Smithsonian Institution Shelter

Built in 1909 (rustic architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. 16 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1907.

From the record

“The Smithsonian Institution Shelter, also known as the Mount Whitney Summit Shelter and the Mount Whitney Hut, was built in 1909 on the summit plateau of Mount Whitney, in the Sierra Nevada within Sequoia National Park, in California. It is the highest permanent building in the contiguous United States.”
Wikipedia article Smithsonian Institution Shelter, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 35 National Register listings published here for Tulare County · listed in 1977 · category: Building · built in 1909, rustic architecture.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. W of Lone Pine in Sequoia National Park, Lone Pine
When was it listed? March 1977
Category. building
Census division. Springville-Johnsondale
When was it built? 1909
Architectural style. rustic architecture
National Register reference number. 77000119 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

21 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 21 fires within 5 miles of Smithsonian Institution Shelter between 1992 and 2019, burning about 64 acres in total. 11 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Natural	11
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	6
Recreation and ceremony	4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
6 August 1994	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Inyo National Forest	not named
5 August 1992	Natural	under an acre	Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks	WALLACE CK
3 August 1993	Natural	under an acre	Inyo National Forest	not named
2 August 1992	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks	CRABTREE
1 August 2018	Natural	under an acre	Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks	SOLDIER
6 July 1993	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Inyo National Forest	not named
5 July 2001	Natural	under an acre	Inyo National Forest	HOGBACK
5 July 2001	Natural	under an acre	Inyo National Forest	SWITCH

Every fire recorded in Tulare County

Mines and quarries near this property

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Smithsonian Institution Shelter: 6 occurrences, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Gold, Silver, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Lone Pine Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Dream Claim	Silver	Occurrence
Lucky Velspar	Gold	Occurrence
Sierra No. 1 Prospect	Gold, Silver	Occurrence
Queen Elizabeth Prospect	Copper	Occurrence
Unnamed Occurrence	Copper	Occurrence
Unnamed Occurrence	Copper	Occurrence

Every working recorded in Tulare County

Maps showing this location

16 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1907 USGS Mt. Whitney quadrangle1:125000 - 10 printings
1919 USGS Mt. Whitney quadrangle1:125000
1937 USGS Mt. Whitney quadrangle1:125000 - 3 printings
1948 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
1955 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Mount Whitney quadrangle1:62500 - 3 printings
1958 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
1960 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1962 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
1966 USGS Fresno quadrangle1:250000
1967 USGS Mount Whitney quadrangle1:62500 - 2 printings
1978 USGS Mount Whitney quadrangle1:100000
1985 USGS Mount Whitney quadrangle1:24000
1993 USGS Mount Whitney quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1994 USGS Mount Whitney quadrangle1:24000

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 77000119 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Tulare County	All 35 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.