Old Faithful Inn Lobby

On Friday and Saturday, I’ll be signing copies of my book, Adventures in Yellowstone, in the lobby of the world famous Old Faithful Inn.  When it was completed in 1903-04, the inn ranked as one of the finest hotels in the world. In 1912, a travel writer offered this description of park accomodations.

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The comfort and convenience of the hotels have been so carefully looked after that even the experienced traveler will be surprised at the excellence of the services.  These remote inns will compare very favorably with the best resort hotels of the East, and despite the disadvantages they suffer by bringing supplies so far by wagon, the bill-of-fare is excellent in quality and variety.  Almost every convenience is supplied and the more modern hotels have numerous rooms with bath in connection.  Everything is quite informal and comfortable.

The Old Faithful Inn is quite as unique as the wilderness in which it stands.   Its design and construction are peculiarly appropriate to it location in the heart of the mountains and forests of the Park, from which it’s materials are drawn.

Yet with all this rusticity, comfort, convenience and even elegance are everywhere. The polished hardwood floors are strewn with oriental rugs and the furniture is of the Mission pattern is dark weathered oak.  The windows are of heavy plate glass in leaded panes and the furnishings of bed and bathrooms are of the best.  Yet the rustic idea is carefully maintained; even in the private rooms the walls are of rough planks or ax-dressed slabs and everything is redolent with the fragrance of the mountain pine.  Verily, this inn is a pleasant place, set down as it is in a weird, enchanted land.

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— From Three Wonderlands of the American West by Thomas D. Murphy, 1912.

— Photo by F. J. Haynes, Yellowstone Digital Slide File.