Grant Grove Village was my home from April 12th through November 4th 2019 and the hub of our community where we worked, lived and socialized. This post is to share some history of Grant Grove and life here.
When the Grant National Park was created in 1916 there were already a few primitive cabins and tents around a swampy area known as Bradley Meadow that was being used for guest facilities. Around 1924 a gas station, photo studio, and market were built to serve the increasing number of mostly day visitors. The Park Service wanted to bring the existing businesses with multiple ownership under a single concessionaire who would agree to build new facilities and run everything which happened in 1925 under the direction of Howard Hayes. Rather than build large hotels the park service decided that the new guest facilities for both parks should be rustic complexes of individual guest cabins. Between 1927 and 1930 a new lodging complex consisting of a small lodge and lobby, a relocated cabin to be used as a reading room, 4 new duplex guest cabins with private baths, a new bathhouse, and lots of tent cabins were constructed. Nearby, a separate area known as Meadow Camp already existed and consisted of a group of tent cabins. These were remodeled into rustic housekeeping cabins by replacing the tent-tops with roofs, and a new bathhouse/office was constructed. So by the early 1930s, Grant Grove Village had two separate and distinct guest lodging areas. Cabins from both these areas still stand today.
In 1932 a new store and lunchroom were built along the main park road (Hwy 180). This building remains today and is now the gift shop which was remodeled in 2017. In 1936 the gas station was replaced with a new one which also still stands today but is closed. A restroom was built near the gas station around 1940, it also still exists. Little changed from then until the 1960s when the National Park launched a new program to modernize the National Parks. Under this new program, a 1960’s style coffee shop was added to the rear of the existing store, and a new Visitor’s Center was constructed across the street from it. Many of the cabins were repaired and remodeled. In 1969 the old lodge was remodeled into a market and retained much of the original design including the fireplace, but in 1993 the Lodge/market burned to the ground and Grant Grove Village lost what was it’s most architecturally historic structure. A new store and post office were built between the gas station and gift shop buildings in 1994.
John Muir Lodge was built in 1998 and is a two-story building. When you enter the lodge you walk into a large lobby with a huge fireplace. Several porches with chairs and rockers make a comfortable place to hang out in the evenings.
The brand new Grant Grove restaurant opened in 2017….the old Grant Grove Coffee Shop was built in 1962 and was attached to the back of the current gift shop building, in the area where the patio for the new restaurant is located now. The historic gift shop, which still remains, was built in 1933 and originally housed both the gift shop and a small lunch counter.
Other buildings looking out from John Muir Lodge – Manager housing units on the left, maintenance and Human Resource buildings on the right.
Snow days in May
Panoramic Point. The narrow, winding, Panoramic Point Road leads 2.3 miles from Grant Grove Village to a parking lot just below the park ridge. There is a pit toilet and picnic tables at the Panoramic Point parking lot. From the parking lot a short trail leads about one block up to Panoramic Point. From Panoramic Point you see a fantastic view of King’s Canyon and the snow-capped mountains as well as Hume Lake.
J1’s , Camp-fires and, Outings
The Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) was created as part of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 to allow foreign nationals to temporarily reside in the United States and participate in a variety of education or training programs and to promote cultural exchange between the United States and other countries.
We had about 12 young men from Turkey, Russia and, Jordan who came and worked for us for three months over the summer. I became pretty good friends with a few of them and it was pretty awesome to learn about their home, families and, life in their country. Most of them were all students at the university as that is one of the requirements to be in the program and most were studying engineering. A few were studying for business and management degrees. Several of them worked in the restaurant and a few in the market and gift store. Since I was the cash room auditor I had connections with them all as they came on board to get their cash banks and drop their daily deposits with me.
A few times over the summer those who worked in the market and gift shop would get together at the market manager (Jill) cabin after work for a camp-fire and roasting hot dogs and Smores. They were always a lot of fun with time to visit, laugh, share stores, listen to music and just bond with each other.
Pictures: #1 Arse from Russia, #2 Egc, Ahmet & Khan from Turkey #3 Brooke from New York, Oktay and Berk from Turkey, #4 Berk, Oktay from Turkey, Jonthan from San Jose, #5 Diedre from Arizona and Gina from Fresno, #6 Jonthan and Khan
Fire building 101
Took a drive with Ahmet, Oktay and Arse one day in July to Cedar Grove. By this time the river and waterfalls were still pretty full, but less than it was May.
Employee Appreciation Week
Each year for one week in the summer our concessionaire, Delaware North puts on a week of showing their employees how much they are appreciated. Some of the things they did was giving staff names to managers to write us thank you notes, we were fed a lunch out on the court yard, we had daily drawings to win gifts, etc.
Wine Tastings
This summer was the first time that wine tastings took place…..Our restaurant manager, Andrew is a young, new manager that was in his third season at Grant Grove. The tastings were very successful, fun and enjoyed meeting some awesome guests as well as spending time with co-workers. Although I am not a wine drinker I was curious to know more about wines and to try some samples. I found that I definitely do not like red wines. I like the whites and ones that are sweet….but found that wines are not something I see myself sitting down and drinking.
Hume Lake Outings
End of Season – Saying Goodbye
Visitors
I was blessed to have family and friends come and spend some time with me while I was here this season. Two of my friends from Vacaville and Grass Valley CA came for my birthday in June which I wrote a separate blog post on. My cousin and her grandson came from Sacramento…..Their visit was short and I had to work so I did not get to do as much as I would have liked, but it was great to see them. My daughter came from Washington for 5 days…..We had so much fun as it was the first time in about 20 years I have been able to have just one on one time with her. It was a very special time but I am going to write about that in a separate blog.
My cousin Tammy and her grandson, Hayden
Over The Hill With Sherry 