Mariposa Grove Museum
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Mariposa Grove Museum
Nearest city	Wawona, California
Coordinates	37°30′50″N 119°35′54″W / 37.51389°N 119.59833°W / 37.51389; -119.59833
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1930
Architect	National Park Service
Architectural style	Rustic
NRHP reference No.	78000381[1]
Added to NRHP	December 1, 1978

The Mariposa Grove Cabin, originally built in 1864 by Galen Clark, Yosemite's first guardian and discoverer of the Mariposa Grove, stands as an iconic symbol of Yosemite National Park. Located near the General Grant and General Sheridan trees, the cabin has been rebuilt three times on the same site, with the current structure dating to 1931.^[2] Although not an exact replica of the original, the cabin reflects a blend of Rustic style and minor Art Deco styles, showcasing natural materials and skilled craftsmanship.^[2]

In 1978, the Mariposa Grove Cabin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[1][3]

Clark constructed the first shelter, a simple one-room cabin, in the Upper Grove in May 1864, shortly after being appointed the first guardian of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grant. He used it as an office and information center for visitors. In June 1864, Dr. Henry Bellows named it "Galen's Hospice" after his party took shelter there during a storm.^[4][2]

In 1881, the State of California replaced the ramshackle building with a new one room cabin.^[5][2] Another room was added in 1902 to serve as the office for the grove's guardian.^[6][2]

The cabin became a key symbol of early Yosemite tourism. Visitors often took photographs of the cabin, surrounded by towering giant sequoias, and these images were widely used in promotional materials.^[4][6]

In 1917, plans by the federal government to demolish the historic cabin to build a hotel sparked widespread protests. The California Legislature passed a resolution calling for its preservation, and visitors rallied to save it as a symbol of the state's heritage.^[7] Ultimately, the cabin was protected and the Camp in the Big Trees, which featured overnight accommodations, was built in a separate location in the grove.

The Mariposa Grove Museum stands on the site of the original Galen Clark Cabin. In 1930, the National Park Service built the current structure to display museum exhibits about the grove's history.^[8][9][10]

It is a one-story log structure measuring 20 feet (6.1 m) by 45 feet (14 m) and divided into two rooms. It has a low-pitched gable roof covered with wood shingles, with a 24 inches (61 cm) exposure. The cabin is built from peeled sugar pine logs, laid in alternating tiers and interlocked at the corners and where the partition wall meets the exterior walls with a "V" notch joint. The spaces between the logs are filled with tightly fitted split-log wedges. A 45 by 12 feet (13.7 by 3.7 m) plank deck runs along the southwest side.^[2]

An exterior chimney, made of granite in a coursed rubble pattern, is located on the southeast end. The southwest side has three double-hung, 6x6 windows, while the northeast side has two. There are three doors—two on the southwest and one on the northeast—made of vertical boards and decorated with large, false strap hinges of unpainted iron.^[2]

Inside, the room is dominated by a rough-dressed granite fireplace in the shape of a segmented arch. The flooring is doweled, random-width oak. The main decorative feature is the handcrafted furniture, including massive sequoia wood tables and benches, hand-planed and polished, with simple, stylized carvings of Native American motifs reflecting an Art Deco influence.^[2]

The cabin and its furnishings were designed to blend with the surrounding sequoias, with the massive furniture hand-hewn from a fallen sequoia in the lower grove.^[11][2]

• 
  Galen's Hospice photographed by Carelton Watkins.

• Sargent, Shirley. Galen Clark: Yosemite Guardian. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1964. Yosemite Nature Notes, Vol. 7, June 1932, pp. 4–5.
• Report of the Commissioners to Manage Yosemite Valley & the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees (1885–1886), p. 10, Yosemite Research Library.
• Superintendent Annual Reports, Yosemite National Park, 1928 & 1930, Yosemite Research Library.

v t e Yosemite National Park
Attractions	Yosemite Valley Yosemite Village Hetch Hetchy Glacier Point Badger Pass Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Tuolumne Meadows Tioga Pass Wawona Tree Chilnualna Falls Valley attractions Half Dome Yosemite Falls El Capitan Films: El Capitan, The Dawn Wall, Free Solo, To the Limit Bridalveil Fall Happy Isles Mirror Lake North Dome Vernal Fall Nevada Fall Little Yosemite Valley LeConte Lodge Bracebridge Dinner Yosemite Firefall Yosemite Valley Chapel Hiking trails John Muir Trail Mist Trail Panorama Trail McGurk Meadow Ostrander Lake Taft Point Sentinel Dome Alder Creek Mariposa Grove Wapama Falls Lembert Dome Rock climbs Fairview Dome, North Face Half Dome, Northwest Face Lost Arrow Spire Lost Arrow Spire Tip Midnight Lightning Royal Arches Route Salathé Wall (El Capitan) Steck-Salathé Route (Sentinel Rock) Separate Reality The Nose (El Capitan)
People	John Muir Stephen T. Mather Galen Clark Shelton Johnson Buffalo Soldiers Chief Tenaya Ahwahnechee people
Lodging and camping	Yosemite Lodge at the Falls The Ahwahnee Camp Curry Wawona Hotel Housekeeping Camp High Sierra Camps Camp 4
Natural disasters	1938 Yosemite TWA crash 1996 Yosemite Valley landslide 1997 Merced River flood 2013 Rim Wildfire 2022 Washburn Wildfire
Transportation	Nearby airports FAT MPI MMH YARTS Route 140 Route 41 Route 120
Nearby municipalities	Foresta El Portal & Arch Rock Entrance Yosemite West & Chinquapin Wawona Bootjack Mariposa Briceburg Oakhurst Midpines Lee Vining
Additional information	History of the Yosemite area Geology of the Yosemite area National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park List of waterfalls Yosemite Category California Portal