Historic Fuller Lodge

Historic Fuller Lodge. Los Alamos Historic District Walking Tour. As the Los Alamos Ranch School grew in enrollment and prestige in the 1920s, director A.J. Connell wanted additional space to serve his students and staff. He hired architect John Gaw Meem, who was early in his career, to design the new building. Along with a forest ranger, Meem and Connell handpicked the 771 trees for the building. With a sawmill brought onto the site, construction of the magnificent 3-story, upright log building finished in January 1929. Funding came from wealthy Michigan businessman Philo Fuller, whose son Edward had been on staff at the Ranch School before passing away in 1923. Thus, the name, Edward P. Fuller Lodge. The Lodge served as the school's dining hall, community center, living quarters for some staff, and infirmary., Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, who spent many summers in northern New Mexico exploring and riding horses over the countryside, knew of the Ranch School. As he and Gen. Leslie Groves searched for a site in which to place their top-secret wartime laboratory, Oppenheimer suggested Los Alamos might be an ideal location. In November 1942, when Gen. Groves saw Fuller Lodge, he reportedly finalized his decision to choose the isolated site, with its electricity, running water, and some already constructed housing. The Lodge remained a dining hall while housing visiting scientists and serving as a community center throughout the Manhattan Project., After World War II, Fuller Lodge operated as the only place to accommodate visitors in Los Alamos, with its restaurant providing wonderful steak dinners for $1. The Tudor-style wings were added in 1948 to provide room for more guests and amenities, such as a barber shop. In the 1960s, as the U.S. government was getting out of the business of owning the entire town, private owners built the Los Alamos Inn, and the fate of Fuller Lodge came into question. After much debate and a concerted preservation effort by the League of Women Voters and others, the Lodge became a cultural center, owned by Los Alamos County to this day. It remains, as it has since its construction in 1928, the heart and soul of the Los Alamos community., Below left: The Ranch School mounted student body passing Fuller Lodge, circa 1930s; Below right: A construction worker building Fuller Lodge in 1927; Right top to bottom: Ranch School boys relaxing in what is now called the Ante Room of the Lodge; Eagle Dancers from a neighboring Pueblo performing at the Lodge, circa 1930s; The Pajarito Room serving as the dining hall during the Manhattan Project, circa 1940s; The Los Alamos Ranch School graduation band, circa 1930s. (Photos courtesy Los Alamos Historical Society), Pick up a copy of the Historical Walking Tour Guide at the Los Alamos History Museum, Bradbury Science Museum, Los Alamos Nature Center, any of the Visitor Centers, or one of the visitor guide kiosks around town. Download one by scanning the QR code, or go to visitlosalamos.org.