Connecting people to place

Mission

The Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum tells the stories of Jackson Hole that connect people to the history of this valley and region. We steward and share artifacts and ideas that foster curiosity and continual learning, forge connections, and inform our 21st century dialogue.

Vision

We envision a community brought together, enriched, and strengthened by compelling connections to the history and legacy of Jackson Hole.


Educational Philosophy

We aim to serve as a resource for lifelong learners by encouraging discovery learning through preservation, research and education for all ages of community members.


History

The Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum (JHHSM) was founded in 1958 by avocational archaeologist and western history buff Slim Lawrence and his friend, local businessman Homer Richards. Slim was an avid collector with a large collection of cultural artifacts and Homer had the building. So together, they opened the Jackson Hole Museum. Originally, the museum was housed in a series of three, contiguous adobe buildings on the corner of Glenwood and Deloney. Located in the heart of historic downtown Jackson, the original property had a long history itself, serving as a hardware store and a garage, before being converted into the museum. The entrance of a tunnel, rumored to have been built to connect the buildings to the Wort Hotel across the street, can still be seen in the basement today.

In the 1960s, the Teton County Historical Society was formed to actively collect and preserve the archives of Jackson Hole, including newspapers, photographs, correspondence, oral histories, and maps. The Historical Society was located a few blocks away in a collection of historic log cabins. These two organizations merged in 1989 to form one cohesive organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, and exploration of Jackson Hole’s history.

Over the last 30 years or so, the JHHSM has grown and developed to include more educational activities, sophisticated exhibits, increased museum store sales, and improved research opportunities. The collection now includes more than 7,200 objects, 19,600 photographs, 8,200 records, 3,500 published and unpublished books, and 470 oral histories. Major accomplishments include digitizing a majority of the collection and integrating the collection into a digital database, consolidating a majority of the collection’s paper-based materials in the climate-controlled Stan Klassen Research Center, developing detailed exhibits and information on American Indians of the Greater Yellowstone area, creating an archaeology research and education program, and improving our online presence.