Fichier:Title sheet with statement of significance, site section and location maps. - Cedar Pass Lodge, 20681 South Dakota Highway 240, Interior, Jackson County, SD HABS SD-25 (sheet 1 of 2).tif

• STORED ON SITE. mchr
• Significance: Cedar Pass Lodge is a roadside tourist facility established during the late 1920s in the Badlands of South Dakota. It was developed by local businessman Ben Millard and initially operated by his sister Clara Jennings. Cedar Pass Lodge began as a dance hall with a dining room and some lodging in 1928. A tourist cabin court was expanded at the rear of the property in 1930 to provide additional overnight accommodations. Two rows of small rustic wood cabins face each other around a U-shaped gravel drive. The valley setting offers views toward the rock formations of the Badlands, particularly the heights of Cedar Pass to the northeast. The lodge building faces the road at the head of the cabin loop and houses the restaurant, shops, and offices.

Cedar Pass Lodge is integral to the history of Badlands National Park, which began as Badlands National Monument. With the support of U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck, the National Monument was initially authorized in 1929, contingent on accumulating enough property and roads being built by South Dakota. Millard and Jennings promoted the Badlands as a tourist destination and received the first concession permits in the proposed National Monument. In 1934-36, Millard worked for the Department of the Interior acquiring land options from his neighbors. Badlands National Monument was officially established in 1939 and shortly thereafter the Cedar Pass area was chosen as its administrative headquarters, largely due to the presence of Cedar Pass Lodge. Cedar Pass Lodge served as a de facto visitor's center in this key section of the Badlands until construction of a NPS visitor's center in 1959.

Herbert Millard sold Cedar Pass Lodge to the National Park Service in 1963, after the death of both his parents. Badlands National Monument became Badlands National Park in November 1978. The lodge building was renovated and expanded several times over the years, most recently in 1986. The cabins were completely resheathed with stucco around 1949 and many of the original wood sash windows replaced by aluminum sash. Cedar Pass Lodge continues to be operated as a concession, providing one of the few options for food and lodging in a remote location. In 2012 the current concessioner, Forever Resorts, demolished or moved many of the extant cabins and replaced them with new modular units.

• Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1833
• Survey number: HABS SD-25
• Building/structure dates: ca. 1929 Initial Construction
• Building/structure dates: ca. 1949 Subsequent Work
• Building/structure dates: ca. 2011 Demolished