Teton County Wyoming

Historical Society and Museum

Phone: (307) 733-9605

Jackson Hole Historical Society
105 Mercill Avenue
8 AM - 5 PM, Monday through Friday

 

Mission Statement
The purpose of the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum is to collect, preserve, care for, study, display and interpret the history of Jackson Hole and its environs, making that history and collections available to the general public, local residents, public schools, researchers, historians, and specialists. Our mission is principally one of education.
Agency Services
The Organization
The Museum was founded in 1958, the Historical Society in 1965. The two organizations merged in 1989. The Board of Directors oversees two facilities. The Jackson Hole Museum and the Historical Society Research Center.

The Museum
The Museum began in 1958 as a private museum to house the lifetime collection of W.C. "Slim" Lawrence. The collection contains upwards of 12,000 artifacts including an outstanding collection of Native American Pottery, weapons, stone tools, fur trade era tools and firearms, early settler era objects and other objects of antiquity. Slim`s friend Homer Richards, who owned the old Pap Deloney store (built in 1906) provided the 3,700 square foot space. The two gentlemen started out with "curios and curiosities". The curios were for sale in an effort to get some money coming in, and the curiosities were for viewing. They remain so, in the museum, to this day.

Various exhibits, (curiosities!), on the history of Jackson and the surrounding area are on display through out the season. Many exhibits change annually, and some special exhibits are displayed later in the season.

The Historical Society Research Center
Our second facility is the 1,600 square foot Jackson Hole Historical Society Research facility. It includes a library, photo and document archives, collection storage and small exhibit gallery. It is open year round and is located on the corner of Glenwood and Mercill, two blocks off of the town square.