Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Packwood, Washington. County/parish: Lewis.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places April 08, 1986. NRIS 86000813.
1 contributing building.
La Wis Wis Guard Station No. 1165 is located in Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Packwood, Washington. The station was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The guard station is part of La Wis Wis Campgrounds, a former plant harvesting site of the Cowlitz people, in which gathered materials were used for medicinal purposes or to create baskets.
The name, La Wis Wis, is taken from a female indigenous spirit, who along with her spirit husband, made the area her home. The campground was formally given the name in 1935.
The guard station remained in use by the United States Forest Service (USFS) from its construction into 1993, remaining in an unaltered state. The neglected structure deteriorated but was restored over three years beginning in 2012. An additional effort to renovate the station began in 2023.
The 1+1⁄2-story building is considered under the USFS architectural style, "Northwest rustic", one of only two such builds under the agency in the Pacific Northwest. The most recognized feature of the station is a stone rubble chimney with a vaulted cap. Various sets of windows and clapboard alignments are additional details of note.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77848107