Eye on the Past:
Stuhr Museum Weekly Photograph
Featured in the Grand Island Daily Independent

Wyoming House, 1876-1882
Grand Island's Wyoming House opened for business in January 1876 at the southwest corner of Sycamore and East South Front Street. A large group of people poses in front of the hotel. Several of the men appear to be holding glasses, probably filled with beer, indicating the image was likely taken at a time of celebration. The five women wearing white aprons and holding hands on the Sycamore Street boardwalk were likely hotel employees.

The man standing on the top of the hotel front is William Shipmann, who according to the 1880 U.S. census was a painter. "Deutsches Gasthaus" painted over the Front Street entrance can be translated to mean German Inn or Guesthouse. The Wyoming House was built by Detlef Sass, native of Holstein, Germany and member of the original 1857 Hall County settlement party. A fire that started in the stable visible behind the hotel at the far left of the photograph destroyed the hotel on September 7, 1882.

For more information on this photograph or other Hall County history please contact:

Karen Keehr
Curator of Research
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
3133 West Hwy 34 / P.O. Box 1505
Grand Island, Nebraska 68802
308-385-5316, fax: 308-385-5028
www.stuhrmuseum.com.

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Created October 25, 2002
Research Department webmaster: Karen Keehr