Yosemite Archives: YOSE-07962 The building that houses the modern-day Village Store, Village Grill, and Welcome Center was a privately funded project by the Yosemite Park and Curry Company. Then known as the Village Store, Fountain, and Restaurant, it opened its doors in 1959. Located next to Degnan’s Kitchen, this large, multi-purpose building has served a variety of functions since its construction. Upon opening, it included a dining room and fountain, grocery, barbershop, beauty parlor, restrooms, and shoe repair shop. The western pedestrian entrance to the store was originally the primary entrance, featuring a wide bridge over a series of ponds. The exterior of the building throughout incorporates wood soffits and structural elements that impart an organic feel. 
Yosemite Archives: YOSE-07962 The south face showcases the building’s most distinctly Modern feature: a dramatic triangular face with floor-to-ceiling windows and a sloped roof. When first constructed, this section of the building served as a dining room for the restaurant at the time. In the 1970s, the dining room became a retail space, serving as the Village Sport Shop until 2016. In the 2020s, after a period of vacancy, the National Park Service renovated both the indoor space and adjacent outdoor plaza to serve as the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center, funded by a combination of federal funding and generous donations from Yosemite Conservancy donors. The welcome center now serves as the primary hub of visitor information since opening its doors in 2023. Previously, the old general store was an antiquated, sprawling building in the Old Village in Sentinel Meadow. The old building operated for 88 years, serving around 23 million visitors, and surviving several floods where multiple feet of water and silt filled its interior. After the new Village Store, Fountain, and Restaurant opened, the obsolete store was razed. 
Yosemite Archives: YOSE-07962 |
Last updated: October 20, 2023