In 1919 Kiser blazed the Skyline Trail down the backbone of the Cascade Range from Mt. Hood to Crater Lake. His party camped in Crater Lake National Park for one week; because this was the pioneer trip of its kind, the publicity value for the lake was enormous. Kiser also in 1926 blazed the new trail from the rim of Crater Lake to the water’s edge. During his concession period at Crater Lake, Kiser explored every feature by climbing up and down the rim in many different places. He determined to bring Crater Lake to the public in the same way he had the Rocky Mountains. His policy became to make a new series of photographic negatives of the lake each summer and thereby acquire the largest and most complete set of Crater Lake negatives in existence.
The stone and log studio building was constructed by Kiser’s company, Scenic America, at a cost of about $6,800, plus about $960 for the installation of a lighting plant, for use as a photographic studio under an operating contract entered into with the Secretary of the Interior. By purchase of the equipment and assignment of the contract in 1927, a general scenic photographic business was continued by Kisers (Inc.), of which Kiser was the majority stockholder, until January 1, 1930, when the contract expired. The business was found unprofitable to continue, and the operating assets, with the exception of the studio building, were sold to the Crater Lake National Park Company, which absorbed the operation into its existing development at the park. The studio building and fixtures thus abandoned were found desirable for use by the government as an information office and comfort station, and the former operator offered to sell the same to the government for $1,000. There being no funds available for the, purchase, the corporation agreed to permit the use of this building by the government for the above purposes without any obligation for remuneration or for the purchase of the building in the future. After 1962 the building was used for exhibits.
The structure, now referred to as the Rim Visitor Center, is considered to have only moderate architectural value. It is a small building of stone masonry with horizontal wood siding on the gable ends and wood shingles on the roof. It is basically compatible with the dominant architectural style of the park and has a prominent location in the Rim Village. It is the main contact point between Park Service personnel and park visitors. The structure is not determined to have enough significance to warrant its nomination to the National Register. If an adaptive use compatible with its early use as a photographic studio could be found, this might be a worthwhile effort. Horace Albright, former Director of the NPS, once stated that Fred Kiser, as an artistic photographer, had few peers in the United States and that he felt that Kiser’s continued association with National Park Service affairs was important. [9] Kiser did generate interest on the part of the public in the future plans of the NPS and U.S. Forest Service. Kiser once stated that he wanted his name to
forever be considered a reminder to future generations that regardless of the primitive state of any region and the ruggedness of industrial and agricultural demands for greater development of that specific region, there must be, always, a certain number of citizens who will exert their strength, their endeavors and their influence exclusively to the conservation of God Given Scenic Beauty,–for the benifit [sic] of posterity. [10]
Perhaps this association could be continued in spirit by using his Crater Lake studio adaptively.
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