Newel Post, Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge is famous for its carved newel posts, particularly the 12 posts carved into animals. A newel post is the upright post at the top or bottom of a stair handrail. At the Timberline Lodge the builders went to great lengths to combine art with architecture. This back stairway on the west end of the lodge has newel posts with geometric patterns (photo above.) All of the newel posts here at Timberline were made from recycled telephone poles. They were carved in 1937 under the supervision of Thomas Lewin and Ray Neufer. The animal posts shown on the next few pages are found on the two main staircases next to the Head House. They started with plaster sculptures of the animals created by Florence Thomas. These plaster models were then used to guide the work of the wood carvers. All of the animals represented are found in the Pacific Northwest.