(EXPANDED FROM 8/10/2023)
The National Park Service is slowly renovating the Kestner homestead near Lake Quinault. However, one item is being left to nature’s whims — a circa 1941-46 Chevrolet panel truck once used in a local- and long-distance moving business.
The truck is among the newer contraptions scattered around the homestead, which in 1889 Anton Kestner began to carve out of a rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.
The Chevy has a haunting quality
That’s partly due to its menacing eyeless grin. And the surreal way that a bush has sprouted from the decaying cab seat.
Those of us who were raised around automobiles may find it easier to imagine driving the truck than, say, the horse-drawn hay cutter shown above. I can picture the Chevy grinding through the gears on the lonely, two-lane roads of the Olympics.
1941-46 Chevy ads hint at the drama of WWII
Once upon a time this was a shiny new truck. I can’t tell what specific year it was made, but this generation was produced from 1941 through 1946 model years.
The first ad below is from 1941. The text lauded the newly redesigned Chevy as the “most modern, most comfortable, most popular” low-priced truck. The second ad, which was published at some point during World War II, offered assistance in keeping one’s Chevy truck running.
The third ad, from 1946, emphasized the enormous number of models and wheelbase variations that were offered once the war ended and production of passenger cars and trucks resumed.
Hulking carcass raises more questions than answers
What led to our featured truck’s final park? A blown engine? Business gone bad due to a tenuous rural economy focused on logging, fishing and tourism?
We can wonder about the past because local residents and Kestner descendants called for the homestead’s renovation. The National Park Service considered bulldozing the buildings until they held a meeting to discuss their plans.
The locals came out of the woodwork to rebel
Roughly one hundred people reportedly showed up — and they had other ideas. That’s a huge crowd for the rural area, which has lots of winding country roads but not a single traffic light. Or a bank.
Over the years steady improvements have been made to the homestead, sometimes with volunteer help from the locals.
For example, the last time I stopped by a few months ago an aging bridge at the top of the homestead’s long driveway was being fixed.
A quiet place on the edge of the American dream
The Kestner homestead is located a few miles off Highway 101 on the north shore of Lake Quinault — the gateway to the western side of the Olympic National Park.
Drive a few more hours and you’ll reach the northwestern tip of the continental United States. It’s a beautiful trip, but you may also find it worth your while to linger at the Kestner homestead.
Try to show up during a work day when no one else may be around. Walk a 1.5-mile trail and sit on the front porch of the Kestner home. Soak in the stillness of the place.
Then walk around the Chevy. Note that the tires still look good enough to drive away on. You can almost hear the engine firing up again.
NOTES:
This photo essay was originally posted Nov. 12, 2013; updated on Nov. 20, 2020; expanded on Aug. 10, 2023 and July 27, 2025. Product specifications from Gunnell (1993).
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RE:SOURCES
- Gunnell, John; 1993. Standard Catalog of American Light-Duty Trucks, 1896-1986. Second Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Olympic National Park; 2023. “Visiting Quinault.” Accessed Aug. 10.
- Washington Trails Association; 2023. “Kestner Homestead — Maple Glade.” Accessed Aug. 10.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Chevrolet (1941, 1943, 1946)
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