A series where we take a #lookback at the stories and history of our community, brought to you by Mick Pryor, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones.
Yellowstone National Park has drawn visitors to the Western United States for decades. Established in 1872, it is the United States’ first national park and considered to be the first national park in the world. It is both one of the largest parks in the nation and one of the most popular. Tourists eager to take in the sights and see the park’s famous geothermal features have jumped into cars, motorcoaches, and tour buses for over a hundred years.
Fascination with Yellowstone has created whole industries in areas surrounding the park. For example, Riverton’s motel industry is largely thanks to tourists passing through the town on their way to Yellowstone.
Motels began in the 1920s and grew in popularity around the rise of the automobile and expansion of highways. The word “motel” comes from the term “motor hotel.” As access to automobiles expanded in the 1920s more and more people were jumping in their cars and exploring the United States. Tourists adventuring through the West needed places to stay and motels were born out of necessity.
Caption: Car Driving in the snow at Yellowstone National Park, 1931. Riverton Museum Archives.
One of the early motels in Riverton was the Mountain View Motel which opened in the mid-1930s and is considered to be “one of Riverton’s pioneer tourist courts.” By the 1950s there were a number of motels in existence. These included the Mission, Corral, Lazy K, Circle W, and Heath Motor Court- all of which were located either on West Main Street or Federal Boulevard.
Terms like “tourist court” and “motor court” were also used during the period to describe motels. Like today, motels had a few characteristic differences to hotels. Motels catered to “motorists,” people traveling via car. They were often designed so that parking spots were located directly outside of the doors to the rooms. Motels were often smaller than hotels and individually owned. Motels had their heyday in the 1960s, but due to the start of chain hotels that became common at highway interchanges they declined in popularity over the following decades. Riverton has seen this rise of chain hotels with the Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, and Hampton Inn now lining Federal Boulevard.
The story of hotels in Riverton also has a rich history that is inextricably linked to interest in Yellowstone. In fact, the Teton Hotel, constructed in 1919, was built with the intention of it being utilized by the “traveling public.” Similarly, the Wind River Hotel, later renamed the Lapeyre, underwent extensive renovations in 1916 to cater to the influx of tourists to the area.
Tourism to Yellowstone National Park (and later Grand Teton National Park) was, and continues to be, a major factor in people stopping in Riverton and utilizing its motels and hotels. These tourists have created whole industries and livelihoods for towns surrounding the National Parks. Riverton, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton thrive when we open our doors to visitors from all over the world and let them be immersed in the natural beauty that we are lucky enough to call home.
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
January 24, 3-5pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Sweetwater Ranch Life, The Paintings of Jack Corbett” Exhibition Opening
February 19, 6-8pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Rag Rug Class” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series Program
March 23, 1-3pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Women’s Tea” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series
We will be announcing a full 2026 schedule of programs very soon, Stay Tuned!
Call the Dubois Museum 1-307-455-2284, the Pioneer Museum 1-307-332-3339 or the Riverton Museum 1-307-856-2665 for detail regarding their programs.
The Dubois Museum, the Pioneer Museum in Lander and the Riverton Museum need your financial support. In the current economic environment, the museums are more reliant than ever on donations from the private sector to continue to provide the quality programs, collections management, exhibits and services that have become their hallmark over the last four years. Please make your tax deductible contribution through the Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation www.windriverccf.com or by sending a check to Fremont County Museums 450 N 2nd Rm 320 or taking it directly to the museum you choose to support.