A True Inn
for the Faithful
Story by Mike Calabrese
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Photo: Bob Woodall/ FPI The Inn’s lobby features a 500-ton stone chimney and fireplace and an array of gnarled dark pine log-and-branch stairs, railings, and catwalks. |
Old Faithful Inn turns 100 this year, and what a place for a birthday celebration! In the world’s first national park and almost on top of what is arguably the world’s best-known geyser, Old Faithful itself. Few historic structures in America have so consistently captured the hearts and souls of visitors as Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn. The massive, majestic lodge, begun in 1903, is today a priceless landmark. Not bad for an iconic structure originally built for somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000. A structure that today speaks of an era that launched America’s love affair with her national parks and their startling natural wonders. Fortunately for both the inn and for the park, America’s affection has nurtured and maintained both.
The grandest of Yellowstone’s manmade wonders, Old Faithful Inn vividly recalls so much of what awed early park pilgrims at the turn of the century. For example, the entrance’s stunning hand-hewn log pilings hint at those ambitious early day railroad trestles (not surprising, since many of the first 40 workers had cut their teeth on similar wooden intricacies). The daunting expanse of roof (at the time painted red), appointed with tiers of dormers and a widow’s walk a breathtaking seven stories up, doubtless also helped impress the inn’s first eager guests. And the welcoming central core, replete with its 500-ton stone chimney/fireplace and an array of gnarled dark pine log-and-branch stairs, railings, and catwalks, still offers an embracing welcome to every soul who enters.
In fact, little has changed at the 700-foot-long lodge, least of all the geyser. Folks still relax in chairs on the veranda overlooking Old Faithful, many of them looking more at home at the Inn than they do on their own porches. And visitors today still stroll or rest in the lobby to the enchanting strains of piano music. But musicians who used to entertain diners from the balcony above the dining room—and at one time high up in the “crow’s nest’—are today just a memory. An easily imagined memory, though, for anyone who gazes up in wonder from the lobby floor.
True, newer rooms in the hotel contain modern amenities, but many hotel guests still opt for the “Old House” section, where quarters are much like they were a hundred years ago. No phones, air conditioners, televisions, radios, or Internet connections intrude upon the visitor seeking to get a sense of the inn’s place and past. Although creaky floors, radiators that clank and hiss at times, and communal bathrooms and showers are part of the “Old House” experience, countless lodgers fondly recall their stays in the historic accommodations.
One concession to modernity, though, may have paid off in spades. Millions of Americans remember the dramatic print and television coverage of a roaring wall of flames approaching the inn on September 7, 1988. Firefighters, working in stifling heat and suffocating smoke, were shown hosing down the steep roof. What couldn’t be seen was the roof’s sprinkler system—just installed in 1987—also pouring water on the historic roof as the North Fork firestorm raced toward the inn.
Luck and love have helped preserve this gem in a park equally loved. Old Faithful Inn itself will be feted in well-earned celebrations set for June 19, 20 and August 28, 29, providing additional highlights for many lucky sightseers this summer.
Like its namesake, Old Faithful Inn has remained faithful, if you will, to its beginnings and its setting. The inn’s architect, Robert Reamer, clearly combined a visionary’s greatness and a disciple’s reverence when he designed the inn: “I built it in keeping with the place where it stands. Nobody could improve upon that. To be at discord with the landscape would be almost a crime. To try to improve upon it would be an impertinence.”
Mike Calabrese, a 31-year Jackson resident, is a teacher, writer, and musician. He owns Noteworthy Music-booking Agency, the region’s premier supplier of live music. His other passion is fly fishing mountain country’s beautiful waters with his wife.
Copyright 2004 by FPI (Focus Productions, Inc)., P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers.
Mountain Country is a free visitors’ guide published annually in May and distributed at hundreds of locations throughout Jackson Hole, Cody, and other regional communities. To receive a copy in the mail, send $5 to Mountain Country, P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001.
Publishers: Bob Woodall & Wade McKoy, dba Focus Productions, Inc. (FPI)
Editors: Mike Calabrese, Wade McKoy, Bob Woodall
Art Direction & Ad Design: Janet Melvin
Advertising Sales:
JACKSON: Ike Faust, 307-690-5908, 307-733-6995 email: mail.focus@wyom.net
DUBOIS & PINEDALE: Janet Melvin 307-733-6995
CODY: Guy & Barb Hull 307-527-7808