It remains the largest brick building ever built in Fremont County, celebrating 106 years in June 2025.
Riverton was young in 1918, just 12 years old. Just 22 miles to the east, the Shawver Hotel was doing a land office business in Shoshoni. To the southwest, the Noble Hotel in Lander was nearing completion, promising to be the largest hotel west of Casper and the center of attention in the county seat.
The Shawver Hotel was smaller, similar to Riverton’s premier hotel in 1918, the Lapeyre, had just 25 rooms on two floors, but it had steam heat, electric lights and hot and cold running water. The Fremont Hotel in Lander, originally just two stories, added two more floors in response to the arrival of the railroad.
The Noble upped the ante in the bustling Fremont County hotel business, a business tied closely to the Chicago North Western Railroad, with a four-story hotel in the center of town, just a few dozen yards from the Lander Depot. The Noble Hotel opened in May 1918 to great fanfare.
The excitement in Lander spurred resentment in Riverton. Though Riverton was a younger town, the rivalry between the two largest towns in Fremont County was already firmly established.
Talk about Lander’s new hotel filled the coffee shops and saloons of Riverton. Citizens lamented that Lander had beaten us again, but one citizen would have none of it.
Former Riverton Mayor and entrepreneur, Jacob Delfelder wasn’t a man to sit idly by. Instead of complaining he got to work organizing a group called the Riverton Hotel Company. Delfelder was joined by William McLaughlin, Charles H. King of Shoshoni, P.B. Dykeman, Fennimore Chatterton and Earl Warren.
They held meetings throughout the early spring of 1918 and on May 17 at 9 a.m. the Teton Hotel Company was incorporated by the Wyoming Secretary of State in Cheyenne.
The Teton Hotel Company issued two thousand shares of stock at $100 a share. The terms of the stock were 50 years with the location at the intersection of Third and Main Street in Riverton.
The headline of the June 21, 1918, Riverton Chronicle, to the left of the masthead, proudly announced:
Work Begun on Riverton’s New Four-Story Hotel, the Equal of Any in the West
Bright and early Monday morning work on the Teton Hotel commenced with preparations for removing the structure which now stands on the site to be occupied by the handsome new hostelry. The Riverton Hotel Company owns the building which occupies the land at present, and this will be moved out of the way as fast as possible in order that the excavation can go forward with all the dispatch. The digging of the big hole has been handed over to Pat Cain, who will put 15 teams to work at once and have it ready for the stone masons when they arrive in Riverton.
A Seattle architect drew the plans for the Teton. The specifications were for a footprint of 50 x 140 feet, four stories high, with an eight-foot-high basement extending above ground level. The basement was entirely concrete.
In a prime example of how vivid the rivalry between Riverton and Lander in the early part of the 20th century was, the Teton Hotel Company hired a mathematician to calculate the height of the Fremont Hotel and ensure that the Teton was higher. It was, and the Teton Hotel remains the tallest structure in Fremont County.
The grey brick for the structure was manufactured in Riverton. The plans called for three storerooms, a large lobby, hotel offices, a large dining room, grill, and service departments, all on the first floor. The foyer and dining rooms were finished with ornate tiled floors. Wainscoting of marble and birch, rubbed with a dull mahogany finish, created a striking view when entering the hotel.
The three floors, with 25 rooms each, with seven private baths and two public ones were ahead of their time. Windows were placed at each end of the long hallways.
The basement had room for traveling salesmen, physicians and dentists, a barber shop, a pool hall, staff rooms, a boiler and coal room, and a fully equipped laundry.
The prize in the entire building was Fremont County’s first electric elevator. Riverton advocates were quick to point out to potential visitors to the county that the Noble Hotel required hiking up flights of stairs to reach the top floor, while guests at the Teton were whisked to their floor without effort via the elevator.
N.G. Petry was hired as the hotel’s general contractor. He had extensive experience in practical details as well as artistic innovations.
Construction began on Monday, June 17, 1918.
