Sheridan Inn - Sheridan, Wyoming - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

From Wyoming: A Guide to Its History, Highways and People -  Sheridan section:

SHERIDAN INN, SW. corner Broadway and 5th St., erected in 1892, is a large rabling, smoke-stained sturcture, 130 feet long and 50 feet wide, set on an acre-and-a-half lot.  A wide porch extends the full length of the front and along the south side.  Here, and in the spacious lobby, oldsters trade astounding stories of early Sheridan.

The idea of constructing a lavish hotel at Sheridan was conceived by George Holdredge, general manager of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.  The road was then building toward Sheridan, and the hotel's completion was to be coincident with the arrival of the rails.  Holdrege organized a company and engaged Thomas R. Kimbal of Omaha, Nebraska, as architect.  Kimball, who had just returned from Scotland, designed the hotel from his impression of an old Scottish country inn.

Established while Buffalo Bill was at the height of his show career, the hotel was the Sheridan home of the famed huntsman.  Other distinguished names on the old hotel register are General Nelson A. Miles, Charles Russell, Captain John J. Pershing, William Jennings Byran, William Howard Taft, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Calamity Jane, General O.O. Howard, General Leonard Wood, and Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson.

At the rear of the inn stood the elaborate barns and livery stable of the Cody Transportation Company, operated jointly by Colonel Cody and the hotel management.  Here, guests' horses were accommodated and mounts were supplied for horseless guests.  A special coach and span was maintained by the hostelry to conduct paying guests on a tour of the city and its environs.

For two decades the Sheridan Inn was the social center of the valley; n its dining room the cow-country aristocracy danced the schottische and the Virginia reel.  These occasions filled the inn to capacity; women in evening gowns, men in 'bally-faced, board shirts' and tails.  Women usually came early to shop, and men to see their neighbors, who often lived 100 miles away.

The Inn was named a National Historic Landmark in 1964.  The building had deteriorated over the year however the exterior and first floor have been restored.  Extensive repairs are needed for the second and third floors and restoration efforts are underway.  The building restaurant is open for business along with gift shop.