Take a stroll down our boardwalk and gaze into a window back into time to see a general store, cobbler shop, millenary shop, dentist office and much more. Artifacts from Hot Springs County’s pioneers are displayed as they were once placed – in a store front rather than in a simple display case. For the braver souls, visit the jail or perhaps take a peek into the Thermopolis Record, one of several newspapers that kept news current in Hot Springs County.
Old Town
Sundance and Ethel: Every Picture Tells a Story
© Article by Author and Historian Mark Msanaski. Original cabinet card photograph of Sundance and Ethel, taken on February 3, 1901, at Joseph B. DeYoung’s Photographic Gallery in New York, before they set sail for South America. Copies were sent to family and close friends as a fond farewell. The…
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Emery Hotel
Emery Hotel. A landmark from the 1900s through the 1940s. The business consisted of a hotel, cafe, bar & lounge, and taxi service.
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Andersonville
Thermopolis was located about six miles north of its current location. Across the Big Horn River from “Old Town” Thermopolis was a village known as Andersonville, named after three Anderson brothers who homesteaded the area. One of the original cabins from Andersonville was removed log by log, and reassembled in…
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Honoring Dub McQueen
Cottonwood Creek Rancher, Dub McQueen, was inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame. A display about Dub is located in the downstairs gallery of the museum giving stories about his life, and exhibiting some of his memorabilia such as his saddle and chaps. Dub’s life ended prematurely when he…
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Prize Saddle
In 1914, Rufus Rolan won this saddle in the Bare Back Bucking Contest Championship of Montana Miles City Roundup. Nothing more is known about Rufus or how his prize saddle became the property of George Bain, the General Manager of the LU Sheep Company. The saddle was made by the…
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Spinning Wheel
The spinning wheel was a symbol of the domestic home so it’s no wonder great effort was made to bring this particular one to Thermopolis! Our spinning wheel came from Sweden. It was taken apart and hidden in suitcases and smuggled into the United States about 1850. Spinning wheels are…
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Yellowstone Carriage
Yellowstone Park Transportation Company Stagecoach. The horse-drawn stagecoach was manufactured by Abbott & Downing of Concord, NH. It is signed by J.C. Chessney. Serial #17459. The coach is a flat bottom model with a well. Used in Yellowstone Park until 1914. The Yellowstone Transportation Company ran stage lines into and…
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Hole-in-the-Wall Bar
Belly up to the original bar where outlaws from the Hole-in-the-Wall gang once used to visit, including the infamous Butch Cassidy! Though spirits are no longer served to patrons, it is a great place to sit and imagine the sights, sounds and smells that once surrounded this icon from the…
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1890 Square Grand Piano
Square pianos are an important part of musical history. They were used by the great pianists of the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the average citizen. In the late 1800s, Square Grands increased in length, from an average of 6′ during the 1830s to 1850s to about 7′…
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Sheep Wagon
The Sheep Wagon was invented by James Candlish, a blacksmith, in 1884, at Rawlins, Wyoming. It made a snug, compact home that could be easily moved from place to place as the sheep grazed across the range during the years. The wagon displayed here was used for many years in…
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