National Register Listing

Unity Ranger Station

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Unity, OR

The Unity Ranger Station typifies the construction projects undertaken by the Civilian Conservation Corps and signifies the aid to the local community provided by the emergency work-relief program through the employment of youth and experienced craftsmen, purchase of building materials and camp supplies, and personal expenditures of enrollees. The property represents the Forest Service's presence in the locality as the headquarters for field operation, and denotes, via the physical facilities required to carry out the agency's expanding responsibilities, the critical transition in the Service's development from custodial superintendence to extensive resource management. The Unity Ranger Station exemplifies the rustic architectural idiom developed by the Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, to impart Forest Service identity and to represent its purposes and ideals; and signifies the agency's particular interpretation of a singular expression of early twentieth-century American architectural thought. Possessing very high qualities of design and execution, the Ranger Station is an excellent example of an architectural locution invested with special aesthetic and associative values by the agency that created it.

The USDA Forest Service organization composes three major branches: the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, and Research. Although each functional division is separately structured to carry out it particular programmatic responsibilities, the three branches interact to accomplish the overall mission of the agency. The Research branch conducts technical studies relevant to forestry and forest lands.

In the early 1930s, a number of Experimental Forests were established in National Forests in the Pacific Northwest Region. These were administered under the National Forest System but were managed for research purposes. The John Day Experimental Forest located in the Blue Mountain area was included in this number. A research field station was built circa 1936-38 to serve the area. The field station buildings were designed by [NFS] Regional Office architects, and in all probability were built under the auspices of the Civilian Conservation Corps. If, in fact, such was the case, the building construction project was supervised by local National Forest personnel.

Residence #1052 and Bunkhouse #1306 were removed from their original sites at the research field station in 1953 and relocated at the Unity Ranger Station. Ordinarily, structures that have been moved from their original locations are not considered to be eligible for the National Register. However, Buildings #1052 and #1306 are excellent examples of the Region 6 rustic style and are primarily Their
significant for their architectural values. These values are unimpaired. associative values as well are a little diminished.

Although they lack locational integrity, the building's present setting is spatially, temporally, and contextually congruent with the period of their construction. Their location in a predominantly Depression-era administrative complex offers an unusually appropriate built environment. The surrounding structures are similar in character and appearance, exhibiting comparable forms, fabrics, and material treatment.

Primarily significant for their architectural values which remain unimpaired, and relocated in a spatially, temporally, and contextually congruous setting, Residence #1052 and Bunkhouse #1306 satisfy Criterion Consideration. They are highly ranked integrants of a thematic group of Depression-era resources demonstrated to have exceptional importance through scholarly examination and analysis; thus they satisfy criteria consideration (9). As excellent examples of the Region 6 rustic style, they meet Criterion of the National Register criteria. Possessing integrity of design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, Buildings #1052 and #1306 are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.