Many Glacier Hotel celebrates Centennial July 4

July 4 marks the centennial of the Many Glacier Hotel and folks can take tours and listen to homegrown music as part of the celebration.

Commissioned by Louis Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway, the harvesting of timber to build the stately lodge on the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park began in the winter of 1913, said historian Ray Djuff.

Most of the logs and timber were harvested in the Park and floated across Swiftcurrent Lake to the site. There was a sawmill nearby, national park or not. Even the stone used in its construction was quarried from the area, Djuff noted.

Of all the historic structures in Glacier, "It's possibly the grandest," Djuff said. "It certainly has the grandest location."

According to its National Register of Historic places listing, the original hotel contained 154 rooms with a dining room and a kitchen. When guests arrived in July, many of the upper rooms outside of the main lobby, were not completed, Djuff noted.

"The dining room was pretty well done, and so was the kitchen," he said. "They continued working on it until November."

It was designed as a complex. The south annex wasn't completed until 1917.

The Hotel's massive lobby is it's main attraction. With a covered fireplace and massive log beams stretching skyward, it truly is a sight to see and has survived generations.

"The fact the building has survived 100 years makes Many Glacier noteworthy. It was an extremely remote location, and construction of a luxury hotel in the wilderness was a feat of great effort," Djuff noted. " That the hotel has gone through floods, high winds, forest fires, the Depression, two world wars, a short working season, renovations and a railway that at one point didn't want it - and survived - it's a remarkable story. That it is now considered a National Historic Site, and the National Park Service and concessioners have put money into its restoration and preservation, is worth celebrating."

The hotel will see more preservation work at the end of this year and next.

The National Park Service has awarded nearly $8 million for design and remodeling of the 100-year-old building's lobby, the south bridge and other work this year and an additional $7 million is expected next year.

Events at the hotel include tours of the building through the day and an old-fashioned Hootenanny performed by the hotel staff at 9 p.m. Walking tours of the building are at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

There will be no fireworks - they're not allowed in Glacier.

But even a 100 years ago, there was no party celebrating its grand opening.

Djuff said he scoured the newspapers and other references of the day and found no mention of an opening celebration for the hotel.