Historic Sheridan Inn Up for Sale

The Sheridan Inn, Sheridan, Wyoming, is once again looking for a new owner. It is listed with Forever Western Properties in Buffalo, Wyo., at a price of 4.25 million. Throughout the years, since it was built in 1892, the Inn has been through several owners, and even came close to being demolished in 1967, until Neltje, Sheridan artist and Doubleday heir, stepped in and purchased the building to save it from destruction.

The property was named a National Historic Landmark and Neltje renovated parts of it and reopened the Inn’s saloon and dining room in 1968-69. She operated the Inn for 18 years, and it was sold again.

Built by the Sheridan Land Company and funded in part by the Burlington Missouri Railroad in 1892, the Sheridan Inn opened in the spring of 1893. Since that day the Sheridan Inn has played an important role in Sheridan, especially for visitors to the area.

An article in the May 10, 1894 Sheridan Post reads, “Colonel W.F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) and Mr. Sherman Cantfield have become interested financially with Mr. Geo. Canfield in the Sheridan Inn, and they are making extensive preparations for the summer tourist trade….”

The Sheridan Inn was the first building in Sheridan to be illuminated by electricity.

Cody also held auditions for his wild west show on the lawn at the Inn, and one legend says a cowboy actually rode his horse into the bar to meet the famous showman. As well as a hotel, the Sheridan Inn is available for banquets, weddings, tours and other events.

The current owners are Bob and Donna Townsend, who purchased the Inn in 2013, and they agreed to adhere to the restoration and rebuilding plan originally outlined by the Sheridan Heritage Center, who owned the Inn since 1990.

Townsends reopened the Inn in 2015, and it currently has 22, comfortable, modern, elegant Western style rooms. Each room is named after a person who were important in Buffalo Bill’s and the Inn’s early days. There is the Buffalo Bill room, the Miss Kate Arnold Room and the Wild Bill Hickok room. Available at the front desk is a loose-leaf notebook for sale with a short story about each person. Together, these people, some well known, some less famous, have helped shape who we are as Americans and how the world sees the Wild West.

Today, The Sheridan Community Land Trust holds the Historic Preservation Easement for the Sheridan Inn and the agreement includes exterior and interior historical features of the building. In 2008, the Sheridan Inn was the first Historical Easement in the State of Wyoming.

The Sheridan Community Land Trust website has this to say ab out the Inn, “The Sheridan Inn is a historical treasure to Sheridan, Wyoming and the building represents a rich local history and western legends. The Sheridan Inn is the first historical easement in the State of Wyoming. The Sheridan Community Land Trust (SCLT) and the Sheridan Heritage Center Inc. signed the easement on December 11, 2008, which gave SCLT preservation oversight. The preservation easement agreement includes exterior and interior historical features.”

Carrie Edinger, of the SCLT, added this, “Historic preservation is a physical reminder of a shared past and plays a critical role in defining and reinforcing our unique Wyoming identity as well as providing visual enjoyment to our Sheridan County community.”

The Sheridan Inn is not only a part of Sheridan County History, but also Wyoming and Western history due to the connection to Buffalo Bill and the Sheridan Inn.

“These easements offer protection of historic properties through restrictions on the types of renovations that can be made to a historic building to prevent changes to the historic integrity of the respective building or site. A few of the Sheridan Inn’s architectural features that are protected by the easement are the dormers, stone fireplaces, the Buffalo Bill Bar as well as the main reception desk and mail box receptacles.

“When the property sells the Historic Preservation Easement will be transferred through the property’s deed.” In 2016, Historic Sheridan Inn recently received the “Best Preservation of a Historic Western Building” award from True West’s Best of the West.

The Sheridan Inn is complete with a restaurant, and an elegant bar similar to the famous one in the Irma in Cody, Buffalo Bill’s other Wyoming hotel. It is a part of Wyoming’s past, and can continue to be a part of Sheridan’s future.