Although little remains of the once bustling sheep ranching community of Spencer, what was built to last has endured in the Spencer Centennial Mountain Lodge.
The lodge's rock walls have withstood ferocious winds and snows since early in the century; now that it has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, it soon will have protection from anyone who would want to tear it down.Not that its present owners would consider such a thing. Ken and Joy Meyers were delighted to hear the National Park Service had the paperwork, and that the site is soon likely to be on the list.
The lodge, formerly known as the Spencer Rock House, was finished in 1919. Built by C.W. Hardy of the Wood Livestock Company Ltd., it is two-story, side-gabled home in the "Prairie Vernacular" style.
The house is crafted of rough-cut igneous field stone as thick as 36 inches. The house was built to use several natural springs adjacent to the basement for water and to cool food.
The property is fenced with a lodgepole pine "buck" fence. Two bush-lined creeks meander their way through.