In response to several tragic deaths from exposure and subsequent concern for hiker safety, the the AMC started building huts and shelters in 1888 and celebrated the 125th anniversary it’s hut system in 2013.  Carter Notch Hut, built in 1914, celebrated its Centennial last year.

After the first AMC hut, Madison Springs, proved popular with hikers, AMC member Harvey Newton Shepard, who had studied European hut systems, recommended:

….a few additional huts be constructed, with good paths thereto, so that uninteresting walk of three to seven days may be made without the encumbrance of the carrying of blankets or provisions…… this is the kind of public work in which the Club should engage.

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