American philanthropist and financier John D. Rockefeller Jr (1874 to 1960) commissioned the construction of Jackson Lake Lodge, and it was originally criticized as being ‘too modern’ when it opened in 1955.

People were accustomed to rustic structures in Grand Teton National Park, but Rockefeller and architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood’s vision has since been seen as a triumph that honors the grandeur of its surroundings.

The view from the lobby of the hotel shows a spectacular panorama of the Teton Range, including Mount Moran and the Cathedral Group, reflected in Jackson Lake.

This unknown artist’s rendering of that view on a circa 1960s menu is also a triumph – simple and striking in design.

Jackson Lake Lodge sits on a natural bluff overlooking Jackson Hole and the Teton Range.

The resort complex was constructed on the site of the Amoretti Hotel and Camp Company's Jackson Lake Lodge, built by Eugene Amoretti in 1922. Amoretti’s father, also called Eugene, had been a banker whose clientele included the outlaw Butch Cassidy.

Amoretti's lodge continued to operate under various owners until 1953 when its 23 cabins were demolished in favor of the new resort.

Due to its exceptional national importance in the areas of architecture, landscape architecture, conservation, and recreation the resort complex with 385 rooms has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Owned by the National Park Service, it is operated by the Grand Teton Lodge Company.

Jackson Lake Lodge was built on land that was part of the ancestral homeland of the Shoshone people and other indigenous tribes. In the 1880s, federal policy led to the removal of Native peoples from the area and the Shoshone and other tribes were forced onto reservations. Descendants of these tribes remain on reservations today.

In 2023, the town of Jackson participated in a Native American Land Statement, recognizing that the Shoshone and other indigenous peoples had their land stolen.

Land statements acknowledge centuries of forced removal, ethnic cleansing and genocide. While many see them as a step towards reconciliation and a way of honoring and respecting the sacrifices of native tribes,  others see them as virtue-signaling and continue to press for restoring land to the original sovereign nations.