Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station House
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Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station
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Stehekin Ranger Residence, 2002
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| Location | Along Stehekin Valley Road, Stehekin, Washington, in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area |
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| Nearest city | Stehekin, Washington, USA |
| Coordinates | 48°18′27″N 120°39′19″W / 48.30763°N 120.6553°WCoordinates: 48°18′27″N 120°39′19″W / 48.30763°N 120.6553°W |
| Built | 1926 |
| Architectural style | Simple wood-frame |
| MPS | North Cascades National Park Service Complex MRA |
| NRHP reference # | 88003460 |
| Added to NRHP | February 10, 1989 |
The Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station House is a National Park Service ranger residence located in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area of northern Washington. The building was built at Purple Point above Lake Chelan in the small, unincorporated community of Stehekin, Washington. It was originally constructed by the United States Forest Service to serve as the residence for the Stehekin District ranger. The Forest Service later converted it into a summer guard station. The building was transferred to the National Park Service in 1968 when the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area was established. The Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Chelan National Forest was established in 1908. It was the largest of the twenty national forests in the Pacific Northwest Region. To facilitate work in the forest, the Forest Service built ranger stations at strategic locations in the northern Cascade Mountains to house full-time employees and provide logistics support to fire patrols and project crews working at remote forest sites. One of those ranger stations was located in the small, unincorporated community of Stehekin at the head of Lake Chelan. Stehekin was particularly isolated, having no connection to the outside world except by horse trail or a fifty mile boat ride up the length of Lake Chelan.
The Stehekin ranger station was established in 1910 as part of the Chelan National Forest. Originally, it was located north of the Field Hotel at the head of Lake Chelan. The first ranger station had two buildings. The first building, the office, was a simple log cabin, 22 feet (6.7 m) by 22 feet (6.7 m). The other building was an 18 by 22-foot (6.7 m) horse barn. This ranger station was abandoned in 1927 because of rising lake waters. A new ranger station was built at Purple Point well above the lake near Stehekin’s boat landing. The Purple Point ranger station served as the headquarters for the Stehekin Ranger District until the early 1940s, when the Stehekin District was merged into the Chelan District.
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