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Show dates to ca. 1914, consisted of the existing east wing and porch. A Mr. Snyder and a Mr. Blackley expanded it in 1921 by constructing the west wing. A sketch plan, prepared soon thereafter, identifies the function of each room and illustrates a "screen porch, incomplete" that is now the north end of the kitchen. Many administrative sites benefitted from New Deal funds and labor during the 1930s. Despite an ambitious redevelopment proposal portrayed in a 1936 landscape plan, the Stockmore Ranger Station was not among these new and improved stations. Forest Service architect George L. Nichols prepared a remodeling plan for 4 the Stockmore dwelling in 1940. He proposed a reconfigured floor plan with a small addition on the front porch, as well as Period Revival detailing such as a Tudor-style door, new siding, and pine tree shutters. s This scheme was also unrealized. By 1948, when landscape architect Reginald C. Pragnell prepared another elaborate development plan, the ranger was renting a small building across the road as his office. 6 According 7 to its current owner, the building was the original general store for the town of Stockmore. Changing Uses The Stockmore Ranger Station lost its status as a district headquarters in the early 1950s when forest boundaries shifted and it became part of the Ashley NF. With the District office in Duchesne and improved transportation, the ranger had no need to reside at the site. Stockmore found a new purpose in the late 1950s 8 after the Forest Service discovered a spruce bark beetle outbreak in the area. In July 1958, the administrative site became a "bug camp" for about 50 men working to eradicate the beetle. To accommodate them, several tent frames and sheds were built that year, followed by a bunkhouse in 1959. As of 1971, the Ashley NF still considered the Stockmore Ranger Station, by then renamed the Stockmore Administrative Site, as a key location for managing the North Unit of the Duchesne Ranger District. This continued to be the case the following decade when staff wrote, "Other buildings have been added to the site, principally rebuilt tent frames from the "Bug Job" days in the fifties and early sixties. Stockmore is a principal summer work site, living area, and staging area for the administration of the North Unit.,,9 The Bureau of Reclamation found the Stockmore station useful in supporting its Central Utah Project. With Forest Service permission, the BOR constructed the Tabiona Field Station on the northern part of the administrative site, north of Highway 35. The BOR completed its work in the area and transferred its facilities to the Forest Service in 1988. With no need for the old buildings, District staff signed a cooperative agreement with the Tabiona Natural History Society to rehabilitate the historic dwelling and open it to the public. The Society installed a new roof and repaired the foundation of the dwelling in 2008. No further action occurred, and the Society became defunct. The Ashley NF considered placing the dwelling and bunkhouse in the recreation rental program but decided instead to offer the property for sale under the Forest Service Facility Realignment and Enhancement Act (FSFREA). George L. Nichols Work Diaries, May 2 and May 20, 1940, MS 78, George L. Nichols U. S. Forest Service Collection, Stewart Library, Weber State University. 5 "Stockmore Ranger Station, Landscape Planting Plan," June 16, 1936, and "Stockmore Ranger Station, Water System," 1938, Historic Plans File, USFS Region 4 History Collection, Ogden, Utah. Location cited hereinafter as R4 History Collection. 6 Reginald C. Pragnell, "Stockmore Ranger Station, Preliminary Improvement and Planting Plan," July 13, 1948, Historic Plans Files, R4 History Collection. 7 Personal communication between Richa Wilson and Gene Caldwell, July 1, 2014. 8 "Variety of Important Activities Highlights 1959 Forest Program," Vernal Express, December 17, 1959, 25; "Forest Continues Beetle Battle in 'Grandaddies'," Vernal Express, June 9, 1960,3. 9 Henningson, et. aI., "Duchesne District Facilities Analysis," February 1983, 6, File: "7300 Buildings, Facilities Analysis," Duchesne District Office. 4 Page 2 of4 |
