The Purple Point-Stehekin Ranger Station House at Stehekin above Lake Chelan reflects the federal effort to maintain year-round administration, fire patrols, and field crews in the remote North Cascades. The Stehekin ranger station began in 1910 in the Chelan National Forest, serving an isolated community then reached only by horse trail or a long boat trip. After rising lake waters forced abandonment of the first station, a new station was built at Purple Point in 1926, and the present house served as the district ranger’s home and office. Later transferred from the Forest Service to the National Park Service, it remains a strong reminder of early federal presence in remote Stehekin.