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Yellowstone Park Company Records, 1886-1962

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Yellowstone Park Company
Title
Yellowstone Park Company Records
Dates
1886-1962 (inclusive)
Quantity
6.5 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 141
Summary
Collection consists of the organizational and financial records of the Yellowstone Park Company, a major park concessionaire, as well as those of several predecessor companies, including Yellowstone Park Camping Co., Yellowstone Park Boat Co., Yellowstone Park Association, and the Wylie Permanent Camping Co.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The early history of concessions in Yellowstone National Park was extremely complex. The Northern Pacific Railroad, its subsidiary the Northwest Improvement Company, and various private parties owned many of the park concessions. The Yellowstone Park Association was incorporated under Minnesota law prior to 1890. It leased land from the Secretary of the Interior to establish hotels at several locations. In 1892, Harry W. Child, Silas S. Huntley, L.H. Hershfield, Aaron Hershfield, and others established the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company to provide stagecoach travel in the Park. In 1901 Child, Huntley, and E.W. Bach purchased the stock of the Yellowstone Park Association, to consolidate their control of the concessions. Later that year, Huntley died, leaving Harry W. Child in control of the association and the transportation company. In 1909 Child, his wife Adelaide D. Child, and their son Huntley Child reorganized the Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company into its constituent parts the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company and the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company. In spite of this reorganization, they were unable to operate effectively. On the death of Child in 1931, his son-in-law William M. Nichols took over the operation of the concessions. In 1936 Nichols merged the park's transportation, hotel, camping, and boating operations into the new Yellowstone Park Company. World War II however, brought a decline in the concessions as government services to all parks were curtailed and tourist activity decreased. Close to bankruptcy during the 1940s, Nichols was financially unprepared for the tourist boom of the early 1950s. To meet the need for improved and expanded facilities, the government initiated "Mission 66", a joint government and private financing of new facilities, the most ambitious of which was the new Canyon Village, completed in 1957. The Yellowstone Park Company continued to operate the concessions until 1980 when the United States Government bought all the company's property.

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Content Description

Collection consists of organizational and financial records of the Yellowstone Park Company and many of its predecessors. Subgroups in the collection are C.A. Hamilton, Hayward Cabin Company, Vernon Goodwin Company, George Whittaker, Wylie Permanent Camping Company, Yellowstone Park Association, Yellowstone Park Boat Company, Yellowstone Park Camping Company, Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, and Yellowstone Park Transportation Company/Yellowstone National Park Transportation Company. Among the financial records are appraisal reports (1929) for each of the hotels of the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company, and for the Yellowstone Park Boat Company, the Yellowstone Park Lines, Inc., the Yellowstone Park Lodge and Camps Company, and the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company. Included in these reports are complete inventories and layout maps. There are minutes for the Yellowstone Park Company (1952-1962), the Vernon Goodwin Company (1924-1936), the Yellowstone Park Boat Company (1911-1936), the Yellowstone Park Camping Company (1917-1936), the Yellowstone Park Hotel Company (1909-1936), and the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company (1909-1936) Included in the Yellowstone Park Company subgroup are several major reports on the properties of the company (ca. 1939) and on construction projects (1958-1960). [The bulk of Yellowstone Park Company records are in the archives of Yellowstone National Park at park headquarters in Mammoth. See copy of their inventory.]

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by subgroup and series. Some material housed in Archives Map Case and Manuscript Volumes. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

7:2-2

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Related Materials

The bulk of Yellowstone Park Company records are in the archives of Yellowstone National Park at park headquarters in Mammoth (Collection No.: YELL 185385).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Hotels--Yellowstone National Park

Corporate Names

  • Yellowstone Park Company (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Yellowstone National Park--Commerce
  • Yellowstone National Park--Description and travel
  • Yellowstone National Park--Leased departments, concessions, etc.

Finding aid prepared by MHS staff
2004

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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