On Thursday, Petry, accompanied by McLaughlin, King, and Dykeman, boarded the train for Shoshoni, transferred to Bonneville via a coach provided by the Shawver Hotel, and rode the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy to Denver. They purchased structural steel, plumbing, heating equipment, and ordered the ornamental terra cotta.
Rather than taking bids for the entire project, the hotel directors hired local carpenters and masons. The carpenters on the project were all local, but the brick work, and the brick work on the Masonic Temple just a few blocks away, required masons from Denver to complete.
Steel was in short supply directly after World War I, so they had to shop around and eventually found a supply in Omaha.
The original estimated cost was $100,000 for general construction with an additional $20,000 in fixtures, a total of $2,500,000 in 2025 dollars. It opened at a cost of $150,000.
DIRT FLYING FOR TETON HOTEL – Riverton Review, July 2, 1918
Excavation work is going on in earnest on the basement of the new four-story Teton Hotel and with the present progress should be completed in a short time. The dirt which is being moved is being placed on the streets and will be leveled and crowned as soon as the necessary machinery arrives.
July 26, 1918 – Riverton Review
The work of excavation for the new Teton Hotel Building has this week been completed by P.J. Cain, who had the contract, and the putting in of the forms for the cement foundation is now under way.
Steel beams held up construction during the summer months, but by November, the exterior of the first two floors was complete, and the steel skeleton of the third floor was being riveted as the first snow of winter arrived.
Just two weeks later, the third floor exterior was completed, and the final floor was well under way when a blizzard shut down exterior construction beginning November 27. The masons and steel workers were idled by the storm, but the carpenters were hard at work inside.
Carpenters framed out the interior walls in wood, with the larger partitions for the first floor offices nearly complete and ready for the lathe and plaster finishing carpenters.
November 27, 1918 – Riverton Review
Each day sees a great change in the appearance of the building which in all probability will be available for use at about the same time the New Temple (Masonic Lodge) will be opened. The time of dedication of these two magnificent structures is being looked towards with great interest by the people of Riverton who anticipate a grand affair on each occasion.
Despite the inclement weather, the masons made great progress, completing the brickwork by December 15. Carpenters took over, putting the roof on the building and constructing the elevator tower. On the floors below, electricians were stringing wire, hanging lights and plumbers were sweating in copper water pipes and installing lead drainpipes on all four floors. The excitement of completing this project filled conversations around Fremont County.
As 1919 arrived, J.A. Ridle, the plaster contractor, put his men to work. They began on the first floor and worked upwards over the next few months, but took a little time off for some community goodwill.
Riverton Review – March 12, 1919
The work of plastering the newly erected building of the Boy Scouts was done last Thursday when J.A. Ridle, who has the contract of plastering and decorating the new Teton Hotel had his men plaster the boys’ home, donating the work for which he receives the heartiest thanks of the boys and the general public.
The Teton Hotel Restaurant opened briefly in the spring, but in what would prove to be a problem for the hotel throughout its existence, a manager couldn’t be found who would remain on the challenging job.
In April, the Teton Hotel Company hired R. F. Fuller of Shoshoni to manage the guest services at the hotel. He was the successful manager of the Shawver Hotel in Shoshoni, but left for greener pastures in Riverton after interviewing with the hotel board.
His first act was reopening the restaurant as construction on the floors above continued. A restaurant in a large hotel entices conferences, meetings, wedding receptions, and greatly enhances business opportunities.
The effect of the opening of the Teton was felt in smaller rival hotels before it opened. In April, the Riverton Commercial Club, a forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce, cancelled its annual dinner at the Lapeyre in anticipation of the formal opening of the Teton Hotel.
The Teton Hotel registered its’ first guests on June 20, 1919, to great fanfare from the Riverton community. It was far from finished with just six rooms available for guests, but the meeting rooms, business suites, offices, and dining areas were all finished. So was the elevator which had a busy day taking people, especially children, up and down for rides all morning and afternoon.
