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Multi-Year Restoration Project Launched At Mormon Row In Grand Teton National Park

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Restoration of the Pink House is just part of the rehabilitation underway along Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park/Grand Teton National Park Foundation

Editor's note: The following article comes from the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, a supporter of National Parks Traveler.

In 1895, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent homesteaders into the Jackson Hole valley with the mission of creating a community. With a church and school at its heart and a distinctive arrangement of farms lining one long road, the predominantly self-sufficient outpost came to be known as Mormon Row. The settlement flourished, and then slowly faded over the span of nearly a century, but residents left a captivating legacy. Parcel by parcel, the National Park Service was gifted or acquired properties, primarily as life leases expired. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 due to its rich cultural value, the district’s remnants give life to the story of Jackson Hole at the turn of the century.

The lack of active use and maintenance over many years has led to disrepair and then disappearance altogether of many buildings. Without extensive stabilization, preservation treatment, and a comprehensive effort to gather oral accounts before the people with connections to Mormon Row are gone, this landscape’s fascinating history would eventually be lost.

Mormon Row locator map in Grand Teton National Park.

Grand Teton National Park Foundation is pleased to share that a multi-year effort is underway to preserve the stories and structures of this captivating place. Renewing Life on Mormon Row is a public-private partnership project funded by Grand Teton National Park and the Foundation that will revitalize this well-loved destination, providing visitors with meaningful opportunities to connect with cultural history while immersing themselves in the Teton landscape. This effort will, for the first time, holistically address preservation needs of the six homesteads that remain on site and improve the ways visitors experience the remarkable legacy of these buildings—bringing the history of this place to life.

Preservation work on Mormon Row began on the Pink House—part of the John Moulton Homestead—in May and will continue through 2025. Grand Teton National Park Foundation will raise $3 million, which will leverage $1.7 million in federal matching funds from the National Park Service that would not otherwise be available to Grand Teton. Private philanthropy will significantly elevate the outcomes of this effort, allowing the story of this iconic destination to inspire visitors for generations to come.

The barn behind the Pink House/Grand Teton National Park Foundation

The barn behind the Pink House/NPS file

The Pink House is a 1.5-story historic home constructed in 1938. It retains a high level of historic integrity with original doors, windows, cabinetry, wallpaper, flooring, and woodwork. The house is surrounded by a historic barn, bunkhouse, several other outbuildings, and cultural landscape elements including irrigation ditches, corrals, and fencing. A contractor moved the building off the existing foundation in mid-May, removed the existing foundation, and will pour a new foundation and reattach the structure in the coming weeks.  Additional preservation on the homestead, including a full stucco preservation project, roof replacement, and rebuilding of the chimney, will occur within the next several years.

The area immediately around the Pink House is closed while work is underway, but visitors can still explore the surrounding area. To learn more and support this effort, contact Grand Teton National Park Foundation at 307-732-0629.

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