Born Mary Imogene Bates of Indiana, Imogene Green MacPhearson lived an entrepreneurial life. During the Civil War she bravely crossed into the Confederate South to rescue her husband when he was ill in a Union Camp.  MacPhearson set out west to Denver after her marriage ended to spend some time in the Rocky Mountains. One summer she stayed at Abner Sprague's dude ranch and instantly fell in love with the area. She purchased a homestead near the Spragues and named it "Hillcrest". She received a patent for the land in 1903. She married William D. MacPhearson a few years later.

MacPhearson was involved in the Estes Park Women's Club which established the library in Estes Park, while expanding her property to become a tourist destination. The first building was erected in 1905 and was followed by cabins, a livery stable, a main lodge, and a dining room. The first guests were welcomed in 1910 to the Moraine Park Lodge. The Lodge commanded a grand view of the Moraine Park valley. MacPhearson ran the lodge herself, her husband only allowed to clerk the front desk. She was thrilled that her property was included in the proposed national park. She continued to promote her own business and purchase several others in the Estes Park area during the early 1900s.

The only building of the Moraine Park Lodge remaining today is the Assembly Hall, built in 1923. When the National Park Service purchased the property in 1931 it was transformed into the Moraine Park Visitor Center which now serves thousands of visitors every summer.  In 1936 CCC crews remodel Moraine Park Lodge into the Moraine Park Museum and build the nearby amphitheater that ushered in a new era of park interpretation and education programs.

Credits and Sources:

“Timeline of Historic Events.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Stories. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/time_line_of_historic_events.htm

“People.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. History & Culture. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/people.htm