The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway pitched ten canvas tents along the shore of Lac Beauvert in 1915, a rustic tourist camp locals called Tent City that gave visitors a base for exploring the newly created Jasper National Park. The railway went bankrupt within five years, and Canadian National Railways absorbed its assets, including the tent camp. CNR president Sir Henry Thornton saw greater potential and commissioned architect John Schofield to design a permanent lodge in 1921, one built deliberately to blend into the Athabasca Valley rather than dominate it, using small log-and-fieldstone cabins scattered across the landscape instead of a single towering hotel.
The official Jasper Park Lodge opened in June 1922 with log bungalows for 65 guests and a main lodge marketed as the world’s largest single-story log structure, built from timber cleared on-site and from nearby Maligne Canyon. A 1952 fire destroyed that original main building, which was rebuilt afterward. The property has drawn guests from Queen Elizabeth to Marilyn Monroe, who stayed in what’s still called the Point Cabin.
