Lucas-Fabian Homestead

The former home of Geraldine Lucas, the second woman to reach the summit of the Grand Teton.

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Lucas-Fabian Homestead Details

Geraldine Lucas bucked tradition by leaving her husband, returning to college as a single mother, and teaching school. Upon retirement in 1913, she joined her siblings in Jackson Hole and homesteaded south of Jenny Lake. In 1924, she met 16-year-old Paul Petzoldt as he set out for his first climb of the Grand Teton. Later that year, Petzoldt guided Lucas, who at age 58 became the second woman to reach the summit of the Grand Teton. Had it not been for John D. Rockefeller, Jr.'s Snake River Land Company, the picturesque Lucas homestead might have become a housing subdivision. When The Snake River Land Company started buying valley land, Geraldine Lucas resisted selling. She proclaimed: "You stack up those silver dollars as high as the Grand Teton and I might talk to you!" When her son, Russell, inherited her land in 1938, he promptly sold to J.D. Kimmel, who planned a subdivision. Land company vice president, Harold Fabian befriended Kimmel, who then decided to sell the land for future park expansion. Fabian used the Lucas cabin as a summer residence and office headquarters from the 1940s to 1985.

Difficulty

Low

Distance

N/A

Estimated time

Region

Jenny Lake Loop