Cooke City General Store - Cooke City, Montana
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Cooke City General Store - Cooke City, Montana
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The historic Cooke City General Store in Cooke City, Montana.
During the 1880s, Cooke City transitioned from a burgeoning mining town with makeshift buildings to one with more enduring structures. In 1886, John A. Savage and John Elder launched a general store that mirrored the community's fluctuating fortunes over time. By 1907, an enterprising owner, George Allison had expanded and revamped the store, adorning it with elaborate pressed metal over its original rough board exterior. However, financial woes led to a sheriff auctioning off his stock in 1908. Before this happened, Allison salvaged some fixtures and furnishings for his new store across the street. Unfortunately, by 1911, Allison's new venture went bankrupt. Nels and Elizabeth Soderholm—by then proprietors of what was known as the Cooke City Store—reacquired many of these original fixtures and reinstalled them. The opening of Yellowstone Park to automobile travel in 1915 brought prosperity to the Cooke City Store as it became a key supplier for seasonal visitors. Today’s store appearance—with its ornate pressed metal facade, oak shelving units, floor-to-ceiling rolling ladders, and other early-20th-century retail fittings—harks back to its 1907 makeover. This well-preserved mercantile evokes memories of small-town general stores from days gone by and stands as a testament to Cooke City's initial boom era.
Copyright 2024 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
September 20th, 2024
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