Adams is home to the oldest building on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the Gotchen Creek Guard Station just south of the A. G. Aiken Lava Bed. Built in 1909, it served as the administrative headquarters of the Mount Adams District until 1916. It was built along a major grazing trail to allow for easy monitoring of the thousands of sheep grazed on the lower slopes. Later, in the 1940s, as the amount of grazing decreased, the station housed the Forest Guards responsible for the area. It has been wrapped in protective foil as a precautionary method to shield it from a large wildfire.