Mount Rainier National Park, Postcard History

Name: Mount Rainier National Park, Postcard History
Author: Donald M. Johnstone

Mount Rainier rises 14,410 feet above sea level and can be seen on any given day by over three million people and from over 100 miles away. It is America�s fifth national park, established in 1899. The mountain is an active but currently dormant volcano. With 25 named glaciers, 50 smaller unnamed glaciers, and numerous perennial snowfields, Mount Rainier boasts the largest glacier system in the continental United States. In addition to the glacier zone, the park has alpine and subalpine forest and subtropical rain forest. Each zone has its own unique ecology of plants and animals. The vistas of and from the mountain are some of the most spectacular in all of the park system.

Donald M. Johnstone

Donald M. Johnstone noticed the interesting photographic history of the Mount Rainier National Park while helping students gather local oral histories and while researching his other Arcadia Publishing book, Images of America: The Upper Nisqually Valley. His sources include the postcard collections of several local families, the South Pierce County Historical Society, and the archives of Mount Rainier National Park.