By Photo: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
William F. Cody founded the town of Cody in 1896 and believed it would become the gateway to Yellowstone National Park, about 50 miles to the west. In 1902 he opened a hotel on Sheridan Avenue and named it for his youngest daughter, Irma.
The Irma was meant to impress. Cody hosted guests, investors and hunting parties there, and kept an office and suites for himself. The ornate cherrywood back bar in the dining room is the hotel’s showpiece; it has long been said to be a gift from Queen Victoria, though historians have questioned that story.
A working hotel
More than a century later, the Irma still rents rooms, serves meals and runs its bar. In summer, actors stage a gunfight on the street outside in the evenings, a long-running attraction for families. Cody’s rodeo, the Cody Nite Rodeo, runs every night in summer.
Tourism in Cody
Cody’s economy depends on visitors heading to or from Yellowstone through the East Entrance. The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a group of five museums, is the town’s biggest attraction. Hotels, restaurants and outfitters work hard in summer and slow down in the long winter.
The 2022 flood that damaged roads in Yellowstone hurt business in gateway towns, and Cody felt the impact when parts of the park closed. The Irma, with its history and its location, remains one of the places that attracts visitors to stop in town rather than just pass through.
Add Read the West as a preferred source on Google (opens in a new tab)
