The St. Mary Utility Area Historic District comprises a support area of Glacier National Park with employee housing and support buildings in the prevailing National Park Service Rustic style.[2] The complex was built by Civilian Conservation Corps labor to replace the administrative facilities at East Glacier Ranger Station in a location more convenient to the new Going-to-the-Sun Road. The majority of development occurred between 1933 and 1941. Buildings include maintenance buildings, an oil house, a dormitory and barns. The area is surrounded by residences, not included in the district, built during the Mission 66 program and later.[3]
A ranger station was established in the area in 1913. A mess hall was built by 1925 to serve trail and road crews. With the completion of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in 1933, the administrative facilities were expanded to complement the main administrative headquarters on the west side of the park.[3]