Sheridan Inn

Sheridan Inn

Sheridan Inn
Location 856 Broadway (at 5th St.), Sheridan, Wyoming
Coordinates 44°48′23″N 106°57′14″W / 44.80639°N 106.95389°W / 44.80639; -106.95389Coordinates: 44°48′23″N 106°57′14″W / 44.80639°N 106.95389°W / 44.80639; -106.95389
Built 1893
Architect Kimball,Thomas R.
Architectural style No Style Listed
NRHP Reference # 66000762
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL January 29, 1964[2]

The Sheridan Inn is a historic hotel in Sheridan, Wyoming. Designed by the architect Thomas R. Kimball of Omaha, Nebraska in 1893, it was constructed by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad[3] as part of its development program in Wyoming associated with extension of the railway.[4] Equipped with the first bathtubs and electric lights in that part of Wyoming, the inn was considered the "finest hotel" between Chicago and San Francisco.[4] It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

Buffalo Bill Cody managed the hotel for the railroad from 1894 to 1896. He mostly attracted sportsmen for big game hunting in the Big Horn Mountains to the west, and hosted numerous notable guests. He often auditioned talent for his Wild West Show from the broad front porch during his ownership.

Description and history

Designed in the style of hotels which Kimball had seen in Scotland, the three-story, wood-frame inn is 145 feet long under a gambrel roof, with broad porches 30 feet wide on two sides. The porches were designed with a gradual slope so that rainwater would run off. The hotel had 64 bedrooms on the second and third floors, each with its own dormer window. The large dining room sat up to 160 guests. The barns and livery stable associated with the Cody Transportation Company were at the rear of the property, but no longer survive.[4] He ran a stage line between the inn and Deadwood, South Dakota. The inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places when it was established in 1966.[2][4]

After condemnation in 1967, the inn was purchased by Neltje Doubleday Kings, who had recently moved to the area from New York City. She undertook renovations and in 1968, "re-opened the Inn’s saloon, which was followed a year later by the re-opening of the dining room, the Ladies Parlor and the Wyoming Room, an all new addition to the Inn."[5] The inn could host large social gatherings and became a center of community events. She also added a small gift shop and art gallery to the interior.[4][6] She operated the inn for 18 years. She has since worked full-time as an artist, exhibiting her work under the name of Neltje.

Since 1990, the inn has been owned and operated by The Sheridan Heritage Center, Inc. The nonprofit organization has restored the entire outside of the building, installed a fire alarm system, and brought the first floor up to ADA standards and city codes. In 2006 it initiated a capital campaign to raise money for needed structural improvements in a "Core and shell" program, as interior conditions have deteriorated.[2] Many rooms are smaller than current expectations for such space and spaces would need to be reworked. Plans are to redevelop upper floors to yield 22 rooms, with the entire facility to be operated as a boutique hotel.[5] The national economy has affected fundraising and in April 2012, the inn faced foreclosure.[7] On September 6, 2012, it was announced that the Sheridan Inn would close on October 1, 2012.[8] [9]

As of October 2013, the inn was purchased by Bob and Dana Townsend and Custom Services out of Tulsa Oklahoma. The first floor ballrooms have been reopened and a new restaurant named Open Range Bar & Grill opened in January 2015. The hotels rooms were opened to the public for the first time in over 50 years on May 15, 2015.

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sheridan Inn". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  3. ↑
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Stephen Lissandrello (December 20, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Sheridan Inn" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from 1975 and undated (32 KB)
  5. 1 2 "The History of the Sheridan Inn", Sheridan Inn Website, accessed 16 April 2012
  6. ↑ Zeke Scher, "The Lady Who Saved the Inn", Denver Post, 14 December 1969, p. 16
  7. ↑ Kristen Salamon, "Sheridan Inn Facing Possible Foreclosure", The Sheridan Press, 2 April 2012, accessed 16 April 2012
  8. ↑ http://www.sheridanmedia.com/news/shutting-down-inn50317
  9. ↑ Sheridan Inn Website. Media Release dated September 6, 2012. (Retrieved June 2, 2013.)
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