The log cabin was built in 1913[2] on the east side of the park overlooking Upper Saint Mary Lake.

The oldest administrative structures in the park.,[3] it features an architecture that foreshadows the National Park Service Rustic style.

[3] The present ranger station complex comprises two buildings standing by themselves in a small sloping meadow just to the east of the lake.

The walls are of rounded log construction, squared on the inside and then sheathed with beaded panels for the interior finish.

The disassembled barn was transported to and reassembled piece-by-piece on a new stone/concrete foundation at the Saint Mary Ranger Station site.

The project took two weeks for disassembly, tagging and recording, and transportation of logs and other original construction materials.