Gilbert Stanley Underwood

Bryce Canyon Lodge in Utah (1923)

Gilbert Stanley Underwood (1890–1960) was an American architect best known for his National Park lodges. Born in 1890, Underwood received his B.A. from Yale in 1920 and a M.A. from Harvard in 1923. After opening an office in Los Angeles that year, he became associated with Daniel Ray Hull of the National Park Service. This led to a commission with the Utah Parks Company of the Union Pacific Railroad which was developing the parks in hopes of producing destinations for travelers. During this time Underwood designed lodges for Cedar Breaks National Monument (now demolished), Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. His surviving Utah Parks Company buildings are considered exceptional examples of the Rustic style of architecture, and are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, Underwood was contracted to design Yosemite National Park's The Ahwahnee, also on the National Register and probably his greatest triumph in the Rustic style.

Inside Omaha's Union Station (1931)

Underwood also designed stations for the Union Pacific, culminating in the magnificent Art Deco style station in Omaha in 1931. Then Underwood joined the Federal Architects Project in 1932. While working for the federal government, Underwood produced the preliminary designs for the Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood, Oregon, and went on to design more than 20 post offices, two major federal buildings, and the U.S. State Department Building. From 1947 to 1949, he was appointed as federal supervisory architect.

Following retirement but utilizing an association with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and the Williamsburg Lodge project in Virginia, Underwood designed as his last major commission the Jackson Lake Lodge (1950–1954), Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. He died in 1960.

Underwood's works include:

• Old Faithful Lodge, Yellowstone National Park - completed 1923
• Cedar Breaks Lodge, Cedar Breaks National Monument - completed 1924, demolished 1972^[1]
• Bryce Canyon Lodge, Bryce Canyon National Park - completed 1925
• The Ahwahnee, Yosemite National Park - completed 1926
• Zion Lodge - completed 1927, burned 1966, rebuilt (different style, then restored to original appearance in the 1990s)
• Union Station, Omaha, Nebraska - completed 1931 (Now housing the Durham Western Heritage Museum)
• Grand Canyon Lodge (North Rim) - completed 1928, burned 1932, rebuilt (modified style, same footprint)
• Desmond's Department Store, Los Angeles, completed in 1928
• the Lodge at Sun Valley, Idaho- completed 1936
• The post office in Beacon, New York (with Charles Rosen) - completed 1937
• The new San Francisco Mint in San Francisco, California - completed 1937
• Rincon Center Post Office in San Francisco, CA - completed 1940
• Jackson Lake Lodge, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming - completed 1954
• Gilbert Stanley Underwood buildings index
• Marysville, Kansas Union Pacific Depot - 1929

Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming (1954)

See also

• National Park Service Rustic
• Rustic architecture

References

External links

• National Park Service biography
• architectural sculpture on Omaha Union Station