years of Yosemite concessioner history. The Degnan family were Irish immigrants who settled in Yosemite Valley in the late nineteenth century. Bridget Degnan baked bread to sell to tourists and residents. Her initially small operation grew to a substantial enterprise. Read more about the Degnan family and the original bakery. During Mission 66, Degnan’s was still a family-operated business also known as Degnan-Donohue, Inc. Frank Donohue, Bridget Degnan’s grandnephew, led the business at the time of Mission 66. Donohue agreed to the National Park Service’s request to construct a modern facility, continuing the Degnan’s legacy. Donohue partnered with well-known mid-century modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright to draft a design for the new Degnan’s building. Much to Wright’s chagrin, the National Park Service rejected the proposed design, deeming it too futuristic. Director Conrad Wirth famously critiqued Wright’s design by calling it “a mushroom dome type of thing.” 
Walter Wagner and Partners, a firm from Fresno, created the distinct A-frame structure we know today. Its floor-to-ceiling windows are a signature of mid-century park designs, and the prominent wood elements and interior fireplace remind the visitor of a mountain lodge. The old building that housed both the Degnan family and their bakery was the Old Village, near the current site of the Yosemite Chapel. The historic Degnan’s Bakery was moved to the Yosemite History Center in Wawona, where visitors can still see it today. After the new restaurant building opened in 1958, the small business struggled to stay afloat from the tremendous cost of constructing the new facility. Degnan’s Kitchen continued to operate as a family business until Yosemite Park and Curry Company purchased it in 1972. 
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Last updated: November 1, 2023