The Madison Museum is one of a series of "trailside museums" in Yellowstone National Park designed by architect Herbert Maier in a style that has become known as National Park Service Rustic. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is one of three parts of a 1987-declared National Historic Landmark, the Norris, Madison, and Fishing Bridge Museums. Built in 1929, the Madison Museum is the smallest of the three. It is sited on a small rise that overlooks the meadows and canyon of the Madison River, and still fulfills its function as an informal interpretive center.DesignThe T-shaped structure housed a ranger-naturalist in one wing and a small exhibit area in the other. The building rests on a rhyolite rubble base and is of frame construction, covered with shingles. The transition between stone and frame is marked by a log that serves as a transitional element. The roof is supported by heavy log columns and is itself framed in logs. The building was renovated in 1971 and converted to a single-room layout.The museum was designed by National Park Service architect Herbert Maier and was funded by a portion of a $118,000 grant from Laura Spelman Rockefeller for educational projects in Yellowstone. Maier was assisted by Carl Parcher Russell, a Park Service field naturalist, and the president of the American Association of Museums, Hermon Carey Bumpus.
