{"nrhp_refnum":"75000223","name":"Wawona Hotel and Pavilion","other_names":["Kawona Hotel","Thomas Hill studio","Buildings 4417","4414","4420","442"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"On CA 41 in Yosemite National Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wawona","county":"Mariposa County","state":"CA","lat":37.536539757321904,"lon":-119.65495115680275,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-10-01","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1987-05-28","areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Art","Conservation","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of eight wooden buildings forming the Wawona Hotel complex and the Thomas Hill Studio (Pavilion) at Wawona, Mariposa County, California, near Yosemite National Park. The buildings were put up between about 1879 and 1920 by the Washburn brothers and their partners.","why_significant":"The complex is argued to be of regional significance in commerce, conservation and transportation, local significance in exploration and settlement, and national significance in art. It was a major resort hotel for over a century and the site of Galen Clark's homestead and stagecoach station. The Thomas Hill Studio is where the landscape painter Thomas Hill worked during summers from 1886 to 1908.","narrative":"Wawona Hotel is a cluster of eight white and brown wooden buildings in Wawona, near Yosemite, that has served as a resort hotel since the late 1800s. Galen Clark settled the site in 1856, built a bridge over the South Fork of the Merced River and ran a lodging station for visitors to Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove. After his original hotel burned in 1878, the Washburn brothers and their partners built the present complex, beginning with the main hotel in 1879 and adding cottages, an annex and a dormitory through 1920. The Washburns also ran the stagecoach line whose road became part of State Highway 41. The Pavilion served as the summer studio of landscape painter Thomas Hill from 1886 until his death in 1908. Notable guests included presidents Grant, Hayes and Theodore Roosevelt. The complex retains much of its Victorian and Edwardian character and still operates as a summer hotel.","period_of_significance":"1856 - present","architect_builder":"Washburn Brothers and others","architectural_style":"Victorian/Edwardian","criteria":[],"status_note":"The complex still operates as a summer resort hotel. The Pavilion was restored in 1964-65 and is in excellent condition, while the Small Brown (Moore) Cottage is in poor condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.901402-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/75000223.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000223/6075d4527e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000223/6075d4527e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Rennett Stowe from USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wawona_Hotel_(5830356038).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Rennett Stowe from USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wawona_Hotel_(5830356038).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859776","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q99399642"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/mariposa-county/wawona-hotel-and-pavilion-75000223/"}