Well into the 1960s, children would come to the Teton just to ride the elevator as their parents shopped nearby.
Riverton Review June 20th, 1919
Tonight, it will be possible for the first time for a guest to get a nice clean bed in a handsome comfortable room with bath in connection at the new Teton Hotel in Riverton. Within a few weeks, the dining room also will be open to the public and Riverton will then have a home to welcome the traveling public that no other city in the entire west can surpass. The Teton will always stand as a monument to the enterprise and optimism of the leading businessmen of Riverton, who organized locally and undertook the construction and furnishing of this handsome building.
Just five days later, with 20 completed rooms, 34 guests were registered. By July, the hotel was complete with 75 rooms available.
On July 10, the dining room reopened.
The Teton Hotel had arrived and with it, a sudden surge in local business, tied closely to the tourist traffic arriving at the Chicago North Western Depot, ready to take motor coaches on the dirt highway west to Yellowstone.
Change came quickly to downtown Riverton. The Western Union Office switched from the Lapeyre, a location closer to the depot, and brought walk-in business for the shops and restaurant at the Teton when people sent or received telegrams.
Clothing stores, traveling physicians and just before the Teton opened a major barbershop came to the first floor of the hotel.
Barbershops offered more extensive services than just a shave and a haircut in the early 20th century. They often had showers, baths and tables where men would play cards, read the Police Gazette or just talk.
On May 28, 1919, two competing barbershops merged on the first floor of the Teton with the relocation of the Cain Barbershop. C.I. Lloyd and O.E. McReynolds had their shop on the first floor of the Lapeyre but formed a partnership with W. M. Cain. They added an extension towards the alley in the rear of the Teton, constructed three individual baths with showers and expanded the original plan for a barbershop with five chairs to eight. Mirrors were added, with hot and cold running water in the shop and electric outlets that allowed the first electric clippers in Riverton.
Electricity was considered a marvel in 1919, but it was sometimes a marvel just to get it to town. Electricity arrived in Riverton in 1914 from the Popo Agie Light and Power Company, with their generator in Sinks Canyon on the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie. P.B. Dykeman, one of the original members of the Riverton Hotel Company, was the manager of the electric company.
Lights, washing machines, and early refrigerators were all advances to area homes and to businesses. When the Teton opened, it became a necessity. The elevator wouldn’t work without electricity, and the frequent power outages, especially in the winter months, or during high winds and thunderstorms, could sideline it for days. In 1919, demand overtook the production capacity of the Sinks Canyon plant, and another line was built to connect Riverton to the powerplant at Boysen Dam. Sinks Canyon continued as a backup source of power, and when the line north to Boysen failed, a phone call to Lander set a switch with the Popo Agie Light and Power providing power until the Boysen line was repaired.
In September 1919, a unique business geared just to women arrived at the Teton. Mrs. Lillian Collins, an accomplished seamstress, opened Barcley Corsets, a custom-fit corset shop. She had rolls of material, style books, and fit corsets to a steady flow of Riverton women. She offered a line of silk stockings, with more mundane cotton and wool long underwear.
Earlier that summer, A.B. Merrill and W. S. Lindsey opened the Teton Pool Hall in one of the basement rooms. Next door was a bar with a steady clientele of cigar-smoking patrons, until Prohibition arrived on January 17, 1920, forcing the drinking population of Riverton underground to more clandestine speakeasies.
In September, the first quarterly financial report for the hotel was made public. Investors expected a loss in the opening quarter but were surprised to find all bills had been paid and $1274 deposited in the nearby Riverton State Bank.
Riverton Review September 3, 1919
A careful inquiry among the traveling public away from Riverton brings the invariable report that the service at the new Teton Hotel is equal to the best in the state, and superior to that of any other hotel outside of the larger of the Wyoming cities.
The story had a dual purpose: it spread the word across Wyoming that the Teton was a great establishment, and it was a little dig at the Noble Hotel across the valley in Lander.
