National and State Register

Silesca Ranger Station

Montrose County

The 1937 Combination Building and Barn building types, known collectively as the Silesca Ranger Station, was part of the unprecedented expansion of the Forest Service in the 1930s.  The expansion largely resulted from Depression era New Deal programs, specifically the Civilian Conservation Corps, that provided much of the construction labor for the erection or upgrading of ranger and guard stations within the national forests. 

A black and white photo of cross gabled station with log walls and tall trees in the background.

Silesca Ranger Station (2004 photograph.)

The buildings typify Forest Service administrative buildings of the Rocky Mountain Region during the CCC era.  The Combination Building is one of only two remaining examples of Forest Service Phase III Rustic style architecture in the Grand Mesa/ Uncompahgre/ Gunnison National Forest.