The McKinley Park Hotel Fire and Denali's 'Temporary' Hotel

Three men helping during the fire. NPS, Denali National Park and Preserve (DENA 2244).

By Kiana Carlson, museum technician, Denali National Park and Preserve (September 2022).

The fire

On the night of September 3 — fifty years before this article was written, on one of the park's busiest weekends — a waitress spotted fire in the kitchen of the old McKinley Park Hotel during dinner. Probably started by old, faulty wiring, it spread quickly. Guests, employees and park officials got everyone out calmly, with little or no injury; guests credited the composure of the young staff and earlier fire drills.

The building couldn't be saved. After a valiant effort, firefighters turned to keeping the flames from nearby buildings and trees to prevent a wildfire. Only the powerhouse, a newly built west wing and a dormitory survived; the main hotel and lobby were reduced to timbers and coals.

The park's hub since 1939

• Before: lodging was scarce. The Mount McKinley Tourist & Transportation Company ran a camp at Savage River (and kept offering transport into the park until 1941).
• The hotel: after two years of construction it opened on June 1, 1939, steps from the railroad depot, with modern amenities, bus tours and interpretive programs under one roof. For 34 years it was the park's main lodging and de facto visitor center.

The McKinley Park Hotel shortly after it opened in 1939. NPS (DENA 1937).

What next?

Public meetings began at once. With Alaska tourism growing, officials including Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Nick Begich wanted a hotel in the park; Stevens hoped to turn the loss into "a plus for our park's development by bringing to light the park's long-range developmental needs in meeting our state's growing tourist traffic." Some wanted the old hotel rebuilt as it was; others wanted it moved somewhere with a view of Mount McKinley — one member of the public asked how a hotel for visitors come to see the mountain could sit completely out of sight of it.

The "temporary" hotel

To house visitors for the 1973 season, a temporary hotel was put up over the winter from the surviving west wing, new modular units and several railroad cars. It lasted 28 years — nearly as long as the original. It was taken down in 2001, once there was enough lodging outside the park, and the Denali Visitor Center was built in its place. The original hotel's only remnant is its powerhouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Railroad cars that were part of the "temporary" hotel. NPS (DENA 5746).

Sources

Based on "The McKinley Park Hotel Fire," by Kiana Carlson, Denali National Park and Preserve, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Guests' remarks are paraphrased.