I.B. Allen had managed the overall operations of the various businesses at the Teton since opening day. He was a colorful, effective chief of operations who had set up the kitchen and contracted with local businesses, but his work was done. In April 1921, Allen took a job in Estes Park managing the Lewis Hotel Company, which had hotels throughout northern Colorado.
Prior to his departure, in February, Allen ordered a large shipment of California quail from state game warden W. T. Judkins, formerly of Lenore. Allen kept them in pens until warm weather arrived, then released them to area farms with the hope of establishing them and attracting hunters. They didn’t last long with a healthy population of foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and skunks gradually eliminating the birds.
The hotel was a beacon for local businesses and quickly became the starting point for hunting, fishing, and vacation trips to Yellowstone National Park.
In August 1923, during the opening of the sage grouse hunting season, two local ranchers on Rock Creek, Earl Parsons and Emory Miller, brought several dozen sage hens to the Teton. The chef at the Teton Restaurant prepared a Sunday dinner for the duo, and their friends Ted Flynn, William Curran, Harry Duntsch, Sam Guber, Robert Tierney, and James Milota.
A steady flow of photographers, doctors, dentists, and even a violin, voice, and piano instructor, filled the smaller offices of the Teton.
Two clothing stores offered men’s and women’s wear in the larger rooms. The Leader, a women’s and children’s clothing store, was extremely popular after opening in 1922, and The Smart Shop next door specialized in women’s and children’s hats, coats, skirts, and sweaters.
The longest-lasting business in the Teton was more geared to working men. Branting’s Bootery carried steel-toed boots for oilfield workers, boots for cowboys, and lace-up boots designed for lumberjacks and outfitters. They also sold fashionable shoes for women.
Owner O.A. Branting ran the biggest giveaway in Riverton history at the time in the fall of 1928. For every dollar someone spent at the Branting Bootery, they received a ticket for a new Chrysler Plymouth car. The drawing was held on Christmas Eve, and Branting had the best holiday sales ever for his business.
The Teton Hotel Restaurant continued to be a problem. Mrs. Clyde Bickel took over as manager in early 1922 and began serving fried chicken dinners daily for 85 cents, with a Sunday special at just 75 cents. It brought business for a while, but she left after just six months.
Mrs. Jason Bickel followed. She was hired after running a lucrative café in Shoshoni, but she left after just a couple of months, returning to her previous business.
The restaurant was never a stable business, but the hotel continued to try with a revolving door of managers over the years.
On March 25, 1926, A.B. Riner, former manager of the Lapeyre Hotel, returned to Riverton from California, where he sought treatment for his ailing wife. She passed away, and he returned as the night clerk at the Teton. The popular man brought an influx of local business to the hotel.
Collapsing farm prices, the lowering of coal production in neighboring Hudson, and the early onset of the Great Depression in the late 1920s slowed business.
Before 1932, tourists drove to Yellowstone National Park on Highway 87, a winding dirt road west of Crowheart, and a gravel road east from there to Riverton.
Highway 26/789 was completed in 1933, with pavement and well-maintained gravel, but it brought competing traffic from Lander when the highways merged near Diversion Dam. It was still a business catalyst.
Both the Teton and Noble Hotels took a hit in 1943, when the Chicago North Western ended passenger service to Fremont County.
The Teton continued to serve as a landmark for Riverton, a place of business, and a quality hotel into the 1960s.
Traveler’s tastes changed in post-World War II America with the rise of motels. Area motels on West Main and Federal gradually took most of the business away from the Teton.
In October 1985, Teton Sertoma, Inc. purchased the hotel and began renovations to provide apartments for senior citizens.
The Teton now contains 27 apartments.
A new façade replaced the brick exterior, and the first floor was remodeled for business. The only thing a time traveler from 1920 would be familiar with is the elevator. It has been upgraded twice since it was built in 1919, but it looks the same and does the same function.
A building that grew and then faded with Riverton for a century remains the largest brick structure in Fremont County.