Town History

West Yellowstone has become popular mainly due to its close proximity to Yellowstone National Park, but the town has its own historic development that thrills visitors from all over.

  • 1898 - Stagecoach tours took tourists into Yellowstone National Park from West Yellowstone
  • 1907 - West Yellowstone is now an official entrance to Yellowstone Park
  • 1920 – The town of West Yellowstone was named
  • 1966 - The town of West Yellowstone was incorporated

The town of West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park has history intricately intertwined.

  • 1880
    Stagecoach service was delivering mail to the region, and upgraded to carrying passengers, many of them tourists coming to Yellowstone Park.
  • 1898
    Stagecoach tours began entering Yellowstone from the west boundary.
  • Early 1900s
    Union Pacific Railroad chose a lovely stretch of land on the west side of Yellowstone National Park as their site for a terminal.
  • 1907
    West Yellowstone became an official entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
  • 1908
    The construction of the Union Pacific Depot was begun, Eagle’s Store was built (at the same location where it is today), and the post office of West Yellowstone was established.
  • 1912
    The Madison Hotel, of beautiful log construction, was built in West Yellowstone. This hotel had no running water until the 1930s. Each room had only a pitcher, washbasin and chamber pot, with water coming from a well across the street.
  • 1915
    Stagecoach touring came to an end when automobiles were allowed entry into Yellowstone.
  • 1917
    Commercial transportation became popular and new yellow buses began taking visitors into the park from West Yellowstone.
  • 1920
    Although the village was called “Yellowstone” originally, the name was changed and officially became West Yellowstone so as not to confuse the town with the national park.
  • 1935
    The first airfield (built at the west end of West Yellowstone) opened for business.
  • 1936
    The road from Bozeman into West Yellowstone was plowed during the full winter for the first time.
  • 1963
    Yellowstone Park permitted snowcoaches and snowmobiles access to the roads that had an accumulated base of snow.
  • 1966
    The town of West Yellowstone was incorporated.
  • Today
    West Yellowstone offers incredible recreational and sightseeing opportunities to visitors year round, as well as the perfect home base from which to tour Yellowstone National Park.

View the local providers:

Comments? .