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Curry Village

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Curry Village
Unincorporated community
Curry Village, Yosemite National Park
Curry Village, Yosemite National Park
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyMariposa County
Elevation
[1]
4,003 ft (1,220 m)
Camp Curry Historic District
Curry Village is located in California
Curry Village
LocationYosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
Area48 acres (19 ha)
Built1924
Architectural styleBungalow/craftsman, Other, Rustic
NRHP reference No.79000315[2]
Added to NRHPNovember 1, 1979

Curry Village (also, Camp Curry) is an unincorporated community in Mariposa County, in the U.S. state of California.[1] It is located in the Yosemite Valley of Yosemite National Park 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Yosemite Village, at an elevation of 4,003 feet (1,220 m).[1] Curry Village occupies a central position in the Yosemite Valley, and is built on a talus cone of debris from old rockfalls.[3]

History

A 1921 advertisement for Camp Curry.

In 1899 David Curry and Jenny Etta Foster (later known as Mother Curry) opened a tented camp. They advertised "a good bed and clean napkin with every meal" for $2 a day (equivalent to $55 in 2012 dollars).

Today Camp Curry offers lodging in the shadow of Glacier Point and Half Dome. The complex, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), includes visitor cabins, a store, dining facilities, a lodge and a post office. The camp's structures are rustic wood-framed cabins with hipped roofs, set on stone foundations. The camp includes a large number of tent cabins, framed bases with tented roofs, a lower-cost lodging alternative developed in the early 20th century. Significant structures include the 1914 entrance sign, the 1904 Old Registration Office; the 1913 dance hall, now adapted as guest lodgings known as the Stoneman House; the 1916 Foster Curry cabin, and the 1917 Mother Curry's bungalow. Bungalows with en-suite baths were built from 1918 to 1922, and bungalows without plumbing were built during the Great Depression of the 1930s.[4]

The Camp Curry post office opened in 1909. It changed its name to Curry Village in 1970.[5] The village was listed on the NRHP on November 1, 1979.[2]

21st century events

2008 rockfall

A rockfall occurred in Yosemite National Park on the morning of October 8, 2008, in eastern Yosemite Valley near Curry Village. Park officials estimated the rockfall volume at approximately 6,000 cubic metres (7,800 cu yd), which released near the halfway point up the granite face above Curry Village. Three visitors received minor injuries during the incident. All three were treated and released. The rockfall destroyed an estimated seven visitor cabins; two hard-sided, and three tent cabins. At least three other cabins were partially damaged. Curry Village visitors were evacuated immediately.[6] Following a study by geologists, 233 visitor accommodations and 43 concessioner housing units were permanently closed in November 2008, which totaled about one third of the units available in Curry Village. 36 units have reopened.[7]

Following a three-year study, the National Park Service announced in August 2011 that 72 buildings will be removed from Curry Village in order to get them out of the rockfall hazard zone. The structures will be documented and historic materials will be salvaged.[8] Most of these are hard-sided structures, including the Foster Curry Cabin.[9]

2012 Hantavirus outbreak

In August 2012, the National Park Service announced three confirmed cases and one probable case of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in visitors who stayed in Signature Tent Cabins in Curry Village.[10] At the time, two people had died. An estimated 10,000 people were possibly at risk because of exposure at the camp grounds.[10]

The outbreak was thought to have been by contact with contaminated droppings of deer mice nesting in the tent insulation.[11] About 14 percent of Yosemite deer mice carry hantavirus.[12][13] State health experts had told Yosemite about the possibility of hantavirus infection in 2010. Park officials declined to warn visitors because, according to park ranger Jana McCabe, in 2010 there was one reported case of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome out of 4 million visitors. Officials thought a warning might generate too much panic or fear.[14]

By mid August 2012, one man had died and a woman had been sickened by hantavirus. The two did not know each other, and they had stayed in different Curry Village tent cabins in mid June. They developed symptoms several weeks later, and hantavirus was identified as the cause by August 14. Park workers cleaned and inspected the tent cabins, and ranger Kari Cobb stated, "Visitors should not be afraid to stay here."[15]

In late August 2012, two more cases were discovered. All four persons had stayed in the Signature Tent Cabins during June. These had been built to replace housing damaged or dismantled after the 2008 rockfall. They differ from the earlier tent cabins as they are double-walled, with insulation between the walls. After the two new cases surfaced, the park closed all 91 Signature Tent Cabins. About 300 single-wall tent cabins remain open.[16]

By early September, eight cases had been identified, and three of the eight had died. Seven (including the 3 fatalities) had stayed in the Signature Tent Cabins, and the eighth had been camping in Yosemite's high country.[17] Yosemite sent emails to notify 230,000 people who had made reservations.[18] Three park employees with flu-like symptoms tested positive for a different strain of hantavirus that does not cause the related pulmonary syndrome. Yosemite is considering testing all its workers for the syndrome.[19] The outbreak appears related to an unusual increase in the deer mouse population and the design of the Signature Tent Cabin.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Curry Village
  2. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Wieczorek, Gerald F. (1999). "Rock falls from Glacier Point above Camp Curry, Yosemite National Park, California". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 31 August 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Kaiser, Harvey H. (2002). An Architectural Guidebook to the National Parks: California, Oregon, Washington. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-1-58685-066-1.
  5. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 753. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  6. ^ "Rockfall in Yosemite National Park". NPS. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
  7. ^ "Geologic Assessment of Recent Rockfalls in Curry Village Completed". National Park Service. November 21, 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Yosemite aims to remove Curry Village cabins over rockfall concerns". KFSN. August 9, 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Curry Village Rockfall Hazard Zone Structures Project Environmental Assessment". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  10. ^ a b "August 2012 - Yosemite National Park Outbreak Notice". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 29, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  11. ^ "Deadly Yosemite virus warning to 10,000 US campers". BBC News. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  12. ^ Cone, Tracie (31 August 2012). "Basics about hantavirus outbreak in Yosemite". Associated Press. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  13. ^ a b Kleffman, Sandy (24 September 2012). "Scientists hunt for cause of hantavirus outbreak at Yosemite". Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  14. ^ Kleffman, Sandy (28 August 2012). "Yosemite hantavirus danger raised state concerns two years ago". Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  15. ^ Kleffman, Sandy (16 August 2012). "Hantavirus kills Alameda County man, sickens woman, possibly after contact with mouse droppings in Yosemite". Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  16. ^ Kleffman, Sandy (30 August 2012). "Two more Yosemite hantavirus infections reported as park closes 91 tent cabins over exposure concerns". Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  17. ^ Kleffman, Sandy (7 September 2012). "Third hantavirus death linked to Yosemite National Park". Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  18. ^ Associated Press (14 September 2012). "New hantavirus case traced to Yosemite National Park". Bay Area News Group. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  19. ^ Associated Press (20 September 2012). "Workers could be tested for hantavirus". Retrieved 21 September 2012.
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