In March 1911, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway president Charles Melville Hays wrote Minister of the Interior Frank Oliver seeking land and the exclusive privilege to build and operate hotels in the Jasper Forest Park.

[2] Hays was eager to emulate the success of the Canadian Pacific Railway's grand hotels in Banff, Lake Louise, and Rogers Pass.

[2] The earlies form of tourist accommodation along Lac Beauvert came in 1915 when Robert Kenneth of Edmonton, along with the pioneer outfitters Fred and Jack Brewster established "Tent City".

[8] The camp which officially opened on July 15, 1915, with regular attendees and a group from The Canadian Press,[6] was successful in the summer of 1915, but failed to reopen after the end of the 1915 season due to the First World War.

[7][8] On June 5, 1919, Jack and Fred Brewster returned from the war and purchased Tent City from Robert Kenneth and reopened the site.

[7][10] The Canadian National Railway's chief architect, John Schofield, envisioned a hotel that altered the Athabasca Valley's view as little as possible, and blended seamlessly into the natural surroundings.

[7][11] Schofield planned for a number of small cabins made of rustic logs and fieldstone sprawling across the landscape, rather than the traditional large resort hotel.

[10] During the winter of 1922–23, construction began on the new $461,000 Central Lodge and a number of new outlying bungalows designed by English architect Godfrey Milnes.

[12][14] The Central Lodge was built using logs from the construction site and others cut from the nearby Maligne Canyon, with planed lumber hardwood floors brought from out of the area by train, and western red cedar from British Columbia for upright pillars.

[17][18] King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth visited Jasper during the 1939 royal tour of Canada, staying in the Outlook Cabin.

In 2006, the Jasper Park Lodge was purchased by Oxford Properties, the real estate investment arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), but it is operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

[33] Orso Trattoria, the hotel's first Italian restaurant, was also added to the dining options, which includes the Nook Chophouse, Emerald Lounge & Patio, Thompson's Terrace and Oka Sushi.

[36] A simple nine-hole course was designed by Charlie Duncan, a golf professional from Banff, and work began on clearing boulders and bush.

[38][39] The Canadian National Railway bought a quarter-section of farm land near Edmonton, stripped the topsoil and loaded it into trains to Jasper at great expense to complete the golf course.

[18][41] The Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club held an annual "Totem Pole Tournament" from the 1920s to the 1950s, which was won by actor Bing Crosby in 1947.