Development in the Giant Forest began as early as the 1890s, and by the 1950s cars, engine noise, exhaust, and almost 100 cabins and motel units filled the area around the giant trees. Campgrounds, hotels, shops, a post office, park headquarters, parking lots, a gas station, and a sewage treatment plant stood on the roots of the sequoias. Over time, people recognized the damage this development was doing to the grove’s ecology and beauty. In the 1970s the park began moving services to less sensitive areas, and in 1999 the last building was removed. Today, the only facilities left are dedicated to helping people learn about giant sequoias.